28 CC In-class Sample

Thomas Stone 15 and Hemlatha/Hema 17

 Step three: paragraphing:

Stone: Misunderstood/private/loner/Very great surgeon, not so great person SMJ’s delivery

Hema Free-spirited/independent—not willing to marry just because family or others say so

          Stone is a very gifted surgeon but also a loner and misunderstood man. Thomas is usually superb with his scalpel, but the day Sister has her babies, all his skills vanish. (get quote). (known for courage speed, etc). Ghosh says of Stone, “When a man is a mystery to himself, he can hardly be called mysterious” (35).  Really, Stone does not understand himself, realized when he sees his beloved Mary suffering. Perhaps in his isolated life, up until this point, he has not needed to know himself. Or, there has been no one to show him—until Mary. In some ways maybe feelings are riskier to him than operating. For the first time in his life, he encounters a situation over which he has no control, and it is terrifyingly humbling and confusing.  Thus a man is only as strong as his greatest weakness—no man is beyond his own frailty, at times.

          Hema makes up her own mind. (surprises herself and reacts, grabbing the pilot’s privates pg 79). Even though she is an accomplished gynecologist, an impressive feat for a woman of that day, hers is still arguably a feminine field, even if previously male dominated. At this moment she exerts a character strength she did not know she had. Perhaps the difficult, potentially life-threatening situation elicits this power hitherto unbeknownst to her. However, she did realize she was in a position to speak up, when others felt subdued or intimidated, and she did. Had Hema not valued her own ability to intervene as an individual, perhaps none of these thoughts would have occurred to her, thus none actions either.

                   What the reader learns about Stone, is he recoils from adversity, while she steps forward to meet it. In the face of saving the babies, Shiva and Marion, for example, Hema is able to remember the health of both the new mother and the infants, while Thomas is not, only focusing on Sister. His tunnel vision is caused by the emotions overwhelming him. In panic he states, “Better out than in,” thinking of the babies as a disease to be removed from the mother, dead or alive is of no consequence. She takes command over the situation when Stone cannot, and probably is why the infants survive.  Ironically, even though everyone has worked alongside Stone for the last eight years, this is the first real opportunity any has gotten to know him, even himself. Perhaps this is why Stone runs away. Hemlatha knows herself better, and makes decisions based on that. Such an example is when she agrees to “marriage for a year” to Ghosh—giving herself (and him) the chance to leave if either or both changes their minds. Thus, in life-defining moments like the birth of a child or a marriage proposal, he blows it, while she makes the most of it.

Apostrophes—the two Os—use only for omission or ownership.

Rose bushes’ thorns

The girls’ bathroom

1800s’ technology

Eighteen hundreds
‘80s’  music (19 was omitted, and it's the music that belongs to the 80s--thus we need both apostrophes)

Medicine

Uncovering secrets

Love—SMJP and Stone, Marion and Genet, Hema and Ghosh, Rosina Zemui, SMJP and her sister.

Betrayal—between two brother Genet, Stone betrays/abandons babies, SMJP betrays all with her secret (by telling no one),  Rosina

Loyalty: Marion loyal to Genet, Shiva loyal to work, Matron loyal to mission,

Death

Suffering SMJP dies for babies, she’s raped and she loses her sister on her way to serve God.

Mystery—mystery behind pregnancy, where Stone goes,

Political history—Ethiopian civil war