The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Synthesis
Here is all of the data, collected and written from an American perspective.
This book challenges the very idea of progress. Are we moving forward? As fast as we are moving forward, are we actually leaving a large percent behind? Is what’s good for us good for everyone? Western medicine has many benefits, but the flip side is this, we are not as smart as we believe, and despite our ideals, we cannot know what is best for everyone, as is proven in this book. The doctors changed prescriptions for Lia Lee 23 times! Do you really think they knew exactly what they were doing? Even if they did, do you think Lia’s parents believed the doctors after this continued taking place?
This book confronts the concept of Westernization and assimilation. Why do we believe that everyone who comes to our country either wants to change or should? Surely we have heard about the oppression and unfair treatment that is scattered throughout our world. Doesn’t it make sense that our land of freedom is appealing? “The Hmong came to the United States for the same reason they had left China in the nineteenth century: because they were trying to resist assimilation" (p. 183). We are quick to judge; we tell people to learn the language, learn our culture, and carry our belief system, WHY?
This book addresses another important issue, language barriers. Even if we ignore assimilation and take away our goal of making everyone else like us, we are still left with this issue, and a big one at that. How do we make someone feel accepted and valued if we can’t communicate with him or her? How do we express and exchange mutual opinions and culture without words? Even if you take away the spiritual beliefs, the cultural differences, and the questionable ethics and medicine practices, we are still left with this one barrier, the barrier that makes the other issue EXTREMELY more difficult.
Activity: (for middle school grades)
An interpreter will be brought in, someone who speaks German, French, or Chinese. Each student will receive a slip of paper telling him or her something to communicate with the person who speaks another language. This might be “How does the gas pump work?” or “I need to fill my prescription”. No English will be used, either verbally or written. Students will need to use actions to accomplish their task, while the interpreter rambles on and on in the different language. (The interpreter will NOT know what the student is trying to communicate.) The objective is this; students will explain what it feels like to not be able to communicate with someone because of a language barrier. Each student will have two minutes to attempt to get help, or make the translator understand his or her need. At the end of the class period, or the following day, we will discuss as a class with guided questions.Students will also be asked to write a two-page paper.
Assessment:
Did the student participate in the activity? Did the student make a reasonable effort to communicate? (25%)
Did the student write a two-page paper explaining what it felt like to have language as a barrier, and what they think this looks like for those who move to our country? (50%)
Did the student participate in class discussion questions? (25%)
Reference
Fadiman, A. (1997). The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (1 ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.