Genie: A Scientific Tragedy is a heartbreaking story that I did not enjoy reading. Feral children is not a topic that usually interests, but I was genuinely surprised with how far I got with this book. I had first heard about Genie’s story prior to reading this book, when my mother showed me a YouTube video about the astounding child. This video discussed Genie’s life struggles and made me very curious to learn more. However, I did not enjoy all of the details I learned from reading this book. A little girl who had been socially isolated for atleast ten years was discovered in 1970 in the Los Angeles, CA area. She was nicknamed “Genie” by scientists, but her real name is Susan Wiley. When “Genie” was little, her father made the executive decision …show more content…
However, it is reassuring and amazing to see Genie’s progress in learning and acquiring new skills. It provides an insight on the brain’s ability to continuously learn and adapt despite harrowing deprivation and abuse. It is a great book on the discussion of nature versus nurture. Overall, I viewed the book as a deeply sad story with a major theme of child abuse and it impacted my life in many ways. One quote that really stood out to me, which was said by her language tutor Susan Curtiss, was about why she was nicknamed “Genie.” It was something along the lines of how when we think about what a genie is, we think of a creature coming out of a bottle or whatever, emerging into society for the first time. I agree that “Genie” is very similar to a genie in that after her rescue, she is experiencing the world for the first time. This story caused me to realize how lucky I am to live in the environment and receive the love and care that I do. In my opinion, this book was a page-turner, yet each page I read made me dread learning what happened next. This was the most tragic story I have ever read and for that I really did not enjoy it; the topic and theme were tough for me to handle. I’m also eager to know how Genie is doing today, but no one seems to know where she is or how she’s doing. In conclusion, I did not enjoy the book very much personally, but I would probably recommend it to
Genies isolation caused her to not be able to perform basic human task. Like walking upright, talking, feeding herself, toileting herself, and her physical development was never learned because of her isolation. The fact that Genie had no contact with the outside world and not much positive contact with her parents it made her underdeveloped physically, emotionally, socially and psychologically. I feel like the process of socialization is important because it makes it possible for us to fully function as human beings. Socialization and social interaction are the normal development of humans. Without either, we would not be able to survive as humans. Socialization is the process of learning how to become part of a culture. Through socialization we as humans, learn our cultures language, role in life, and what is expected from us. It is also a very important process in forming our personalities. Without socialization a person will develop different physical and mental disabilities which happened in Genies
When Genie was first brought to the hospital for tests, she weighed only fifty-nine pounds. She was incontinent, could not chew solid food, could barely swallow, and could not focus her eyes beyond twelve feet. She salivated persistently and spat erratically. In addition, she could not hop, skip, climb, or even stand erect. Most importantly, she could not speak, only whine.
Susan “Genie” Wiley was discovered on November 4, 1970 when her mother, who was nearly blind, sought public assistance in Temple City, California after escaping from her abusive husband. When she was discovered she could not talk and had a “bunny-like” walk. She was starved, tortured, and forgotten. She was given the name Genie to protect her privacy (McMahan 2014).
When Genie , also known as Wild Child, was first found she was very pale and badly malnourished. Genie was also very underweight, weak and couldn't speak. Her condition was terrifying she was born in an environment where she didn't have much contact with human beings, and was basically tied to a toilet chair. Genie’s situation gathered people from all over the world, because they hadn’t seen like it. To some this experiment involves a “nature experiment,” because she was isolated her whole life and heard at least no words when isolated, but she still had that building block to learn. However, I believe that the “nurture environment,” was more necessary because without a nurture period it may never be regained. This enabled her to make up for
The film Genie: Secrets of a Wild Child is about a girl who had been kept in isolation for over a decade. She was abused and tied to a potty chair, in a confined room, prior to her discovery on November 4, 1970 by a social worker. After her discovery researchers wanted to see if a nurturing environment was able to compensate for her barbaric upbringing. For the next four years she became a test subject for psychologists, psychiatrists and linguists from all over the world. She was apart of various experiments and was constantly being assessed by numerous researchers. For majority of the four years, Genie lived with the Rigler family. David Rigler was one of the psychologists working on her case. However in 1974, due to the lack of scientific findings, the National Institute of Mental Health revoked funding for the research. Subsequently, less than a year later, Genie moved back to live with her widowed mother; as her father had committed suicide upon the authorities finding her.
Genie, The Wild Child is a video of a child who was kept isolated from the outside world for about 13 years. This video shows how she was discovered and how she was able to cope with the new environment presented before her. She was kept inside her room because her father though that she was mentally retarded when she was born.
Without ever knowing her real name, the world only knows her as Genie and she gave us a backstage pass in uncertainty of the future for a wild child.
Have you ever wanted to be granted wishes; maybe from a genie or another mythical creatures? In the two stories we have read they have dealt with genies. In one story they was a good genie that wanted to help make dreams come true and the other story wanted to destroy a man’s life. Both stories have many differences, but they also have many similarities involving tricking the genies back into their homes and sending them far away where nobody would be able to find them.
The first effect of the birth imagery is to present the speaker's book as a reflection of what she sees in herself. Unfortunately, the "child" displays blemishes and crippling handicaps, which represent what the speaker sees as deep faults and imperfections in herself. She is not only embarrassed but ashamed of these flaws, even considering them "unfit for light". Although she is repulsed by its flaws, the speaker understands that her book is the offspring of her own "feeble brain", and the lamentable errors it displays are therefore her own.
Automatically I asked for my first wish, “ Your wish is my command.” Then POOF! I grew much taller, but not as tall as the genie was, and had facial hair. I feel my face and look in the mirror, a beard! I have always wanted a beard. The genie disappears and I walk out the store with the man behind the counter looking up at me. When I get outside, I am amazed at what I see. A brand new car sitting in the parking lot, magically, the keys to that beaut was in my hand. I pop open the door and took off. Being 18 was amazing.
After being taken to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, her treatment and research began with great curiosity from both the media and scholars alike. Throughout the duration of Genie's education, she faced a number of problems in both aspects of language and social skills. To begin with, Genie was raised in an impoverished environment for the majority of her life. At a psychological standpoint, this may have led to neurological effects. Studies show that the environment one is raised in has a significant effect on brain development, which can be the cause of Genie's initial language acquisition issues (Myers, 2010, p.
The first concept that comes about in the movie is that she has been trapped inside of that tower her whole life, without any access to the world or the people in it until her teenage years. Meaning she had no peers, or other influences to form her into a normal person. In relation to learning about children being cut off from society, this situation is similar to the story of Genie who was locked inside a room in her house for 13 years. Genie experienced severe neglect, abuse, and malnutrition. Genie was strapped to a chair for a majority of the time, which made it very hard for her to develop normally. When she was found, she barely knew how to talk, but she could speak a few words. Rapunzel being in the same environment minus the abuse, didn’t develop any of the problems that Genie did except being hidden from the world making it very hard to develop social skills.
I watched the documentary “Secret of the Wild Child”, on a girl who was in isolation from birth to thirteen years old. Her name was Genie and is referred to as a feral child. This means she was without human contact from a young age, and has no experience of human care, social behavior, and, of the human language. Feral children are often known as being raised as animals and therefore imitating their behaviors. However, a child who is severely neglected is also considered a feral child. During the time she was discovered, around 1970, there was a major debate in the field of psychology. The famous nature verses nurture argument, meaning does genetics play a greater role in development or does one’s environment. In the case of Genie, the real focus was on her language development and deciphering if there was a critical age to learn a language.
Upon the discovery of such a case, scientist began to study Genie and attempted to use the lack of her social development to support or disprove several hypotheses. In the meantime, the poor girl’s exposure went from one extreme to another, as her environment had shifted from a complete and total isolation to an overwhelming path of new experiences. For a while, Genie was successful at learning the language and she became more social with the people around her.
When Genie the world’s most famous “feral child” was discovered, she didn’t how to speak, had no understanding of cultural norms or taboos, and was thought to be mentally handicapped. Until she was thirteen, Genie was raised in almost complete