Posted: December 2nd, 2014

Literature and Medicine

Literature and Medicine

Choose one of the following topics.  Make sure to denote at the top of the paper which topic you have chosen.  Make sure to follow guidelines listed below for

formatting,

1.    “Human beings understand their experiences in and through the telling and hearing of stories.”— Brody, “Storytelling in Medicine”

The function of storytelling in medicine has many dimensions, from the importance of telling to the role of story analysis to the process of listening.  Choose

three of our readings to discuss the concept.

2.    The image that we have from many of the readings is that the practice of medicine is a conflicted calling, from the difficulties of training to the various

tensions of practicing. What can we draw from the class readings that invoke a positive viewpoint or a hopeful sensibility to the medical profession? Chose at least

two-three readings to make your arguments.  You can also reference visual materials/texts.

3.   We would not normally imagine medicine and healthcare to be the focus for comedy and satire, and yet a novel such as The House of God is thoroughgoing in the way

it skewers aspects of medicine. With a focus on the novel, discuss how comic plot, characters, and techniques function in a medically-contextualized narrative.

4.   We would not normally think of medical issues as the stuff of poetry.  Write a paper in which you find one or several poems that have medical themes, and do a

close reading of the poem and the effect of the poetry (give me copies of whichever poems you choose; a good selection of poetry can also be found on NYU site Art,

Literature, and Medicine that can be easily reached through our Beachboard site).

5.   Most of our readings depict doctors.  How do these “literary” representations of doctors differ from our stereotypes of doctors?  You can use examples from

throughout the semester, but try to create a comparative range across several examples.

6.   Choose one of the typical metaphors for illness mentioned is Sontag’s text and analyze how this metaphor is developed in at least two additional texts that we

discussed in class or that you discovered on your own.

7.   From the NYU database Art, Literature, and Medicine choose one to two paintings to analyze and connect to issues from a text we read in the class. Make sure to

clearly reference the painter and the painting.

Rules and guidelines:

1)    The essay must be typed and double spaced, with app. 1 inch margins.  The format should include name, class, date, and topic number.  A title is necessary, but

not a title page.

2)    Start early, especially if you want comments on your essay; if you can get it to me a couple of weeks before the deadline, I’ll try to guide your revision.  If

you want to discuss the topic or run a thesis by me, come to my office hours.

3)    Your essay will need a thesis and direct evidence from the readings (i.e. paraphrase and quotation).

4)    Beware of plagiarism.  The papers on Dropbox on Beachboard are run through the Turn-it-in Program so if you incorporate research, make sure to document

sources.  If you plagiarize and are caught, it is an F for the assignment and for the class.

5)    Try to be inventive and imaginative; make the essay interesting for yourself, and it will most likely be more successful.

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