Need help on characters in Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down? Check out our detailed character descriptions. I think people would really enjoy this book. But the families—who don't trust hospitals or medical staff—are skeptical of her. These folktales often serve to illustrate some aspect of the character of the Hmong people. In the presentation, he spent forty-five minutes painstakingly detailing the entire process, from choosing the right kind of hook to go fishing to preparing. Plot Summary & Analysis Themes Quotes Characters Symbols Theme Viz Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Spirit Catches You makes teaching easy. They recognized the symptoms as qaug dab peg, "the. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction . Lia 's epileptic crisis is over. Summary. Unlike her fellow Americans (Dee not included, obvs), this social worker falls in love with Lia and her family, making their plight her personal crusade. Chapter 17: The Eight Questions. Having given birth to twelve children in her native Laos, Foua and her family fled to a refugee camp in Thailand to escape the dangerous communist forces that had won control of her country in 1975. When Lia Lee was about three months old, her older sister Yer slammed the front door. In response, Lia's eyes rolled up, her arms jerked over her head, and she fainted. When two cultures collide in defending their beliefs on western medicines versus spiritual practices, the life of a young Hmong girl hangs in the balance in Anne Fadiman’s 1997 book, The Spirit. Lia Lee. eight hours in a Hmong home while an American doctor demanded the patient come to the hospital where the. A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. A social worker who works closely with Lia and the Lee family. Lia can sense when her seizures are coming. If a Hmong walked into a doctor’s office complaining of a stomachache, she says, he may actually be “complaining that the entire universe was out of balance. For the Hmong people,. Why do you think the author included them? 3. The Big One. The first chapters introduce the Hmong: both the family who suffers the book's tragedy, and the people as a whole. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the riveting narrative of a showdown between modern American medicine and ancient Hmong beliefs, a blow-by-blow account. com. Answering a question posed to her by a bigoted gas station clerk, she determines (in retrospect) that the reason the Hmong chose to settle in Merced has to do with Dang Moua, a local Hmong entrepreneur and businessman who. It never occurred to Foua and Nao Kao that their children would be in danger once they arrived in America. June 6th, this time for six months. The Shared Qualities of Opposing Sides of a Border: How Cultural Relations can Merge Characteristics between Different. Find out what happens in our Chapter 1 summary for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. Nao Kao and Foua were right! To make sense of all this, Anne turns to a series of eight questions coined by Harvard psychiatrist Arthur Kleinman. Nao Kao can tell that this one is serious, so he calls an ambulance for the first time. ”. • Chapter 1 - Birth. James Naas . It tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl with severe epilepsy, and her family’s journey with managing the condition and the cultural barriers that posed great challenges in Lia’s care. Since the seizure happens right after her older sister Yer slams the door, the Lees think the loud noise startled Lia's soul and made it flee her body. Nao Kao gained weight and had high blood pressure, while Foua. Although Jeanine works for the government, she manages to establish a connection with Nao Kao. Bill didn’t assign blame to Neil for not catching the sepsis. By now, Lia has been seizing for almost two hours. Dee is a gentle, kind person who devotes herself to caring for children. Next. Lia was carried by Foua or another older member of the family on the back in a nyias, an apron shaped baby carrier that Foua had embroidered and ornamented with bright colors and fuzzy pink pom-poms. Dialect obstructions and conviction framework contrasts kept Lia from accepting ideal care, despite the fact that both her family and the specialists did their closest to perfect to help. Chapter 10 describes a defining moment in Hmong history, working together with the defining crisis in Lia 's life that dominates Chapter 11 . Lia's doctors ascribed her seizures to the misfiring of her cerebral neurons; her parents called her illness, qaug dab peg--the spirit catches you and you fall down--and ascribed it to the wandering of her soul. Makenzie Griffith EDSE 460 Denise Hitchcock 1 March 2018 Midterm: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down It is a story about a family who shows so much loyalty to their traditions and cultures, but it clashes with the strict American “norm” and creates conflict. Dan Murphy Character Analysis. Yer, Lia’s older sister, slammed a door which triggered Lia’s first seizure. Unfortunately they might have arrived at the hospital more quickly on foot. Looks like you're viewing this page on a mobile device. 45. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Fadiman sensed something else amiss in the girl, too, admitting that perhaps her soul really was missing. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down was her first novel, published in 1997. Culture, or the learned beliefs, values, and behaviors of social groups, leads to major misunderstandings in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. by Monica Chiu, Ph. Chapter 2 introduces key facts about the Hmong, which place the Lees' behavior in a broader context. She was seen by the staff on countless other occasions that did not require admission. The Big One. She grew only a few inches, gained only a little weight, and always looked younger than her age. Neil's decision to send Lia into foster care throws a wrench into things, devastating Nao Kao and Foua and nearly breaking their family apart. Analysis. The doctors believe epilepsy is a pathological process in the brain, while the family believe “the spirit catches you and you fall down”. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down essays are academic essays for citation. , a Chinese emperor named Hoang-ti decrees that any Hmong convicted of a crime will be castrated. Contrary to the belief that the qualities of one side do not merge with those of the other, however, it. At the last minute, the wife changed her mind and cut the family down. Fadiman’s plot revolves around Lia, a Hmong girl born with severe epilepsy, and the. Villages are destroyed wholesale. A feast of traditional beef dishes followed the ceremony. The fact that it has a divine nature to them and the fact that the doctors see it only as a disease to be either cured or controlled foreshadows problems yet to come between the 2 cultures. Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10. When Lia first returned home from her time in foster care, everyone was elated. Summary When three-month-old Lia Lee arrived at the county hospital emergency room in Merced, California, a chain of events was set in motion from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Book review for Social and Cultural Perspectives of Public HealthThe timeline below shows where the character Yer Lee appears in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. The Shared Qualities of Opposing Sides of a Border: How Cultural Relations can Merge Characteristics between. Her full name is used only five times in the narrative. Unfortunately for Lia, her parents are in the same boat. When Fadiman told Foua that she’d gotten engaged, Foua was not surprised at all. In this miniscule event, two cultures with completely conflicting ideas came together to form a union. Nao Kao and Foua arrived at Children’s Valley Hospital after Lia and were troubled to learn about the spinal tap that had been inserted. Misunderstandings and disagreements manifested in day-to-day interactions reveal. In one story, he offers his home to two sisters, one good and one snotty. By far the most common cause of illness is soul loss. Lia Lee was born in central California’s Merced Community Medical Center (MCMC) in July 1982. While their children take their father's clan name, Foua follows Hmong tradition and retains Yang—her original clan name—after marriage. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down examines the ways in which people cling to various strongly-held tenets set forth by their cultures. 1). Writing both a literary profile and an in-depth ethnography, Fadiman devotes whole chapters to the history and context of the Hmong ethnic identity, which she characterizes as “independent, insular, antiauthoritarian, suspicious, stubborn, proud, choleric. Yet again,. When a rabies scare cropped up, to get the Hmong to bring in their dogs for vaccines, he organized a Rabies Parade in which there were three characters - a tiger, a chicken, and a dab - which told the people by loudspeaker to bring in their dogs. In hindsight, Lionel Rosenblatt, the former United States Refugee. (approx. of 150 and a full-body tan from taking vacations at a nudist camp. She's rushed to the hospital, where the doctors learn that the Lees are finally giving Lia the right amount of medication. Acclaimed by reviewers, “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” won a National Book Critics Circle Award. Lia was born in 1982 in Merced, California. Jeanine Hilt Character Analysis. Throughout The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Fadiman often references the Hmong’s maximalist worldview, which takes into account all aspects of life and seeks to acknowledge the interconnectedness of all things. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down tells the story of treating Lia’s epilepsy, examining her medical experience in Merced in order to consider divides between Hmong and American culture. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. The doctors prescribed anticonvulsants; her parents preferred animal sacrifices. They recognized the symptoms as qaug dab peg, "the. Although The Spirit Catches You is all about Lia, there's not much actually about Lia within its. The Lees endured the trauma of migrating on foot from Laos to Thailand, but Lia 's mother Foua says Lia's illness is more painful. Talking to Fadiman later, she and her husband tried to describe what it was like to see Lia in such a terrible state. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down essays are. Some of these perceptions are. S. Chapter 2 - Fish Soup. While working at a Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, Conquergood hosted a parade "led by three important characters from Hmong folktales" that also conveyed some very useful medical information (4. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Quiz 3. Both Hmong patients and Western doctors have biases about one another. Her parents were newly arrived Hmong immigrants from Laos. 1 Why did Nao Kao call an ambulance the night of Lia's big seizure? He thought that arriving in an ambulance would cause the doctors to pay more attention to Lia. It was awarded many honors including: A Salon Book Award Winner Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest Boston Book Review 1997 Ann Rea Jewell Non-Fiction Prize A New York Times. Hmong residents ask her if American doctors eat the organs of dead patients. Although the assignment called for a five-minute speech, he spoke for forty-five minutes by starting from the very. Nonetheless, when she came back inside after watching the family sacrifice a pig in the parking lot, the room’s atmosphere had changed. The doctors prescribed anticonvulsants; her parents preferred animal sacrifices. She grew only a few inches, gained only a little weight, and always looked younger than her age. She was the only one in her family to be born outside of Laos. Print Word PDF. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the riveting narrative of a showdown between modern American medicine and ancient Hmong beliefs, a blow-by-blow account of the battle fought. The Lees' story takes on a more reflective mood in Chapters 15 and 17–18. This chapter focuses on Lia’s birth and all the Hmong customs that went along with the birth of any child. “Lia was almost seven. Chapter 10 - War. The blogs will allow students to react to and reflect on each section's reading, keep track of Hmong. Topic: Literature Words: 1378 Pages: 5 Jul 4th, 2022. Chapter 5: Take as Directed. Chapter 3: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This Hyperink Quicklet includes an overall summary, chapter commentary, key characters, literary themes, fun trivia, and recommended related readings. There are interesting frictions and incongruities in these places, and often, if you stand at. Nao Kao Lee Character Analysis. Sofia Mejia Chapter 11 Analysis In this chapter of “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall. Integration and Assimilation Theme Analysis. As a writer, Fadiman herself moves in and out of her scenes; in some moments, she describes her conversations with Lia ’s. They call her condition qaug dab peg or "the spirit catches you and you fall down. The story starts with the Lee’s forced immigration to America and talks about Lia being born with epilepsy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. 5 out of 5. 5 out of 5 stars 4. Dan is the first doctor to diagnose Lia as epileptic after seeing her in the throes of a seizure during her third visit to the hospital. There is a moment of final suspense when Nao Kao tries to take Lia from the hospital before she is discharged. Back then the dude worked eighteen hours a day and still couldn't make ends meet. Acclaimed by reviewers, “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” won a National Book Critics Circle Award. “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anna Fadiman tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose life could have been different if only her family was caught up in western medicine. Hmong medicine consists of herbs and shamanism, a practice that interacts with the spiritual world. They are animists who believe spiritual forces affect the natural world. After working as a computer analyst in Paris, he relocated to Merced because he believed it was his “moral responsibility” to help his people in. In Hmong culture, epilepsy is known as "quag dab peg," which means "the spirit catches you and you fall down" (3. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman. The family lived in a refugee camp in California, and Lia’s parents treated her with traditional Hmong remedies. ) When the author took Selvidge’s information to Neil Ernst, he said that if he’d thought that Lia was septic, he would have done a lumbar puncture. Lia's treatment was complex—her anticonvulsant prescriptions changed 23 times in four years—and the Lees were sure the medicines were bad for their. Lia becomes a minor celebrity at MCMC. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a book by Anne Fadiman about a Hmong family (the Lee’s) that moved to the United States. In 2700 B. When Anne first meets Lia 's parents, Foua and Nao Kao, she's nervous as an outsider about gaining their trust. He knew that Lia needed the medical support of the EMTs during transport. Just after she finished eating, her face took on the strange, frightened expression that always preceded a seizure. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. Due to the diligent research and interviewing by the author, the reader is privy to all. Neil Ernst constantly questioned himself over whether his uncompromising standard of care had actually compromised Lia’s health. The spirit catches you and you fall down: a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures Acad Med. One of Lia ’s primary doctors (along with his wife, Peggy Philp) at Merced Community Medical Center. Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, tells the story of an epileptic Hmong child and her collision of two cultures. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997. ''. This Study Guide consists of approximately 38 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This question calls for your opinion, there is no right or worng answer. “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” is the story of a Hmong family living in Merced, California and their Daughter, Lia, who has severe epilepsy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1997. Language, religious beliefs, and ideas about parental authority all prevent the Lees and their doctors from understanding one another. “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anna Fadiman tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose life could have been different if only her family was caught up in western medicine. Yikes. 11-12 Ch. The even-numbered explanatory chapters often begin or end with a Hmong folktale illustrating an important aspect of the culture. Anyway, this sparks a rebellion that goes on for centuries, until the Hmong finally retreat into the mountains. Like Shee Yee, they are courageous and tenacious, and will fight or flee rather than surrender. In response, Lia's eyes rolled up, her arms jerked over her head, and she fainted. In her case, only Western medicine could've saved her father from colon cancer. Chapter 1. The spirit catches you and you fall down: a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. Lia ’s father and Foua ’s husband. Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. 0 5 Stars 1,365 4 Stars 425 3 Stars 149. As a philosopher, Renan contributes to the social work profession and this perspective by helping make sense of the world regarding race and ethnicity and how dominance negatively impacts disadvantaged populations This theory focuses on the. The snotty sister insults him, calling him dirty and ridiculing his poverty. Ultimately, everything comes to a head when Lia's doctor, Neil Ernst, gets fed up with this lack of communication and sends Lia into a foster home. When Fadiman ’s boyfriend visited her in Merced, Foua decided that she would help get her married. Peggy Philp and Neil ErnstThe Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down study guide contains a biography of Anne Fadiman, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. They haven't been back since. Shee Yee escaped nine evil dab brothers by shapeshifting into various forms and eventually biting a in the testicles. Just be glad you speak the same language. It has sold almost 900,000 copies, according to its publisher, Farrar, Straus. The Lee Children. 3-4 Ch. Their character proceeded from that. Animal sacrifice, a reverent occasion for the Hmong, is more difficult in America but still part of Hmong American life. So at least there's that. Neil is at home when Lia arrives at the hospital. Summary. OCLC. By these dictates, Laos was declared a neutral country. Anne updates readers on the book's key figures. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down essays are academic essays for citation. The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive. (Fadiman, 2012. Lia Lee. Writing both a literary profile and an in. sacrificed a pig and chickens, sometimes they want to do it in the hospital. On the day before Thanksgiving, Lia had a mild runny nose, but little appetite. At age three months Lia had had her first epileptic seizure—as the Lees put it, ``the spirit catches you and you fall down. Home The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Q & A 1. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1997. Writing both a literary profile and an in-depth ethnography, Fadiman devotes whole chapters to the history and context of the Hmong ethnic identity, which she characterizes as “independent, insular. There is a moment of final suspense when Nao Kao tries to take Lia from the hospital before she is discharged. Unfortunately, she couldn’t save their only son or her husband. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose tragic demise reveals the dangers of a lack of cross-cultural communication in the medical profession. , 2002). 00 Carol A Redding, MA, is a member of the American Medical Writers Association and an InformationSummary. . The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (1997) is an ethnography written by Anne Faidman. Though they eventually figure that stuff out, they never make too big. The Orphan is one of the recurring characters in Hmong folktales. Many Hmong people don't trust American doctors. Terry drops a bomb on her—he believes that Lia had caught "septic shock" while at the hospital, which was the real cause of her health problems (17. In California's Central Valley agricultural town of Merced, Hmong Americans make up one fifth of the population. The epileptic child whose tragic story illustrates the cultural divide between the Hmong and the American medical systems. Read the Review. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down . A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Analysis. 368 pp. Analysis. Birth. A Summary of National Trends, Department of Health, Durham University, Department for Education. Members of 14 Hmong clans live in Merced. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman. Medical, Racist, and Colonial Constructions of Power: Creating the Asian American Patient and the Cultural Citizen in Anne Fadiman’s . Many of Li’s healthcare provi. Published in 1997, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures is a remarkable masterpiece that feels just as significant today, more than 20 years after being published, for its commentary on cultural differences, social construction of illness, and most important of all. • Chapter 4 - Do Doctors Eat Brains? • Chapter 5 - Take As Directed. At the end of Chapter 12, Fadiman introduces the character of Shee Yee, the hero of the greatest Hmong folktales. The. Chapter 17: The Eight Questions. Chapter 15 - Gold and Dross. “ […. Downloadable / Printable Version. Fadiman presents Shee Yee as a symbol of the Hmong people. Fadiman continues to examine the arrival of the Hmong in California, rehashing some of her earlier ideas about xenophobia and welfare. In the Lees' view, Lia's soul had fled her body and become lost. Her first book, "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down," is an account of the unbridgeable gulf between a family of Hmong refugees and their American doctors. As a way of coping with the grief and uncertainty of Lia ’s medical complications, both the Lee family and MCMC’s team of doctors try to assign blame. Yet again, however, the medical system has the power. In the Lees' view, Lia's soul had fled her body and become lost. This book reveals the tragic struggles between a doctor and patient because of. “ […. The teacher's language has a rational detachment similar to the tone of the medical notes on Lia 's case. Q. When he received the call, he "drove to MCMC as fast as he could" (11. The little girl’s name is Lia Lee and she suffers from severe epilepsy at the very young age of 3 months. Nao Kao gained weight and had high blood pressure, while Foua. The office in his home—where Fadiman stays while conducting her research—is full of ethnographies of. “Don’t do that, there’s a good boy,” said Martin, addressing the little girl in English, of which she did not speak a word. Unlike her fellow. Shee Yee eventually transferred his powers to human tvix neebs, or shamans, who summon his spirit as they do his work. Free, fun, and packed with easy-to-understand explanations! The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, American journalist Anne Fadiman examines the intense collision between American and Hmong cultures through the case of Lia Lee, a Hmong child, who is too young and too sick to speak for herself. On November 25, 1986, the day before Thanksgiving, Lia was eating as normal when she began to seize. Foua and Nao Kao grow to distrust American medicine almost completely. She was in a "persistent vegetative state," able to breath, sleep, and cry, but showing no signs of self-aware. Her recently-deceased father was a well-respected txiv neeb —or shamanistic healer—who used to seize so. In the presentation, he spent forty-five minutes painstakingly detailing the entire process, from choosing the right kind of hook to go fishing to preparing. Their selection of this town is largely because of the influence of Dang Moua, an energetic Hmong American businessman. At this point, Fadiman finally goes beyond merely suggesting that doctors ask their Hmong patients what they believe is happening to them. When the Lee's settled in the United States Foua gave birth to a baby girl named Lia. Read the Review. They both work exceptionally hard and continually go the extra mile for the Lee family. And it gets worse. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. Illness had come when the wife of a wicked. Chapter 19: The Sacrifice. Chapter 12 Summary: “Flight”. . When she learns that Anne's boyfriend is in town, she decides to "dress [Anne] as a Hmong bride" to entice her bae into popping the question (8. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. However, he now wonders if it might have been better to keep Lia's prescriptions more consistent so that her parents could more easily comply and so that they would. Section One: Chapters 1-4; Section Two: Chapters 5-8; Section Three: Chapters 9-14; Section Four: Chapters 15-19; My Review and Takeaways;. Fadiman gives a survey of sacrificial events in Hmong culture,. Jeanine Hilt. Explain the meaning of the book's title. When Lia was around three months old, her older sister Yer slammed a door and Lia had her first seizure. The narrator—Anne—reflects on her time with the Lees, a Hmong American family living in Merced, California. ] as threats," Nao Kao grabs Lia and attempts to flee the hospital (13. Fadiman writes that Lia was seven when she first met her, which was two years after she had entered a nonresponsive state (her doctors called this a “persistent vegetative state”). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). 15-16 Ch. 10). Fadiman came to Merced in 1988 after hearing that the hospital was experiencing a swath of cultural misunderstandings and miscommunications with the Hmong community. Lia has another, even worse seizure three days before Thanksgiving, 1986. Chapter 7: Government Property. Sukey’s business card read, in Hmong and Lao, “Fixer of Hearts. Nao Kao and Foua are devastated. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down tells the story of treating Lia’s epilepsy, examining her medical experience in Merced in order to consider divides between Hmong and American culture. Chapter. When Fadiman ’s boyfriend visited her in Merced, Foua decided that she would help get her married. We're at the Lee's apartment and a txiv neeb has just arrived "to perform a healing ceremony for Lia" (19. Although this book has been incorporated into standard curriculum in the university and medical school training settings, consideration of how The Spirit. The second student was a Hmong, who proceeded to speak about a recipe for fish soup. In 1973, 150,000 members of the Hmong ethnicity—the Lees included—were forced from their homes after "their country fell to communist forces" (1. 2 pages at 400 words per page) It is no surprise that Fadiman obsessed over the idea that the gulf between Hmong culture and Western medicine might be “unbridgeable,” since the very aim of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is to examine the missed avenues of communication in a disastrous instance of cross-cultural misunderstanding. The. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a 1997 nonfiction book by American journalist Anne Fadiman. ‘The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down’ is the literal translation of the Hmong terminology for an epileptic seizure. Her parents assumed the noise of the door had caused her soul to flee. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is based on a true story that involves the collision of American and Hmong cultures. Now we know where the overbearing-and-oppressive idea comes from. Major characters Lia Lee ( Romanized Popular Alphabet: Liab Lis, [4] July 19, 1982 – August 31, 2012. After hearing more good things about Cali from his brother, Dang Moua buys a cheap car. Description. Foua carried her in a large, embroidered nyias, or baby carrier, preferring it to the wheelchair provided by the Merced County Health Department. Her seizures normally lasted only a few minutes, but when she didn't get better, Nao Kao's nephew, who spoke English, called an ambulance. is our MonkeyNotes downloadable and printable book summary / study guide / booknotes / synopsis / analysis for "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman in PDF format. She went to Merced after hearing reports of misunderstandings between medical staff and Hmong patients at the county hospital—the Merced Community Medical Center (MCMC). Nothing like medical problems and totally opposite cultures to show you how messed up things. The narrator—Anne—reflects on her time with the Lees, a Hmong American family living in Merced, California. The book is about a young Hmong child named Lia Lee. Fadiman came to Merced in 1988 after hearing that the hospital was experiencing a swath of cultural misunderstandings and miscommunications with the Hmong community. The Shared Qualities of Opposing Sides of a Border: How Cultural Relations can Merge Characteristics between Different. Though Lia 's mother Foua Yang gives birth to Lia in the United States, she delivered 12 children in her native Laos. 540 Words3 Pages. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores issues of culture, immigration, medicine, and the war in [Laos] with such skill that it's nearly impossible to put down. Analysis. Fadiman is skeptical at first: the txiv neeb (shaman) is kinda goofy, and the whole solemnity of the thing is. Book Details. the Hmong have established their own. Fadiman rounds out the Lees ’ family story by detailing their escape from Laos. 1-2 Ch. Print Word PDF. Cultural and geographical borders within any society are believed to create boundaries that limit similarities between those on opposite sides. After graduating in 1975, she wrote for a variety of publications, including Harper's, Life magazine, and The New York Times. They preferred it to the pediatric wheelchair. Fadiman reminds readers that The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down was written in the 1990s and concerned itself with events that took place in the ’80s. 47352453. 19 - Afterword Chapter 19: The Sacrifice According to Hmong folklore, Shee Yee, the sorcerer who had turned into a tiny red ant and bit the evil dab on the testicle, had spent many years fighting dabs and restoring health to the sick. These babies were born at home on a dirt floor. 1-2 Ch. . …. Dee falls in love with Lia and cares for her like her own. At age three months Lia had had her first epileptic seizure—as the Lees put it, ``the spirit catches. One of Lia ’s primary doctors, and Neil Ernst ’s wife. To make matters worse, Fadiman writes, the Hmong believe that many Western medical practices run the risk of harming patients. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis Next Chapter 4 Themes and Colors Key Summary Analysis Three months after her healthy birth, Lia. ― Sherwin B. “Don’t do that, there’s a good boy,” said Martin, addressing the little girl in English, of which she did not speak a word. However, the Lees become discouraged when they notice Lia's verbal skills have regressed. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Fadiman notes that many Hmong believe spinal taps are “potentially crippling both in this life and in future lives. In the Hmong language the term for epilepsy is qaug dab peg. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down tells the story of treating Lia’s epilepsy, examining her medical experience in Merced in… read analysis of Lia Lee. In Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, two cultures clash with each other in the struggle to save Lia Lee, a Hmong child refugee with severe epilepsy. Chapter 19: The Sacrifice. Like many shamanic cultures, the Hmong believe that the condition serves as the gateway between our world and the. Their journey in The Spirit Catches You reveals a great deal about the challenges they face—and they benefits they enjoy—as the younger generation of Hmong-American immigrants. Lia’s doctors ascribed her seizures to the misfiring of her cerebral neurons; her parents called her illness, qaug dab peg–the spirit catches you and you fall down–and ascribed it to the wandering of her soul. Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. S medical system battles with their traditional Hmong healing methods. C. Lia’s parents cared for her deeply, yet this arguable preventable tragedy still occurred. Learn how to create in-text citations and a full citation/reference/note for The s pirit catches you and you fall down by Anne Fadiman using the examples below. Fadiman continues to examine the arrival of the Hmong in California, rehashing some of her earlier ideas about xenophobia and welfare. Social Media Book Review by Chirag Mitra ,No 18533168,MPH&MHA, Social And cultural Perspectives of Health,La Trobe university,Summary and Analysis of Chapter 14 of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. She grew only a few inches, gained only a little weight, and always looked younger than her age.