Choose one of the Mysterious Medical Conditions and create a powerpoint. Use this link to view the instructions and examples: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1b7CYoLt_0bRnBPZYinkDb4vbard4zGX-8Yv0OHv9cck/edit?usp=sharing

Paste the link to your work below.

Choose one of these two cases to investigate (HM or Clive Wearing). Create an infographic, slide show, or video to educate us about the case.

At the end of your video, include a thought provoking question that this case brings to mind. For instance, you might choose to ask about the role of memory in identity formation.

Paste a link to your educational video, slide show, or infographic below.

Read chapters 18-21. Choose to focus on “postictal fury” (p. 81) or schizoaffective disorder (p. 86). What symptoms does Susannah give for this disorder? Do you think this is a good fit for her diagnosis? Explain.

Here is the video of Susannah in the hospital when she thinks she is on the TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmp_vVLKXEU

What do you notice just by watching Susannah in this video? Please write your impressions below.

Please read chapters 13-17.

Please answer these two questions in the discussion:

1. Why do you think Cahalan chose to include the “Intake Interview” poem at this point in the book?
2. I want you to think about the way the text is structured. Can you tell when Cahalan is narrating, vs when it’s an excerpt from her medical record, vs when she is thinking and remembering? What does Cahalan do as the author to clue us in to what we are seeing on the page?

Below is the text of the poem “Intake Interview” by Franz Wright. Here is a video of the author reading the poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=YzDlpXPF9Sk

Here is some additional information about the author: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/franz-wright

After reading the poem, choose one of the lines to respond to. What does it mean to you? Why do you think the poet included it? What do you notice about the way the poet phrased the line?

Intake Interview – by Franz Wright

What is today’s date?

Who is the President?

How great a danger do you pose, on a scale of one to ten?

What does “people who live in glass houses” mean?

Every symphony is a suicide postponed, true or false?

Should each individual snowflake be held accountable for the avalanche?

Name five rivers.

What do you see yourself doing in ten minutes?

How about some lovely soft Thorazine music?

If you could have half an hour with your father, what would you say to him?

What should you do if I fall asleep?

Are you still following in his mastodon footsteps?

What is the moral of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”?

What about his Everest shadow?

Would you compare your education to a disease so rare no one else has ever had it, or the deliberate extermination of indigenous populations?

Which is more puzzling, the existence of suffering or its frequent absence?

Should an odd number be sacrificed to the gods of the sky, and an even to those of the underworld, or vice versa?

Would you visit a country where nobody talks?

What would you have done differently?

Why are you here?

Read chapters 10-12.

Please answer these questions in the discussion below:

1. What’s your opinion on Susannah’s bipolar diagnosis? How do Susannah’s symptoms compare to what you’ve learned about bipolar in Psychology class?
2. Susanna’s paranoid mind causes her to totally misread her mom’s facial expressions. Have you ever totally misread someone? What happened, and what advice do you have for other people to not misread each other?

Brain on Fire is a memoir. Today, you’re going to create a digital memoir… in 6 words!

A memoir is a personal story. A 6 word memoir is one of those stories, told only in 6 words! This means you have to choose carefully to squeeze as much meaning as possible into those 6 words. (Note: this is not like saying, “I love shopping!” or “When life gives you lemons…”)

Create a digital poster, infographic, or video to express your memoir. You might choose to use Canva or Adobe Spark.

Post the link to it below, so we can see it!

Read chapters 7-9. Answer the questions below:

1. “No great mind has ever exited without a touch of madness.” – Aristotle. What do you think this quote means? Why did Cahallan include it?
2. What new diagnosis does Susannah get in chapter 8? Please explain how this correlates to what you are learning in Psychology.

Read chapters 4-6. Start a Diagnosis Log to keep track of the different diagnosis that Susannah receives. Which diagnosis do you see the most evidence for? Be sure to include the information from the book that supports your theory.