Allow me to introduce myself and the contents of this Portfolio:
My name is Joshua Hunt and I am a first year undergraduate student at the Sophie Davis Biomedical Education Program at the CUNY School of Medicine. This portfolio is an accumulation of the research and academic essays that I completed for my Narrative Medicine course with Professor Jarrett Moran and Professor Nakaweesi Katongole.
Now, to introduce the portfolio contents, I would like to provide you with a reflection of my work. I plan to do this by taking you through my thought processes while writing each piece, and by giving you a clear message that my work aims to portray. Thank you for visiting my portfolio! I hope that you enjoy reading my work and are positively impacted by my writing!
Introduction
Throughout the Narrative Medicine course this semester, we completed a plethora of writing assignments. We wrote them without judgment, in a very comfortable space, and frequently reflected on our works. In addition, we held class discussions about literary texts, engaged in peer reviews, and received great assistance from our professors. While this class wasn’t always easy, it always provided us with interesting information and meaningful skills for our future career path. I enjoyed many aspects of this course. I felt I was constantly intellectually stimulated and learning productive knowledge that would help me in the future. In reflection on my major pieces, the Outsider Narrative essay, Metaphor essay, Critical Lens essay, and all parts of the Research Project, I feel very proud of my work. I am thrilled to allow others to read through them and possibly obtain the same insights as I did in this course. I hope that you truly do get something from them.
The first writing assignment we were asked to complete in the course was the Outsider Narrative essay which challenged us to take a creative approach to Narrative Medicine writing. We were asked to write about an “outsider,” and tell their story. This outsider could be ourselves, or someone you know, or even someone that you witnessed; the possibilities were endless. I was initially anxious by the open-endedness of the prompt. I had so many experiences and ideas swirling in my head, and I was worried that I wouldn’t choose the right one. However, I decided to go with my gut and write about my personal experience with the sport of volleyball. While this story may not sound very entertaining, it was a tumultuous experience for me. There were intimidating tryouts, unruly teammates, unexplainable rivalries, and a multitude of triumphs and failures. I wrote about this experience not only because it was a large part of my childhood, but also because I never had the chance to creatively write about what I learned from that time in my life. Over the 6 years I spent dedicating a lot of energy to the sport, I learned the values of strength, confidence, competitiveness, kindness, and cooperation. So having the opportunity to write about that was a great chance for me to reflect on that. A great way to showcase the message from this essay is “For the kids I saw crying, I offered tissues for their tears and a strategy to replace me as captain one day.” This quote reflects how I overcame being the “outsider” and helped young children who felt like “outsiders” to see there was a chance for them too.
The second writing assignment we completed was the Metaphor essay that focused on analyzing the use of metaphor in medicine and illness. I enjoyed this essay because it helped me to see the true impact of words and how simple phrases can hold many meanings. Another thing I liked about this assignment was the complex texts that we used as an example of these themes. Susan Sontag’s “Illness and Metaphor” and “On Inoculation” by Eula Biss were outstanding readings that gave a unique insight into this topic. In my work, I focused on Susan Sontag’s piece and her opinions on the unfair differences in the perception of those diagnosed with cancer and those with tuberculosis. I think her use of metaphor was beautiful and powerful and I simply had to prioritize her writing in my essay. I think this essay was very meaningful because it asked me to open my eyes to how important metaphors are for patient care. Without metaphor, it would be very difficult to comprehend illness. However, metaphors are meant to be interpreted differently so it’s possible that the meaning behind them can be misunderstood.
The third writing assignment was the Critical Lens essay which asked us to use one of the intricate texts we were given to analyze an outside source. The text I prioritized was Lennard Davis’ “The Disabilities Study Reader” which caused me to think analytically about the world and society’s definition of normality and disability. I loved this piece because it questioned the very concept of normal that is used in absolutely every part of society today. I think that his ideas and research made a large impact on how I see the world. After reading his work, I immediately was reminded of the Disney Animated Film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The thoughts that Lennard Davis had very closely correlated with characters in the film and shed light on their overlooked narratives. I enjoyed analyzing one of my favorite movies and examining it using a different lens that showed the true complexity of the film. Instead of looking at the Hunchback and his faults, I criticized the Justice Minister and showed the flaw that he projected on innocent individuals. This assignment vividly changed my way of thinking and improved my empathetic abilities and my awareness of power dynamics.
The fourth writing assignment was the Research essay and we were asked to use the themes that we learned from the course to research a topic of our choosing. As I reflect on my research, I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to delve into a topic that truly means something to me. I initially thought that I would be unmotivated to do a research paper, however, that quickly changed. Instead of feeling that I was just researching an old topic that didn’t interest me, I found myself connecting with this paper. I could feel the words occur to me naturally and the piece began to write itself. I didn’t need to push myself to write more or to add more information to meet a requirement. I felt as if I was writing freely and found supporting ideas that agreed with what I had been thinking for years. This topic especially is really difficult to tackle. It has a lot of controversial and harsh language that can be difficult to decipher. For example, when I began to read the texts in the Bible that created such a harsh narrative towards the LGBTQ+ community, I started to tear up. I felt so deeply saddened by the antagonistic narrative being forced onto a marginalized community as a whole. I couldn’t comprehend how outdated and malicious views could be associated with innocent people and endangering their lives. Therefore, it meant a lot to me to have the opportunity to discredit some of those views and offer the possibility of acceptance to them. This research not only offered me a sense of hope for these individuals but a further respect for them as well. They have fought and continue to fight these narratives and stereotypes every day and will continue to do so until they receive the justice and equality that they deserve. That inspires me to be a kinder person and more empathetic to groups whose narratives have been negatively construed against them.
