Bioethics and Medical Issues in Literature (Exploring Social Issues through Literature) - Hardcover

Stripling, Mahala Y.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0313320403 ISBN 13: 9780313320408

Publisher: Greenwood, 2005

Synopsis

Bioethical and medical issues are among the most important concerns facing society today. Yet many of these contemporary debates have been anticipated and addressed in literary works. Designed to meet the needs of high school students, as well as college students or those in the health care field, this reference defines and situates major bioethical and medical issues in accessible literature ranging from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) to Margaret Edson's Wit (1999). Included are discussions of such topics as cloning, bioterrorism, organ transplants, genetics, obesity and heart disease, AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, and civil rights. Chapters are devoted to broad categories, with each chapter discussing two major literary works.

Tremendous advances in science and technology have made bioethical and medical issues central to contemporary philosophical debates. Many of these modern concerns have been anticipated and addressed to varying degrees in numerous literary works. Designed to meet the needs of high school students and teachers, pre-med and other college students, as well as any one in or entering a health care profession, this reference, a valuable addition to academic and public libraries, discusses literature as a means of approaching medical and bioethical issues. Chapters look at such broad topics as technology's creature, illness and culture, and end of life issues, with each chapter offering a close examination of two major literary works.

Special features include a chronology of events in literature, medicine, and science; a glossary of literary, medical, and scientific terms; and lists of movies, Web sites, books and journals, and teaching methods.

About this title

About the Author

Mahala Yates Stripling is an independent scholar who lectures widely at such places as Yale Medical School and the University of Texas Medical Branch, and who publishes extensively in medical humanities journals. Her work has appeared in The Journal of Medical Humanities, Medical Humanities Review, Studies in Psychoanalytic Theory, and other publications.

Reviews

This series promotes a multidisciplinary and multicultural approach to teaching literature across the curriculum. Each title includes a chronology of events related to the literature and the social issues(s), an introduction, discussions about the works with plot synopses, literary analyses, historical context, further-reading suggestions, lists of topics for written and oral discussion, and recommended movies and Web sites. Bioethics examines such works as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Albert Camus' The Plague, and Margaret Edson's Wit. Race delves into Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Richard Wright's Native Son, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street, Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, Chaim Potok's The Chosen, and more. Worthwhile additions for schools with an integrated curriculum.–Pat Bender, The Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0313320403
• ISBN 13: 9780313320408
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256