- Name _________________
Homework 4: “Hers” by Perri Klass
First, read and annotate “HERS” by Perri Klass. ANNOTATE places in the text that caught your eye, where you wanted to know more, where you were confused or where you related!
In this article, the writer paints a portrait, not of a particular word, but of a whole new language she had to learn in order to fit in with her new profession.Â
After you have read the piece, write at least 250 words in response to the following questions.Â
What community is Klass a part of? What is an example of the whole new language that she had to learn (be specific!) as a member of this community. What challenges did she face when learning this new language? What are some communities that you are a part of? (hint: we’re all a part of multiple communities!)? What “languages” have you had to learn to engage with these communities—and how did you learn these languages? Are there particular words or phrases that stick out to you as helping you feel like you were part of the in-crowd?Â
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Klass is a part of the medical community. An example of the whole new language that she had to learn as a medical community member was learning new abbreviations like C.P., S.O.B., and N/V, which meant without chest pain, shortness of breath, and nausea and vomiting. “I started out in a state of primeval innocence, in which I didn’t even know that ”s C.P., S.O.B., N/V” meant ”without chest pain, shortness of breath, or nausea and vomiting.”” (2) Another example is that they used baseball metaphors like “No-Hitter,” which means a night without new admissions. “Baseball metaphor is pervasive: A no-hitter is a night without any new admissions. A player is always a patient – a nitrate player is a patient on nitrates, a unit player is a patient in the intensive-care unit and so on, until you reach the terminal player.” (2) Her challenges when learning this new language were not understanding her colleagues and using baseball metaphors. Some communities that I am a part of are the black community, the city tech community, and maybe the dog community. Languages I had to learn to engage with these communities were certain slang words for the black community, from the city tech community, I had to learn classroom numbers and building names, and from the dog community, I learned body language. I learned these languages from being around certain groups of people and through social media. I don’t have any particular words or phrases that stick out to make me feel like a part of the crowd or community.
Klass is a apart of the hospital/medical community, a whole new language that she had to learn was “c.p,.s.o.b,n/v.” which means “without chess pain, shortness of breath, or nausea and vomiting. Some challenges klass faced were not understanding her coworkers when they would say these words to her. Some communities im apart of are, the music and book community. Some languages i had to learn were for the music artists you have to abbreviate their songs, albums, and works, for example for taylor swift we are called the “swifties.” Her albums are all abbreviated like reputation we call it her “rep era” and for folklore and evermore we call them her “sister albums.” For the book community you have know the terms “t.b.r, r.r, w.t.r” tbr means “to be read”, rr means to “reread” and, wtr ” means want to read. I learned these languages by my friends they educate me on certain words and phrases to use and what they mean.