Character Study Report: Gifty Biology Concepts Study: Addiction and Reward-Seeking Behavior Case Study Comparison: Interaction Between Cocaine Use and Sleep Behavior Reflective Essay: Using Literature and Science to Understand Mental Illness

In “Transcendent Kingdom”, Yaa Gyasi uses the characters to paint a vivid picture of the effects of mental health on the individual and the people around them. Readers follow along as each event in the novel leads to the next, showcasing a direct correlation between the occurrences throughout the novel. Gyasi includes scientific concepts throughout the story in order to enhance the readers understanding of the content as well as create a strong bond between reader and character. The information she includes is thought-provoking and provides insight on mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, which help to emphasize the gravity of the situations presented in the novel. It is…

Some of the themes included in “Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi are mental health, such as addiction and depression, the relationship between science and religion, the process of recovery and the search for meaning in life. Gifty grew up with a brother who died young due to an addiction and a mother who suffered from depression caused by her son’s death. I will be using a case study entitled “Interaction between cocaine use and sleep behavior: A comprehensive review of cocaine’s disrupting influence on sleep behavior and sleep disruptions influence on reward seeking” by Theresa E. Bjorness and Robert W. Greene. In this study, the goal is to determine whether…

            In “Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi, Gifty’s neuroscientific research is much more than just a work assignment. For her, the process of studying her mice in the laboratory is personally connected to her life experiences. Gifty seeks to gain an understanding of mental illness which would help her rationalize the tragic events that have occurred in her life. When Nana was going through his battle with addiction, Gifty was too young to fully grasp the concept and everything it entailed. As an adult, she now has the means to figure out that devastating puzzle, if only to help herself gain some closure in Nana’s death. By having Gifty conduct…

            Gifty is the child of two Ghanaian immigrants. Throughout the novel, she faces some general challenges familiar to children of immigrants, and some specific to her own situation. Some of her struggles are referenced heavily so as to accentuate their gravity, such as her mother’s depression, brother’s addiction and his death. However, while she places her focus on these issues, she simultaneously faces a constant internal battle pertaining to her identity. She was exposed early on to the harsh realities of life due to growing up in Huntsville, Alabama as a black girl. Though she faced many obstacles, she was able to forge a path of her own rather…

Throughout “Sonny’s Blues”, we see that the narrator has had a hard time relating to and understanding his brother, Sonny. He mentions escaping Harlem, as many people seem to do the same when regarding their hometown. He believes they both escaped Harlem, but his escape was a positive one while Sonny’s was negative. It seems as though he holds some resentment towards Sonny for choosing the path he did and places the blame solely on Sonny. When Sonny’s friend is introduced, we get the sense that the narrator wants to leave his past behind due to some level of shame. He does not want to remember what it was like…

I agree with Rebecca Balcarcel and her argument about the origin of racial division and its relationship to dehumanization. I believe that racism is a specific piece of the pie that is human nature. People have reasons why they disagree with others, why they ostracize others, why they ridicule others. Experiencing life causes people to create their own biases and judgments which they can unfairly place on others. This story, however, showcases how these negative feelings towards others originate by having Twyla and Roberta both confess to wanting to hurt Maggie. The instances I mentioned earlier about people having reasons for their prejudices and life experiences birthing biases do not…

The Book of the Dead is a collection of pieces which shine a light on the injustices faced by the dam workers involved in the Hawks Nest tragedy. These tragic events took place during the Great Depression in the United States. Upon considering this, it is easier to notice just how sickening the details are. Three quarters of the 2000 workers in the tunnels were Black and came from different states in the East and South. Rukeyser emphasizes the theme of social justice by providing information such as the atrocious working conditions, financial standing of the company, and unresolved lawsuits to show how this was just another case of the…

Rukeyser’s “Book of the Dead” is a collection of literary pieces pertaining to the Hawk’s Nest dam disaster, seemingly compiled together with the purpose of bringing awareness to this tragedy. As a piece of literature this functions, as I mentioned, to inform the reader of what happened during that time while also providing accounts from people who are believed to have lived through this event. According to Culler, literature has a beginning and end which tends to be the answer to some sort of question. In this case, the question would likely be: What was the outcome of a dam building project in West Virginia during the 1920s-30s? Rukeyser also…