Using Mary's Story in the Classroom

From the Breast and Cervical Cancer Curriculum Sourcebook, "It's Not an Earache That I Have... Talking About Breast and Cervical Cancer in the ESL Classroom," by Lee Hewitt.

Excerpt, page 15-16, Using Mary's Story

     My curriculum was really focused on early detection. For people to understand the importance of early detection, they need to learn the whole "story" of the disease. What happens when early detection does not happen?

      Mary Walker's My Life Story With Cancer proved to be a powerful tool for opening up the subject of cervical cancer and motivating the readers to look at their own health behaviors and attitudes. In order to talk about this subject I had to talk about a woman's reproductive organs. I used a simple diagram. This proved to cause more embarrassment than talking about breast cancer, mammograms or breast self-exams. Why? I think because the cervix is inside the woman's body and it is closely related to sex.

      One Chinese woman covered the diagram with her hand and found it very difficult to look at. She explained that in China she had never talked about this part of the body and she really didn't want to look at it. I apologized for making her uncomfortable, but I felt we had to clarify the anatomy of this problem so I plunged ahead with vocabulary building.

      This vocabulary didn't just sit there but was used immediately to understand Mary's story. The compelling human aspect of this story helped to shift focus from the talk about embarrassing parts of the body to the specifics of Mary's experience which reached out to people and made a profound impression on them. Mary's reluctance to go to the doctor until forced by her pain spoke loudly to this group of readers. The support of her family and friends through the ordeal was very important to the class.

      I developed some comprehension questions for the story in order to check out what people had understood and what needed to be clarified. However, the crux of the conversation came in exploring two different questions: "What did Mary learn from her experiences?" and "What did you learn from Mary's experiences?" Here are some examples of what students wrote:

I think you should visit the doctor for a check-up. If you have a friend who ignores it tell them to go to the doctor.

I learned that when I have some problem with the health I should go to the doctor. When I talk to the doctor I shouldn't feel shy to talk to the doctor all about my problem.

I learned from Mary's story that it is necessary to go to the doctor every year for a regular checkup. Also I have to take care of myself and not think that I'm never going to get any serious sickness.

From Mary's story I learned about cervical cancer. Before I didn't know about this. But, when I read this story I felt scared and I said to myself that I need to go to see the doctor . . . I should take care of myself. However, I thank Mary because from your story about cancer it helped me know that my health is very important to me.

A young El Salvadoran man wrote:

I learned that I have to pay attention to my mother and my sister because sometimes my mother doesn't go to her appointment. I don't know if she had a mammogram or pap smear.

      Mary's story helped students look at their own health attitudes and behaviors. One student took it home and shared the story with her teenaged daughter. Her daughter's response was, "Mami, you have to take care of yourself. Go to the clinic to make an appointment for a check-up. It's a serious problem". And in fact that student did go have a much needed check-up after we finished the curriculum unit on cancer.

Back to:  My Life Story With Cancer by Mary Walker