Dear readers,
This letter acts as an introduction to my numerous works over the course of my FIQWS Composition for Narrative Medicine class. The first and last drafts for the outsider narrative, metaphor essay, critical lens essay, student facilitation presentation, and research paper are all included in this portfolio. Allow me to reflect on each of the works in this portfolio.
To begin with, the outsider narrative was a personal narrative in which I described being an Indian kid living in a predominantly white neighborhood and learning to “be proud of my culture and heritage.” I have always preferred to write more analytical essays rather than personal narratives as I find it difficult writing about myself. I was nervous when first reading my essay aloud to my peers, but to my surprise, they shared similar experiences that they had and were able to share insightful feedback in order to help me improve my narrative. In the end, this essay allowed me to express myself to others without feeling judged.
The metaphor essay required us to show how metaphors can be used to obscure and inform the patient’s understanding of medicine. We were required to use metaphors from a narrative medicine text and connect it to metaphors from a outside source. My paper demonstrated how vaccinators being compared to vampires can be used as a way to inform the reader as “doctors were seen as the last people patients saw before they died” while militaristic metaphors can be used as a way to obscure the patient’s understanding of illness by creating “winners and losers”. For me, the hardest part of this essay was finding what sources to use in order to demonstrate the point I wanted to get across. However, once I found out what sources I wanted to use, I found it relatively easy to make the proper connections in my paper.
Next is the critical lens essay, which required us to use a narrative medicine text as the lens to interpret an outside target text. I analyzed Dracula through a feminist point of view and used the film Mulan as my target text. This essay was very difficult to initially understand, but once I got it, I was able to make connections between the Dracula and Mulan to show how both can be viewed as feminist stories. I think it is very important to be able find a target text through lots of research as this will allow you to make the best connection possible.
The student facilitated presentation allowed me to analyze the required texts that week and make a fun presentation with my partner. Our work focused on PTSD and this allowed my partner and I to learn more about PTSD in order to inform the class of our findings. The last work was the research project which was very long to say the least. However, since this project is split into multiple different parts, it makes creating the actual paper not too difficult as you know all your sources pretty well. I researched “Gender Norms and How They Affect the Wage Gap in America”. The hardest part of this essay for me was getting all of my ideas down in one coherent paper without feeling like I was repeating myself.
Overall, the biggest advice I offer you is to start working on each paper well before the deadline. For most of my works in this portfolio, I finished them on the day that they were due and I think I would have struggled less if I had started writing earlier. Despite this, I am proud of all of my works and I hope you enjoy reading them!
Dipanshu Verma
