Barrier Book Reviews Samples For Students

Anne Fadiman's 1997 novel The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures tells the story of a struggling Hmong family and their attempts to treat the epilepsy of their daughter Lia Lee. A tremendous culture conflict is presented within this work, as the American doctors cannot communicate with the family effectively, due to the language and culture barriers. One of the central conflicts between the American doctors and the Hmong is that the Hmong see epilepsy as something belonging to the divine, while the doctors only see it ...

“A man's life was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer to his ancestors” (Achebe 122). – One of the impacts of colonization is the disappearance of cultural or traditional practices. This quote shows how a life of an individual is related to his or her culture or origin.
“Behind them was the big and ancient silk-cotton tree which was sacred. Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born. On ordinary days young women who desired children came to sit under the shade” (Achebe 46). – This quote illustrates the richness of the culture of ...

The novel The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman recounts the tale of the Lee family, a group of Hmong who struggle to treat their daughter Lia Lee for epilepsy. The central conflict throughout the novel is the clash of cultures between the superstitious, traditionalist Hmong family and the secular, science-based Western medical culture. What’s more, there is a communication barrier, as the American doctors are unable to effectively communicate with the family since they speak different languages and use different ways of relating to the world. To that end, the book essentially studies the importance ...

How Race Survived History by David R. Roediger explores various ways in which the idea of race was initially created and recreated in American history. In his book, David reveals how race played a critical role in a progressive national history. He illustrates the ways in which race intersected all that was progressive and dynamic in U.S history, right from economic development, democracy to globalization and immigration. Based on what has happened in the past, Roediger explores the evidence that U.S will eventually become a ‘non-white’ majority nation probably in the next fifty years or so. In a nutshell, this masterful history depicts ...

Introduction

The Bottom Billion is a short book that addresses contemporary issues in the world today. Collier looks at the main problems causing Poverty in Africa. He contends the traditional definitions of underdeveloped, developing and developed countries. According to the author, poverty is only a fifty eighty countries. To resolve the problems in the third world countries whose inhabitants make up the bottom million, countries should resolve corruption, improve infrastructure and governance practices. He argues against the imposition of radical changes by the developed countries on the third world countries. Collier focuses on the problem facing the African countries and relates them ...