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
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that she was mentally retarded and he needed to “protect” her, and that the best way for her to live was to be strapped to an infant potty seat for her whole life. Genie was only twenty months old when her father began tying her that infant potty seat with a harness he made himself. Genie would sit isolated in a dark room on her chair, only able to move her fingers and toes, and only able to see her cage-like crib that she would sleep in (if her father remembered to move her) and about an inch of the outside world through the window. The suffering did not end there. Genie would often be beaten with a stick when she made any noise at all, and she was tormented daily by barking noises from her father whenever he didn’t feel like beating her. The father would bark because Genie was afraid of dogs. Also, Genie was only ever fed baby food and bottles of milk, if her parents remembered to feed her at all. Whenever Genie wasn’t suffering abuse, she was so severely neglected. This suffering continued for nearly 13 years, and her eventual discovery was accidental! Genie’s mother walked into the wrong office at social services, and the story of horrific abuse was discovered. The child, who, at first glance, was thought to be approximately 6, was in fact 13. She was malnourished and could not speak even one word. Doctors and scientists soon learned of her physical, social, intellectual, and emotional abuse, and began studying Genie during her hospital stay. For the next 4 years of her life, Genie was studied in an attempt to learn how children develop if they were deprived of any normal conversation, toys, play, or human interaction. Bounced back and forth between foster parents, institutions, and her nearly blind biological mother (her father shot and killed himself in 1970), Genie never really caught a break. However, Genie still managed to come a long way with her development. This story does not have a happy ending.
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
others.
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.
Antwone Fisher was an individual that endured so many things. He faced a lot of challenges that may have seemed impossible to recover from. This story was an example of the many things that some children may experience. Antwone was not raised in an upper crust home. He did not grow up in a home in which his mother and father was present. Instead of having positive role models, he had to live with individuals that were abusive to him. When observing Antwone’s personality, one may refer to two different theorists such as Bandura and Rogers.
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.
Relationships can only survive through adapting to constant change. Without that aspect, they would not last. In Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a boy with Aspergers goes through life surrounded by mystery, dishonesty, and dysfunctionality. Because of this, secrets are revealed, relationships are changed, and the connection between family is brought into a new light. Through these events, the boy and his family discover and rediscover their ties with each other. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the author demonstrates that the ability to adapt and change is the most essential characteristic in life because it strengthens relationships, as illustrated through Christopher, his mother
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.
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.
... growth where a child is forced to start looking for solutions for everything that is wrong instead of simply being a child. This analysis prove that children have their own way of seeing things and interpreting them. Their defense mechanisms allow them to live through hard and difficult times by creating jokes and games out of the real situation. This enables then to escape the difficulties of the real world.
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
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.
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).
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
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.
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.
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.
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