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Summary on the movie wit
Wit movie summary analysis
Reflection paper on the wit movie
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The Movie "Wit" In the movie Wit, English literary scholar Vivian Bearing has spent years translating and interpreting the poetry of John Donne. Unfortunately, she is a person who has cultivated her intellect at the expense of her heart. Both colleagues and students view Bearing as a chilly and unfriendly person lost in her private world of words and mysterious thoughts. At the age of 48, she is diagnosed with stage-four metastatic ovarian cancer. Dr. Kelekian wants her to take eight high-dose experimental chemotherapy treatments for eight months. He warns her that she will need to be "tough" to rely upon large reserves of inner courage and willpower. Vivian tries to remain tolerant as she suffers through questions and tests from technicians; "grand rounds," where she is prodded by medical students and treated like a specimen rather than a human being. Through her whole ordeal she has to face the loneliness of the hospital not to mention of grueling time spent in an isolation ward. She had no visitors, and the hospital was no place for fun. There is even a part in the movie where Vivian speaks about the dull and tedious hospital atmosphere. Most regrettably, through all of this she is dealing with the terrible side-effects of the chemotherapy; and then the pain of the still spreading cancer. Through several flashbacks we gain insights into Vivian's life: an encounter with her mentor E. M. Ashford, who warns her to spend more time with friends; a ...
As we near the end of the book, however, we see a change in Vivian. “One day, to everyone’s shock and amazement except Molly’s, Vivian announces that she wants to get a computer” (Kline 263). This quote shows a little about Vivian opening up to the new world and she is no longer isolating herself.
It was Dr. Quill’s observation that “she was an incredibly clear, at times brutally honest, thinker and communicator.” This observation became especially cogent after Diane heard of her diagnosis. Dr. Quill informed her of the diagnosis, and of the possible treatments. This series of treatments entailed multiple chemotherapy sessions, followed by a bone marrow transplant, accompanied by an array of ancillary treatments. At the end of this series of treatments, the survival rate was 25%, and it was further complicated in Diane’s case by the absence of a closely matched bone-marrow donor.
As we near the end of the book, however, we see a change in Vivian. “One day, to everyone’s shock and amazement except Molly’s, Vivian announces that she wants to get a computer” (Kline 263). This quote shows a little about how Vivian is opening up to the new world and no longer isolating herself. As we know, Vivian gave up her only biological child and she jokes lightly in the book by saying, “I suppose this is why people have children, isn’t it? So somebody will care about the stuff they leave behind” (Kline 52). However, later on, Vivian gives to Molly one of her prized possessions, the book Anne of Green Gables. This is a very important moment in their relationship because Vivian is passing on a piece of herself to Molly and it shows that Vivian is starting to see Molly as more than a random girl. She may even see her as a pseudo daughter as in the end of the book she lets Molly stay with her instead of going to another foster home. Vivian has opened up greatly throughout the story, but she only did so in reflection to Molly’s
Although illness narratives are not novel or new, their prevalence in modern popular literature could be attributed to how these stories can be relatable, empowering, and thought-provoking. Susan Grubar is the writer for the blog “Living with Cancer”, in The New York Times, that communicates her experience with ovarian cancer (2012). In our LIBS 7001 class, Shirley Chuck, Navdeep Dha, Brynn Tomie, and I (2016) discussed various narrative elements of her more recent blog post, “Living with Cancer: A Farewell to Legs” (2016). Although the elements of narration and description (Gracias, 2016) were easily identified by all group members, the most interesting topics revolved around symbolism as well as the overall impression or mood of the post.
When readers reflect on the poetry of the seventeenth century, poets such as John Donne and the
Margaret Edson’s Wit is a touching play that takes the reader through a woman’s critical journey from being diagnosed with stage-four metastatic ovarian cancer to gaining an understanding of life and its many intricacies. This woman is Dr. Vivian Bearing, and she tackles the incredible challenge of cancer with her unique relationship with words. Her wit and intimacy with words are what cause enormous upheaval in her life up until the very end. Words were the keystone of Bearing’s profession, but they turn on her during her experience with cancer. Then, this reversal gives her a true understanding of the poet John Donne, and finally the doctor can see the value of human beings and relationships. Through these events, Edson produces a resounding
Violet’s mother, who Violet struggles to have a relationship with, accepts Rose’s illness first and approaches it matter-of-factly. Though Violet hints that her mother difficult woman by stating that she is “widely regarded as eccentric” (22) and that they have a strained relationship by looking to Rose as her ”guide to…my mother’s moods” (22), the woman that emerges by the end of the story is strong, sensitive, and intensely devoted to her children. Violet starts showing that sensitive side of her mother when Rose is first taken away, by reassuring Violet that while “Some people go crazy…You never will” (22). She shows the devoted side by telling of her mother’s refusal to accept anything but the best care for her daughter when they came to a place that “had no pictures on the walls, no windows, and the patients all wore slippers with the hospital crest on them” and she “didn’t even bother to go to Admissions,” but “turned Rose around and the two of them marched out” (22). Her mother’s strength is shown fully at the end of the story as she watches her daughters in the early morning, one dying and the other letting her go, when she gathers her remaining daughter into a hug and states “I raised warrior queens” (27). While Violet’s mother appears to undergo changes throughout the story, her father starts and ends the same
From flashbacks in the play, it is easy to depict that Vivian lived the life characterized by an inhuman lack of empathy. As the play opens, flashbacks of Vivian interactions with students show her having a serious problem. She lashes at a student for his failure to give feedbacks to her questions and she also denies giving another student an extension for the assignment. After the student explains that her grandmother died, this is what she says to her “do what you will but the paper is due when it is due” (63). This lack of empathy and arrogance apparently is unsocial, but she adopts it while pretending/believing to be advocating for excellence from her students and would not take fabricated excuses. This portrays her as a cynical person, and one who only cares about the success of what she does, therefore, does not make necessary compromises for healthy relationships. She thus suffers a high level of rudeness and arrogance that makes it extremely d...
Instead of caring for her, they learned from her. In one scene, around four medical students were all touching her stomach at once while trying to learn more about her disease. On the other hand, the nurses are there to care for the paitent. The only one in the film who was ever nice to Vivian was her nurse, Susan Monahan. In order for a hospital to function, there needs to be physicans, nurses, and an administration team. The nurses are there to make sure the patients remain emotionally and physically stable. Susan Monahan simply kept Vivian company. Whenever Vivian was nauseaus or felt overwhelemed with coming to terms with the illness, Susan would make sure to comfort her. She took the time to get to know her personally, and was the first to know that Vivian did not wish to be resisitated when her heart stopped beating. This was a very difficult decision that Vivian had to make, yet it was what she
I spent a lot of time considering what movie I would watch to write this essay. I listed off the movies that I would like to watch again, and then I decided on The Notebook. I didn’t really think I could write about adolescence or children, so I thought that, maybe, I could write about the elderly. The love story that The Notebook tells is truly amazing. I love watching this movie, although I cry every time I watch it. The Notebook is about an elderly man that tells the story of his life with the one he loves the most, his wife. He is telling the story to his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a degenerative disease that affects a person’s memory. She has no recollection of him or their life together, or even her own children. She wrote the story of their love herself, so that when he read the story to her, she would come back to him. There are three things that I would like to discuss about this movie. First, I would like to discuss their stage of life and the theory that I believe describes their stage of life the best. Second, I would like to discuss Alzheimer’s DIsease and its affect on the main character who has it and her family. Third, I would like to discuss how at the end of the movie, they died together. I know it is a movie, but I do know that it is known that elderly people who have been together for a long time, usually die not to far apart from one another.
The doctors removed it, but it was too late. The tumor had already spread throughout her body. Instead of having a lump on her back, she had a long stitched up incision. She couldn’t move around; Nancy’s parents had to help her go to the bathroom and do all the simple things that she used to do all by herself. Nancy would ask her grandmother to get up to take her younger sister, Linh, and herself outside so they could play.
When Vivian was having trouble with her thought, the nurse showed that she cared because she leaned in to listen to Vivian’s thoughts. Then when Vivian started crying, the nurse stayed to comfort her by holding her hand, giving her a tissue and offering her a popsicle that would help her feel better. At the end of the movie, a tremendous act of caring was demonstrated by the nurse when she fought the doctor and then tried to tell code blue team that Vivian was DNR even though they were not listening to her. Then after the code blue team had left Vivian messy and exposed, the nursing, with care, covered Vivian to preserved her dignity and moved her head to a comfortable
The metaphysical era in poetry started in the 17th century when a number of poets extended the content of their poems to a more elaborate one which investigated the principles of nature and thought. John Donne was part of this literary movement and he explored the themes of love, death, and religion to such an extent, that he instilled his own beliefs and theories into his poems. His earlier works, such as The Flea and The Sunne Rising, exhibit his sexist views of women as he wrote more about the physical pleasures of being in a relationship with women. However, John Donne displays maturity and adulthood in his later works, The Canonization and A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, in which his attitude transcends to a more grown up one. The content of his earlier works focused on pursuing women for his sexual desires, which contrasts heavily with his latter work. John Donne’s desire for physical pleasure subsides and he seeks to gain an emotional bond with women, as expressed in his later poetry.
At the beginning of the play, although Vivian knows she gets cancer, she does not become anxious and frustrated. On the contrary, she is calm and seems affirmative to defeat the cancer. She does not completely understand the complicated medical terms and treatments that Dr.Kelekian provides, but she still tries to use her knowledge to find lexical parallelism and doctor’s incorrect explanation of insidious. “Insidious means treacherous” (Edson 8). “Insidious. Hmm. Curious word choice. Cancer. Cancel” (Edson 8). Vivian does not want to admit her ignorance in medical, so she...
In both ‘The Sun Rising’ and ‘The Good Morrow’ Donne presents the experience of love, in a typical Metaphysical style, to engage his reader through sharing his own experiences. These poems show distinctive characteristics of Metaphysical poems which involve colloquial diction, drawing inventive imagery from unconventional sources, passionately analysing relationships and examining feelings. Donne presents the experience of love through conceits, Metaphysical wit, language techniques and imagery, in a confident tone using logical argument. The impact of Donne’s use of direct and idiomatic language shows the reader how he feels about a woman and ultimately love.