We look forward to meeting you and discussing this book with you soon! Below please find the remaining questions for the text.
Chapter 32: "All That's My Mother"
1. Compare and contrast Skloot's, Deborah's and Zakariyya's interactions with the Jesus statue at Johns Hopkins. What do these interactions reveal about their attitudes towards religious faith?
2. Analyze the way that Christoph Lengauer interacts with the Lack family. Why do you think his interaction is so different from anyone the Lackses encountered at Johns Hopkins up until this point?
3. Describe the way Deborah and Zakariyya interact with their mother's cells.
4. Why do you think Deborah tells Skloot that she "just witnessed a miracle"?
Chapter 33: The Hospital for the Negro Insane
1. What is the purpose of the title of this chapter?
2. Who is Paul Lurz? Which comments of his foreshadow that something terrible happened to Elsie?
3. Why were early hospital records disposed of?
4. What part of Elsie's medical records did Lurz have? Why had he saved patients' medical records? Why was he surprised that he had Elsie's records in particular?
5. The photograph of Elsie is carefully described. Why?
6. How does Deborah demonstrate she is in control when her right to view Elsie's records is questioned?
7. Compare the medical research likely performed on Elsie with Gey's research and Southam's research. Does one seem more "wrong"? Why?
8. Skloot ends the chapter Deborah deciding to finally give her access to Henrietta's medical records. Explain why this moment is significant.
Chapter 34: The Medical Records
1. How does Deborah respond when Skloot suggests photocopying some of Henrietta's records?
2. What causes the confrontation between Deborah and Skloot? How is it resolved?
3. What reason does Deborah give for not wanting Skloot to type out Henrietta's records word for word?
Chapter 35: Soul Cleansing
1. How are Gladys and Gary related to Deborah?
2. After witnessing the amount of physical and emotional anguish that Deborah is in, Gary begins to preach and lay hands on Deborah. What burden does he ask to be lifted from her? Where does he ask it to be placed?
3. How does Deborah respond after Gary's prayer?
Chapter 36: Heavenly Bodies
1. Summarize Gary's spiritual explanation for why Henrietta's cells lived on after her death.
2. Discuss the impact that witnessing the interaction between Gary and Deborah had on Skloot. What new perspective did she gain?
Chapter 37: "Nothing to Be Scared About"
1. Why did Deborah decide to go back to school?
2. Why was Deborah unable to attend the National Foundation for Cancer Research's Henrietta Lacks conference?
3. Explain how Davon's actions saved Deborah's life.
4. According to Deborah, how is Henrietta's story going to be different for future generations?
Chapter 38: The Long Road to Clover
1. What string of events in 2009 suggests that, if Skloot had not begun researching Henrietta's story a decade earlier, it may have been lost forever?
3. Skloot ends the book with Deborah's voice. How does this choice impact the reader's experience of the story?
Where They Are Now/ Afterword
1. How did Deborah's death change the lives of her brothers?
2. What legal options do the Lackses have? What is their position on suing over the use of HeLa?
3. If Henrietta Lacks could know how important her cells have been to science, do you think she would approve of the fact that they were taken from her without her knowledge or consent? Explain your answer.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Guided Reading Questions Pt. 7
Chapter Twenty-Six: Breach of Privacy
1. Describe the changes that had taken place in the lives of Henrietta's children by 1980.
2. Why did Zakariyya decide to participate in research studies at Johns Hopkins? What is ironic about his participation?
3. Explain why Gold's journalism could be considered irresponsible and/or unethical.
4. What do Gold's comments about his decision to publish private information without consulting the Lacks family reveal about his attitude toward them?
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Secret to Immortality
1. Describe the contribution that HeLa has made to research on the HIV virus and the AIDS epidemic.
2. Who do you think made the more persuasive argument, Van Valen or Stevenson?
3. According to Stevenson, why did scientists develop the argument that HeLa cells are no longer human?
Chapter Twenty-Eight: After London
1. Carefully reread the speech Deborah gave at Morehouse COllege, paying particular attention to her repetition of the word "understanding." Why do you think understanding HeLa was so important to Deborah? What obstacles does she mention as impeding her understanding?
2. What was ironic about the creation of Speed and Wyche's Henrietta Lacks Foundation?
3. Analyze Johns Hopkins's official response to Wyche's leter. Do you feel that it is an appropriate response? What rhetorical strategies are used to counter Wyche's appeal?
Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Vilalge of Henriettas
1. Why do you think Deborah eventually decided to talk with Skloot?
2. Explain the significance of the gift that Skloot delivered to Deborah at their first meeting.
3. What effect did sensationalized journalism and fiction about HeLa and cell cloning have on Deborah? Do you think this was the response that the writers intended?
Chapter Thirty: Zakariyya
1. Describe your first impression of Zakariyya.
2. What does Deborah do that illustrates she has a great sense of humor?
3. When Skloot met Sonny and Lawrence, they expressed a belief that the medical advances made possible by their mother's cells are "a miracle". How do Zakariyya's beliefs differ from those of his brothers?
4. Zakaryya uses the term "disrespect" to describe Gey's treatment of Henrietta and family. Explain the specific reasons why Zakariyya feels disrespected. Do you believe Gey was disrespectful? Explain your answer.
Chapter Thirty-One: Hela, Goddess of Death
1. Contrast the experience Henrietta's great-grandchildren, Alfred and Davon, have at the Maryland Science Center with the experience Deborah, Sonny, and Lawrence had growing up.
2. Explain why it would be easy to believe that the Marvel super villain, Hela, Goddess of Death, was based on Henrietta Lacks.
3. Describe the relationship between Deborah and her grandson Davon.
4. Why did Deborah decide to go see her mother's cells? What obstacle almost kept her from doing so?
Guided Reading Questions Pt. 6
Chapter Twenty-One: Night Doctors
1. What does the author's choice of descriptive details reveal to the reader about her impression of Sonny Lacks?
2. Sonny and Lawrence repeat the refrain "That's a miracle," when discussing the scientific advances made possible by their mother's cells. What does this suggest about their worldview and values?
3. Give and example of indirect characterization that reveals that the Lacks family distrusts doctors.
4. The description "his light brown face had grown tough with age, cracked but soft, like a pair of well work work boots," conveys a strong impression of Day Lacks. What does it suggest about his life and personality?
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Face She So Richly Deserves"
1. Do Gey's attitude and actions after his own diagnosis of terminal cancer change your opinion of him? Explain your answer.
2. Do you agree that Henrietta should have been correctly identified in order to "give her the fame she so richly deserves," or do you think her anonymity should have been protected? Explain.
Chapter Twenty-Three: It's Alive
1. The title of this chapter contains an allusion to the classic horror movie Frankenstein. What does this allusion suggest about the tension between scientific discovery, and public perception and fear of suck discoveries?
2. From a legal standpoint, how is the fact that the doctors failed to obtain consent prior to taking blood from the Lacks family in 1973 different from their initial failure to obtain consent from henrietta in 1951?
3. Analyze the last paragraphs of this chapter. What does Hsu's request reveal about her attitude towards the Lackses? What does Skloot reveal by ending the chapter with Hsu's request?
Chapter Twenty-Four: Least They Can Do
1. What motivated Michael Rogers to find the Lacks family?
2. Explain how the sale of HeLa evolved into a business. Describe the extent to which the profits from that business are likely a direct result of the sale of HeLa cells. In what other ways do scientists, corporations, and individuals profit as a result of HeLa?
3. Why do you think Skloot ends this chapter with the introduction of John Moore's story?
Chapter Twenty-Five: Who Told You You Could Sell My Spleen
1. Describe the lawsuit that set a legal precedent for patenting biological "products" such as cell lines.
2. What was the Supreme Court of California's decision regarding the Moore lawsuit? Summarize the reasoning behind the decision.
3. Do you agree with the court's ruling? Why or why not?
1. What does the author's choice of descriptive details reveal to the reader about her impression of Sonny Lacks?
2. Sonny and Lawrence repeat the refrain "That's a miracle," when discussing the scientific advances made possible by their mother's cells. What does this suggest about their worldview and values?
3. Give and example of indirect characterization that reveals that the Lacks family distrusts doctors.
4. The description "his light brown face had grown tough with age, cracked but soft, like a pair of well work work boots," conveys a strong impression of Day Lacks. What does it suggest about his life and personality?
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Face She So Richly Deserves"
1. Do Gey's attitude and actions after his own diagnosis of terminal cancer change your opinion of him? Explain your answer.
2. Do you agree that Henrietta should have been correctly identified in order to "give her the fame she so richly deserves," or do you think her anonymity should have been protected? Explain.
Chapter Twenty-Three: It's Alive
1. The title of this chapter contains an allusion to the classic horror movie Frankenstein. What does this allusion suggest about the tension between scientific discovery, and public perception and fear of suck discoveries?
2. From a legal standpoint, how is the fact that the doctors failed to obtain consent prior to taking blood from the Lacks family in 1973 different from their initial failure to obtain consent from henrietta in 1951?
3. Analyze the last paragraphs of this chapter. What does Hsu's request reveal about her attitude towards the Lackses? What does Skloot reveal by ending the chapter with Hsu's request?
Chapter Twenty-Four: Least They Can Do
1. What motivated Michael Rogers to find the Lacks family?
2. Explain how the sale of HeLa evolved into a business. Describe the extent to which the profits from that business are likely a direct result of the sale of HeLa cells. In what other ways do scientists, corporations, and individuals profit as a result of HeLa?
3. Why do you think Skloot ends this chapter with the introduction of John Moore's story?
Chapter Twenty-Five: Who Told You You Could Sell My Spleen
1. Describe the lawsuit that set a legal precedent for patenting biological "products" such as cell lines.
2. What was the Supreme Court of California's decision regarding the Moore lawsuit? Summarize the reasoning behind the decision.
3. Do you agree with the court's ruling? Why or why not?
Guided Reading Questions Pt. 5
Chapter Fourteen: Helen Lane
1. In what specific ways do you think that learning of HeLa soon after Henrietta's death might have changed her family members' lives?
2. What reasons did Berg give for wanting information about the woman whose cells were used to grow HeLa?
3. Why didn't Henrietta's family know that her cells were still alive.
Chapter Fifteen: Too Young to Remember
1. Describe the abuse that Joe suffered under Ethel's care. How did this abuse affect him?
2. Describe Deborah's childhood. What challenges did she have to overcome?
3. What questions did Deborah have about her mother and sister? Why do you think no one told her very much about them?
Chapter Sixteen: Spending Eternity in the Same Place
1. Describe Skloot's visit to the Lacks family cemetery. What impact does her use of imagery have on you as a reader?
2. Compare and contrast the different attitudes the white and black Lacks family members held about race.
3. According to Henrietta's cousin Cliff, what is "beautiful" about the idea of "slave-owning white Lackses being buried under their black kin"?
Chapter Seventeen: Illegal, Immoral, and Deplorable
1. What was the result of Southam's first research study? Based on these results, did his hypothesis appear to be correct?
2. How did Southam justify his decision to inject HeLa cells into patients without their knowledge or consent?
3. Why, specifically, id the Jewish doctors at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital object to Southam's cancer study?
4. Explain how the acton against Southam and Mandel led to the development of infomred consent forms as a standard medical practice.
Chapter Eighteen: Strangest Hybrid
1. Summarize the various ways that HeLa was used in the space program.
2. Explain what happens during somatic cell fusion.
3. How did the public respond to the idea of cell hybrids? In what specific ways did the media influence the public's perception of cell hybrids?
Chapter Nineteen: The Most Critical Time on This Earth is Now
1. How was Joe's life different from his brothers' lives? What do you think caused this difference?
2. Why do you think Joe turned himself in to the police?
3. Analyze the note that Joe wrote to the judge? What does it tell you about Joe's personality and background?
4. How did prison change Joe?
Chapter Twenty: The HeLa Bomb
1. What unique abilities did HeLa have that allowed it to contaminate cultures without researchers being aware that contamination had occurred?
2. How did the scientific community respond to Gartler's theory about HeLa contamination?
3. What did Stanley Garter discover about eighteen of the most commonly used cell cultures?
4. How was Gartler able to link the contamination problem to HeLa?
1. In what specific ways do you think that learning of HeLa soon after Henrietta's death might have changed her family members' lives?
2. What reasons did Berg give for wanting information about the woman whose cells were used to grow HeLa?
3. Why didn't Henrietta's family know that her cells were still alive.
Chapter Fifteen: Too Young to Remember
1. Describe the abuse that Joe suffered under Ethel's care. How did this abuse affect him?
2. Describe Deborah's childhood. What challenges did she have to overcome?
3. What questions did Deborah have about her mother and sister? Why do you think no one told her very much about them?
Chapter Sixteen: Spending Eternity in the Same Place
1. Describe Skloot's visit to the Lacks family cemetery. What impact does her use of imagery have on you as a reader?
2. Compare and contrast the different attitudes the white and black Lacks family members held about race.
3. According to Henrietta's cousin Cliff, what is "beautiful" about the idea of "slave-owning white Lackses being buried under their black kin"?
Chapter Seventeen: Illegal, Immoral, and Deplorable
1. What was the result of Southam's first research study? Based on these results, did his hypothesis appear to be correct?
2. How did Southam justify his decision to inject HeLa cells into patients without their knowledge or consent?
3. Why, specifically, id the Jewish doctors at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital object to Southam's cancer study?
4. Explain how the acton against Southam and Mandel led to the development of infomred consent forms as a standard medical practice.
Chapter Eighteen: Strangest Hybrid
1. Summarize the various ways that HeLa was used in the space program.
2. Explain what happens during somatic cell fusion.
3. How did the public respond to the idea of cell hybrids? In what specific ways did the media influence the public's perception of cell hybrids?
Chapter Nineteen: The Most Critical Time on This Earth is Now
1. How was Joe's life different from his brothers' lives? What do you think caused this difference?
2. Why do you think Joe turned himself in to the police?
3. Analyze the note that Joe wrote to the judge? What does it tell you about Joe's personality and background?
4. How did prison change Joe?
Chapter Twenty: The HeLa Bomb
1. What unique abilities did HeLa have that allowed it to contaminate cultures without researchers being aware that contamination had occurred?
2. How did the scientific community respond to Gartler's theory about HeLa contamination?
3. What did Stanley Garter discover about eighteen of the most commonly used cell cultures?
4. How was Gartler able to link the contamination problem to HeLa?
Guided Reading Questions Pt. 4
Chapter Ten: The Other Side of the Tracks
1. What do the names of the creek and the river suggest about life in Lacks Town?
2. Cootie seems to know and understand a little bit about HeLa cells, but he believes that Henrietta's spirit is still present in her cells. What does Cootie think about the reason that HeLa cells were used to develop a polio vaccine?
3. Explain the meaning of the idiom "the other side of the tracks"
Chapter Eleven: The Devil of Pain Itself
1. Describe the progression of Henrietta's cancer int he eight months between her diagnosis and her death.
2. What did Henrietta's friends and family do when they found out that she needed bloos? Why do you think they were willing to sacrifice to help her?
3. What was Henrietta's final request? What does this request tell you about her?
Chapter Twelve: The Storm
1. What did Mary, Gey's assistant, realize when she was Henrietta's painted toenails? How was the timing of this realization ironic?
2. Henrietta's cousin says that Henrietta "was tryin' to tell us somethin' with that storm." What do you think she could have been trying to say?
3. Why did Henrietta's doctors need to ask for her family's permission to remove tissue samples after her death? How did day initially respond to their request?
Chapter Thirteen: The HeLa Factory
1. Explain the inherent irony of the fact that the Tuskegee HeLa production lab was operating at the same time that the infamous syphilis study was being conducted. What does the juxtaposition of these two projects reveal about race relations in the early 1950s?
2. Paraphrase the explanation of how a virus reproduces found on page 97. Why did the fact that HeLa cells are malignant make them particularly useful in the study of viruses?
3. Why was the development of methods of freezing cells an important scientific breakthrough?
4. Explain the contribution that HeLa made to the emerging field of genetics.
1. What do the names of the creek and the river suggest about life in Lacks Town?
2. Cootie seems to know and understand a little bit about HeLa cells, but he believes that Henrietta's spirit is still present in her cells. What does Cootie think about the reason that HeLa cells were used to develop a polio vaccine?
3. Explain the meaning of the idiom "the other side of the tracks"
Chapter Eleven: The Devil of Pain Itself
1. Describe the progression of Henrietta's cancer int he eight months between her diagnosis and her death.
2. What did Henrietta's friends and family do when they found out that she needed bloos? Why do you think they were willing to sacrifice to help her?
3. What was Henrietta's final request? What does this request tell you about her?
Chapter Twelve: The Storm
1. What did Mary, Gey's assistant, realize when she was Henrietta's painted toenails? How was the timing of this realization ironic?
2. Henrietta's cousin says that Henrietta "was tryin' to tell us somethin' with that storm." What do you think she could have been trying to say?
3. Why did Henrietta's doctors need to ask for her family's permission to remove tissue samples after her death? How did day initially respond to their request?
Chapter Thirteen: The HeLa Factory
1. Explain the inherent irony of the fact that the Tuskegee HeLa production lab was operating at the same time that the infamous syphilis study was being conducted. What does the juxtaposition of these two projects reveal about race relations in the early 1950s?
2. Paraphrase the explanation of how a virus reproduces found on page 97. Why did the fact that HeLa cells are malignant make them particularly useful in the study of viruses?
3. Why was the development of methods of freezing cells an important scientific breakthrough?
4. Explain the contribution that HeLa made to the emerging field of genetics.
Guided Reading Questions Pt. 3
Chapter Six: Lady's On the Phone
1. What do the Tuskeegee Syphilis Study and the Mississippi Appendectomies suggest about the history of African Americans and medicine?
2. What questions does Deborah have about her mother?
3. Explain who Ronald Pattillo is. How is he connected to both Henrietta Lacks and George Gey?
4. How does Dey initially respond to Skloot's request for information?
Chapter Seven: The Death and Life of Cell Culture
1. What controversial beliefs did Carrel have?
2. Give an example of propaganda that was used to fuel the public's fear and distrust of tissue culture.
3. What details suggest that Carrel's claims about the immortal cell line were not scientifically sound?
4. What did Gey hope to accomplish with HeLa cells?
Chapter Eight: A Miserable Specimen
1. In your own words, explain the parados "benevolent deception"
2. What does the use of the term "a miserable specimen" by Henrietta's doctors reveal about their attitude toward her?
3. If Gey did speak to Henrietta just before she died, do you think she would have understood what immortal cells were? Explain.
4. How did her doctors react to Henrietta's intuitive conviction that the cancer was spreading inside of her?
Chapter Nine: Turner Station
1. Compare and contrast the Turner Station that Skloot visited in 1999 with the Turner Station that Henrietta experienced as a young woman.
2. Make a prediction based on the foreshadowing regarding Mr. Cofield. What do you think he did?
3. What subjective conclusions can you make about Mama Speed based on the objective details on page 72?
4. What does the fact that the town still has "more than ten churches" suggest about the people in Turner Station?
1. What do the Tuskeegee Syphilis Study and the Mississippi Appendectomies suggest about the history of African Americans and medicine?
2. What questions does Deborah have about her mother?
3. Explain who Ronald Pattillo is. How is he connected to both Henrietta Lacks and George Gey?
4. How does Dey initially respond to Skloot's request for information?
Chapter Seven: The Death and Life of Cell Culture
1. What controversial beliefs did Carrel have?
2. Give an example of propaganda that was used to fuel the public's fear and distrust of tissue culture.
3. What details suggest that Carrel's claims about the immortal cell line were not scientifically sound?
4. What did Gey hope to accomplish with HeLa cells?
Chapter Eight: A Miserable Specimen
1. In your own words, explain the parados "benevolent deception"
2. What does the use of the term "a miserable specimen" by Henrietta's doctors reveal about their attitude toward her?
3. If Gey did speak to Henrietta just before she died, do you think she would have understood what immortal cells were? Explain.
4. How did her doctors react to Henrietta's intuitive conviction that the cancer was spreading inside of her?
Chapter Nine: Turner Station
1. Compare and contrast the Turner Station that Skloot visited in 1999 with the Turner Station that Henrietta experienced as a young woman.
2. Make a prediction based on the foreshadowing regarding Mr. Cofield. What do you think he did?
3. What subjective conclusions can you make about Mama Speed based on the objective details on page 72?
4. What does the fact that the town still has "more than ten churches" suggest about the people in Turner Station?
Guided Reading Questions Pt. 2
Chapter Three: Diagnosis and Treatment
1. Explain how TeLinde and Gey's relationship led to Gey obtaining a tissue sample from Henrietta's tumor.
2. Analyze the consent statement that Henrietta signed on page 31. Based on this statement, do you believe TeLinde and Guy had the right to obtain a sample from her to use in their research?
3. Do you think Henrietta would have given explicit consent to have a tissue sample used if she had been asked? Do you think she would have understood what was being asked of her? Explain.
4. Were cells taken only from black patients? Were black patients generally treated differently from white patients in the early 1950s? Explain your answers.
Chapter Four: The Birth of HeLa
1. Gey chose to give away samples of HeLa to his colleagues almost immediately. Do you think this was a good decision? Why or why not?
2. What is the implication of the author's decision to use the term "birth" to describe the initial growth of HeLa cells?
3. Once HeLa started growing, was Henrietta informed that her cells were being used in Gey's research?
4. Based on the descriptions of Gey found on pages 38-39, offer three adjectives that best describe his personality.
Chapter Five: Blackness Be Spreadin All Inside
1. After her diagnosis and treatment, how did Henrietta behave? What can you infer about her personality based on this behavior?
2. What specific details let the reader know that sending Elsie away was difficult for Henrietta?
3. Why do you think Henrietta initially chose not to tell people about her cancer diagnosis? What does this decision suggest about Henrietta's personality?
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