Henrietta Lacks Tone

Written by Rebecca Skloot, the novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, utilizes the three major rhetorical appeals in order to convey her purpose to the readers. In attempt to expose the HeLa cells, Skloot is successful in creating many complicated views on the story such as trust. The main purpose of this book is to inform readers in effort to create discussion about the ethics behind the tragic story of Henrietta Lacks through her expert manipulation of ethos, pathos, and logos. Within the first few pages, ethos is established heavily.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot explores the historically racist treatment of black patients by doctors. Henrietta was alienated by her doctors and was not educated about her disease and the things they were doing to her body. Elsie, Henrietta’s daughter, was wrongfully experimented on by the doctors that were supposed to be taking care of her in the mental institution. African Americans as a whole race have always been ostracized by their doctors and scientists since their history in America began.

If Ms Skloot had not been a part of the story, the book would not have been as interesting. Ms. Skloot's inclusion to the life of the Lacks family allowed the viewers to be in her shoes. The readers were able to see through the eyes of the author, as she goes on the quest to earn the trust from the Lacks and later on show the world that Hela wasn’t just a world changing cell but a person with a family and a life. The faith healing scene in page 289 would also have felt different because Skloot's existence in the scene gave it a feeling of bond that she had made with Deborah and Gary. Some other scene that made a difference because of her presence is in chapter 6. She was so eager to connect with the Lacks family. Skloot constantly calls

Rebecca Skloot, however, used a different perspective in her portrayal of Lacks. This is evident in the way in which she conducted her research and the way she wrote the book. Skloot’s book, The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, included both the “scientific element concerns the origin and the subsequent uses of the HeLa cell line of cultured cancer cells” (Harper, 2011, p. 463) and the social and

Henrietta Lacks is not a common household name, yet in the scientific and medical world it has become one of the most important and talked names of the century. Up until the time that this book was written, very few people knew of Henrietta Lacks and how her cells contributed to modern science, but Rebecca Skloot aimed to change this. Eventually Skloot was able to reach Henrietta’s remaining family and through them she was able to tell the story of not only the importance of the HeLa cells but also Henrietta’s life.

In expressing the power of privilege, Skloot talks about race, poverty, and the powerlessness that come from the absence of education. She discusses scientific ambition that Henrietta’s cells used to treat basic flu and cancers. The goal of taking the cells was

In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. She has composed this biography of Henrietta Lacks to inform her readers about the hard reality that the Lacks family went through. In order to grasp a better understanding about this novel we will first uncover some details about Henrietta and her cells. Next, we will discuss how she came from a large family and that they were originally from Virginia. Finally, we will examine what she did after she moved to Baltimore and what happened after the move throughout the first two chapters.

Skloot’s initial interest in Henrietta was born out of sheer curiosity, but turned into a genuine want to help Deborah know her mother and understand what happened to her. Skloot’s genuine care for people can be insinuated in her description of the time she spent with Deborah, as she says, “Each time I visited, we’d walk the Baltimore Harbor, ride boats, read science books together, and talk about her mother’s cells” (Skloot 251). The book took a backseat to helping Deborah. She wasn’t concerned with publishing her book quickly and making money quickly; she truly wanted to help Deborah understand what happened to her mother. She handled Deborah’s erratic bouts of paranoia with grace, patiently and calmly waiting for her to come around

Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks should be included as a work of summer reading for its model of literary merit and valuable entertainment.

Henrietta Lacks had cervical cancer and Doctor TeLinda took samples of her cells without telling her or her family. Doctor TeLinda put the samples in a tubes with the help of Doctor Gey exchange for same of Lacks cells, they named them “HeLa” (Skloot 41). A young woman named Rebecca Skloot found out about Henrietta Lacks, Skloot was only sixteen. After research into Lacks, her family, and “HeLa” cells for about ten years, she wrote an award-winning book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot was a winner of several awards, including the 2010 Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Nonfiction, the 2010 Wellcome Trust Book Prize, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Award for Excellence in Science Writing, the 2011

The story took place in Baltimore in the early and mid 1900s, when prejudice was prominent and black people were not treated fairly or equally by white people. Moreover, the entire black community was terrified of night doctors, who would kidnap black people for scientific testing, and the book states that “fear of the night doctors only increased in the early 1900s, as black people migrated north to Washington D.C., and Baltimore” (166). This shows that the setting of the story had a huge impact on the book, as black people were taken advantage of routinely against their will. This is what happened to Henrietta, as she had to drive miles and miles to go to the only hospital around that would serve black people just to have her cells were taken without her consent by white scientists and used for the benefit of others. The author also uses many changes in point of view in the story to provide more background and portray the many different ideas and views of different people. For example, Skloot starts off telling the story from Henrietta’s point of view, showing her family and her struggles through her time with cancer. Then, she switches over to the eyes of a scientist who was working with Henrietta’s cells in a lab and working to grow the cells to benefit the scientific world. Finally, the author tells the story through her own eyes as she had to acquire information about Henrietta’s personal life through Henrietta’s family and the struggle she went through to get it. The setting of the story and the changes in point of view used by the author improve the story

After her death in 1951, for six decades, Henrietta Lacks did not exist in the eyes of the society, but her cells did. How? Well, the answer is quite simple. HeLa Cells are the first immortal human cells. These cells never die and multiply every twenty-four hours. After spending 10 years to perfect her first book, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot essentially captured the life, the death, and aftermath of Henrietta Lacks’ life. With controversial issues regarding science, ethics, race, and class Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey. From the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells, from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover,

When I first heard about the book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", I thought it was just a reading assignment when I was in high school that I had to complete for a grade. As I began reading I became particularly interested in Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells. In "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", Rebecca Skloot talks about Henrietta Lacks and how her cells were taken without her permission, and how her family suffered afterwards. Skloot shows how medicine and science were seen back in the 1950's compared to now.

The effect the discovery and creation of the HeLa cells made on the science community and Henrietta’s family had a domino effect. Both had different opinions and beliefs on the matter; this led to some difficult questions asked of the family and of the medical community. Due to the new and advanced methods of experimentation, the HeLa cells made to to the field of science, the scientific community and the media failed to remember that Henrietta and her family were not abstractions but actual people. Rebecca Skloot, however, took into account the Lack’s family, she inquired both the history of the HeLa cells as well as the Lacks family, treating them as actual people with inalienable rights.

“The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks” written by Rebecca Skloot exposes the truth about a colored woman, Henrietta Lacks, who died from cancer leaving five children and a husband behind. Before her death doctors took her cells,without her or her family consent, to do there own research and experiments. They discovered that her cells were immortal, they became the first immortal cells known as the HeLa cells..After the discoverment the Lacks family were never told that Henrietta Lacks cells were used, bought and sold. Through the HeLa cells the scientist had made money while Henrietta kids were mistreated and were in poor situations.It wasnt till 25 years later that the Lacks family found out about the HeLa cells doing miracles. Rebecca Skloot though “The immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” was able to explain the unethical situations that the Lacks family faced after Henrietta’s death.