Essay Comments and Critisism

Due to her illness, which set her apart from the rest of her schoolmates, the interviewee appears to have experienced stigma. She initially appears to have little understanding of the condition she is dealing with and is too young to realize the seriousness of diabetes. Due to her dearth of exposure, she appears to know little about diabetes. The causes behind Becca’s condition are something I’d like to learn more about; what causes diabetes in young children of her age.

What is your sense of the interviewer (i.e., the writer of the paper)? Would you suggest any changes in the point of view, persona, or tone? If so, describe them here.

My sense of the interviewer is he or she has been patient enough and has taken his time to understand how this condition has affected Becca throughout her school life. The writer uses this experience to show there is dire need to manage such conditions from and help the one suffering to understand and accept the condition they are suffering from. Failure to which, the victims end up feeling stigmatized and putting their life in more risk as a result of poor knowledge. In my view I would not suggest changes in the point of view of the interviewer.

What is your sense of disease, illness, condition, or injury being discussed? What else would you like to know, either about the illness or the person’s response to it?

Diabetes is an illness known to commonly affect adults; however, as we can see it can affect young ones as well. This illness requires the patient to undergo unique care. Patients and their families should be encouraged to learn more about the condition; the latest medications, treatment techniques and healthy lifestyle choices to undertake. It is therefore important for the patient suffering from diabetes to have an excellent communication team to assist the individual stay in control and respond to blood sugar changes. Diabetes management should therefore entail keeping blood sugar levels under control, eating healthy foods and devising ways to deal with the emotional effects on the condition. I would further like to understand what diet a diabetic should have in order to control blood sugar levels and the factors that increase risk of getting the condition especially at very tender age.

What does the interviewee seem to understand the truth of the experience (meaning, argument) to be?

According to the interviewee, diabetes seems to be a bother for her, preventing her from having a normal life like her friends and schoolmates. She is so afraid of being judged and being seen as abnormal as a result of her condition. She has little knowledge of the condition and all she understands is that, it requires one to eat some really bad food and undergo a lot of insulin shots. However, the more she advances in school the more gains understanding of her condition. She at first does not understand the importance of keeping her blood sugar levels under control hence she does not take her medication seriously. We can observe that diabetes has greatly challenged Becca emotionally but learning more concerning the condition from her doctor has played a major role in assisting her manage the condition better.

What does the writer/interviewee seem to understand the truth of the experience to be?

The writer does understand the impacts of the condition and attempts to show the importance of undertaking diabetes management for such patients. The writer provides an insight on the emotional impacts diabetes can have on the patient, in addition to the physical impacts. He therefore feels that such patients should be guided on how to manage the conditions in order to improve the quality of their lives. Hence, the need to keep undertaking checkups and taking the advice of a qualified physician to assist in managing the blood sugar levels as well as hemoglobin A1C levels.

If the answers to question 4 and 5 are different, is this a problem? Does it require further explication in the paper? Discuss.

Both answers indicate the knowledge gap existing between an elder person who is able to think logically and make healthy life choices. However, the bottom line is that they both end up putting emphasis on the need to maintain blood sugar levels within the levels recommended by the doctor. It can be challenging especially for young patients who have little understanding on the repercussions of the condition. Rather than just mentioning there should be a change in food diets for the patient, the paper should expand more on what type of foods constitute healthy eating which do not affect the blood sugar levels, exercise and how it assist improve the conditions and the various types of medications that are devised to keep blood sugar levels at required levels.

Do you have any concerns about the ethics of the writer’s representation of the interviewee’s experience?

No, I have no ethical concerns for this interview. It seems to me that the interviewer had consent from the interviewee on this interview. It has also been conducted in a way that does not cause any harm to the interviewee. The interviewer does not get into the hypersensitive information concerning the interviewee and respects her values as well.

What additional suggestions do you have for revision? Please be specific.

I feel the interviewee has mainly focused on impacts of the condition as was encountered by Becca throughout her school life. The writer should have identified causes of the condition especially for young individuals. The writer shows importance of undertaking diabetes management, but fails to outline approaches to achieving this. The writer should also provide more insight on what is diabetes and how can one identify an individual suffering from diabetes other than where he mentions feeling thirsty most of the time.