Answer in 3-4 built points

Here are 3–4 bullet points for each question. For the personal reflection (#10), I’ve given a structure because only you can supply your own experience.

1. Challenges Henrietta Lacks and her family faced

• Poverty: Henrietta worked long hours on a tobacco farm and later in a factory; the family struggled to afford basic needs and medical care.
• Racism and segregation: As a Black woman in the 1950s, she was treated in a segregated ward at Johns Hopkins and faced discriminatory care.
• Inadequate medical treatment: Her cancer was treated with aggressive radiation without full informed consent, and her cells were taken without permission.
• Family instability: Her illness and death left five young children, causing emotional and financial strain on the family.

2. Henrietta Lacks’ greatest strengths

• Resilience: She endured cancer, painful treatments, and poverty without giving up.
• Selflessness: She kept working and caring for her children even when she was ill.
• Quiet dignity: She faced her illness with courage and did not complain or seek pity.
• Determination: She fought to live and to keep her family together.

3. Progression of Henrietta’s cancer and how she faced death

• Her cancer spread quickly despite radiation; she suffered severe pain and tumors throughout her body.
• She kept working and caring for her children, hiding her pain from others.
• She faced death by asking to go home to be with family, not by focusing on herself.
• This shows she was selfless, stoic, and deeply devoted to her family—a person of quiet courage.

4. Last wishes (p. 85–86) and what they reveal

• She wanted to go home and be with her family, rather than stay in the hospital.
• She asked to see her children and wanted to be sure they were cared for.
• She wanted to be out of pain and surrounded by familiar comfort.
• This tells us she valued home and family above all; she was humble, loving, and grounded in her role as a mother.

5. Who was Johns Hopkins and how did he make his money?

• He was a 19th-century Quaker merchant, banker, and philanthropist.
• He made his fortune in the tobacco and whiskey trade, and also through slave labor/ownership.
• He invested in railroads and other businesses, becoming one of the richest men in Baltimore.
• He never married and had no children, so he left his fortune to found a university and hospital.

6. What he wanted done with his money and specific instructions

• He left $7 million to build Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
• He instructed that the hospital care for the poor and sick of all races and colors, regardless of ability to pay.
• He wanted it to be a charity hospital for the indigent sick of Baltimore.
• He left a letter to the board of trustees with these specific wishes, trusting them to carry them out.

7. Why do you think Johns Hopkins would do this?

• As a Quaker, he believed in equality, charity, and helping the less fortunate.
• He had no heirs, so he wanted to leave a positive legacy that would benefit society.
• He may have felt guilt about his wealth from slavery/tobacco and wanted to atone.
• He wanted to improve public health and education in Baltimore.

8. Accusations that Johns Hopkins violated Black people’s rights

• Hospital staff took Henrietta Lacks’ cells without her consent and used them for research.
• The hospital segregated Black patients and provided unequal, often inferior care.
• Black patients were used in medical experiments without full disclosure or consent.
• The hospital failed to acknowledge or compensate the Lacks family for decades.

9. Has Johns Hopkins done enough to “make it right?”

• No: The hospital has never issued a full apology or compensated the Lacks family for the nonconsensual use of Henrietta’s cells.
• No: Racial disparities in healthcare and medical mistrust persist, and Hopkins has been slow to address them.
• Some progress: They have created exhibits, scholarships, and community programs honoring Henrietta Lacks.
• But more is needed: full transparency, financial reparations, and ongoing efforts to rebuild trust with Black communities.

10. Personal experiences with cancer (your own reflection)

• Only you can answer this. Use 3–4 bullets: (1) state whether you have direct or indirect experience; (2) describe one specific person or moment; (3) explain how it affected you or your family; (4) connect it to the book’s theme of illness and family burden. If you have no experience, say so and explain what Henrietta’s story taught you about cancer’s impact.

11. How cancer impacts individuals and families

• Physical: pain, fatigue, side effects of treatment, loss of mobility.
• Emotional: fear, anxiety, grief, depression for both patient and family.
• Financial: high medical bills, lost income, travel costs, and caregiving expenses.
• Social: changes in family roles, isolation, strain on relationships, and need for support.

12. Injustices you’ve been made aware of and what we can do

• Injustices: racial discrimination in medicine, lack of informed consent, exploitation of vulnerable patients, unequal access to care.
• Educate yourself and others about medical ethics and racial disparities in healthcare.
• Support policies and organizations that protect patient rights and informed consent.
• Speak out against discrimination and advocate for community health resources.

13. How to positively impact change when witnessing injustice

• Speak up: Document the injustice safely and report it to a trusted adult or authority.
• Support the victim: Listen, offer help, and connect them with resources.
• Educate others: Share accurate information and raise awareness in your community.
• Take action: Join peaceful advocacy, contact policymakers, or volunteer with groups that fight injustice.

14. Lessons from Ella Baker, the Greensboro Four, and Dr. King

• Collective action: Ella Baker emphasized grassroots organizing and group-centered leadership.
• Nonviolent direct action: The Greensboro Four used sit-ins to challenge segregation peacefully.
• Moral courage and persistence: Dr. King showed that change requires determination and hope.
• Empower communities: All three focused on educating and organizing ordinary people to demand justice.

How to understand the pattern For each question, the key is: (1) make a claim, (2) support it with a specific detail from the book, and (3) explain why it matters. That is how you can build your own 3–4 bullet answers for any similar seminar question.