PUBH410 Historical and Contemporary Public Health Challenges
Unit 4-Individual Assignment
Select one of these two options as your assignment. Read the instructions carefully. After you draft your essay, reread these instructions and then review what your wrote searching for if you missed anything. Then review the quality of your writing and search for any grammatical or typing errors.
Option 1. This prompt will require you to consider the evolution of enforced removal policy of persons with leprosy at different times in history. You will need to review and summarize the history of leprosy including key events and the rationale for those events that may derive from cultural/religious beliefs. Although there are slides on Blackboard from the presentation about the history of leprosy, it is important that you also find, refer to, and reference additional sources to embellish your essay. It will be especially important to elucidate how at different times of history and in different places there were different beliefs and knowledge of the transmission of leprosy. You will need to develop a narrow thesis statement, underline it so the instructor can immediately identify it, and construct an essay to support that thesis grounded in your analysis and interpretation of the “evidence” you present. Your essay must not exceed 1500 words, so make each thought count!
The writing assignment:
Explain the historical and cultural context that led to the creation of public health policy involving enforced removal of person’s with Hansen’s disease from society to places like Carville and Molokai. In other words, why did they do this to people with leprosy and why might it have made sense to policy makers in the past? Then discuss the ethical tensions inherent in such a public health practice (the pros and cons) and specific reasons why these institutions have since released their residents and closed.
This assignment is designed to evaluate your ability to explain the evolution of thought concerning a controversial public health policy with consideration of human rights and principles of social justice.
You are encouraged to use short quotations from historical and religious sources to support your statements—and explain in your own words exactly how the quotation serves your position. A few references to get you started are provided below.
You are urged to supplement your position with a few additional references from the public health and historical literature. Make sure you cite sources within the paper, and provide a list of references. At the bottom of this document are a few examples of references you might find helpful.
Developing a sharply focused thesis statement is advisable. A narrow thesis statement will lead you to specific examples to illustrate your points.
Your essay will be scored using the rubric. Do not hesitate to visit the Writing Center for assistance in planning or reviewing your essay before submission. Remember to proofread before submitting.
A few references you might find helpful or feel free to find others.
Book: A Disease Apart. Leprosy in the Modern World. Tony Gould
Book: The Colony. John Tayman
Journal article: A History of Leprosy in Iran during the 19th and 20th Centuries
Mohammad Hossein Azizi MD, Moslem Bahadori MD, Arch Iran Med. 2011 Nov;14(6):425-30. doi: 011146/AIM.0014.
Journal article: The Gillis W. Long Hansen’s Disease Center at Carville.
J Parascandola Public Health Reports. 1994 Nov-Dec; 109(6): 728–730.
Journal article: Leprosy control, public health paradigms and stigma. Awofeso N.
Aust N Z J Public Health. 2011 Feb;35(1):9-11. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2010.00662.x.
Option 2. This prompt will require you to identify a major theme or themes in the book, The Pearl Diver, and to identify short quotations that support these themes. Be careful not to use long quotations because they will boost your word count without strengthening your essay. You are graded more on the quality of your thinking than on the ability to push your word count up to the maximum words allowed. Better to have many good short quotations than any long ones. You will need to develop a thesis statement and construct an essay to support that thesis grounded in your analysis and interpretation of the “evidence” you present. Your essay must not exceed 1500 words, so make each thought count!
The writing assignment:
Symbolism has been defined as a style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express ideas, emotions, and states of mind. The Pearl Diver is rich in symbolism. Create a thesis statement about the author’s use of symbolism to convey a particular theme, and support it with short quotations and explanations of your selections. Then explain how these selections help to support that theme(s) in the book that may be relevant to public health. Clearly state what precisely these themes are in your thesis statement. Underline your thesis statement.
This assignment is designed to evaluate your ability to recognize literary themes that are relevant to public health and how symbolic expression can be a powerful force in conveying those to an audience.
• Developing a sharply focused thesis statement is advisable. A narrow thesis statement will lead you to specific examples to illustrate your points.
Your essay will be scored using the rubric. Do not hesitate to visit the Writing Center for assistance in planning or reviewing your essay before submission. Remember to proofread before submitting.