Extra+Credit

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot *Can be found in school and local libraries or Amazon.com* Independent Reading: []

Each set of questions from the individual chapters will count as points on lowest test score. Prologue: The Woman in the Photograph

1. The author uses several similes to describe cells. What simile does she use to describe

the way a cell looks? What simile does she use to explain the functions of the different

parts of a cell? What do these similes suggest about biology?

2. What is mitosis? What beneficial biological processes involve mitosis?

3. What simile does Donald Defler use to describe mitosis?

4. What happens when there is a mistake during the process of mitosis?

5. According to Defler, how important was the discovery of HeLa cells?

6. As a high school student, Skloot began researching HeLa cells to find out more about

Henrietta Lacks. Examine pages 5 and 6 and write down each step that Skloot took to

begin her research.

Chapter One: The Exam

1. How long did Henrietta wait between first telling her girlfriends that “something didn’t

feel right” and going to the doctor?

2. Why does Sadie think Henrietta hesitated before seeing a doctor?

3. What did Henrietta’s first doctor assume the source of the lump on Henrietta’s cervix

was? What stereotype or bias might this assumption be based upon?

4. Why did David Lacks take Henrietta to the public wards at Johns Hopkins instead of a

closer hospital?

5. Explain what the Jim Crow laws were.

6. Who was Henrietta’s gynecologist?

7. Review the notes on Henrietta’s medical history found on page 16. Based on the

objective details in her medical chart, what can you infer about Henrietta’s life and

personality?

8. Based on her medical chart, how would you describe Henrietta’s feelings about

doctors?

9. What did Howard Jones find “interesting” about Henrietta’s medical history? What does

this finding suggest about Henrietta’s cancer?

Chapter Two: Clover

1. Why did Henrietta end up being raised by her grandfather, Tommy Lacks?

2. What are the connotations of the term “home-house”? What does this term suggest

about the values of the Lacks family?

3. How was Day related to Henrietta?

4. Skloot uses vivid imagery and details to describe Henrietta’s childhood in Clover.

Locate a passage that you found particularly effective or memorable, and explain why

you selected it.

5. Describe the relationship between Crazy Joe and Henrietta.

6. How old was Henrietta when she had her first child with Day?

7. What was different about Henrietta’s second child, Elsie?

guided reading and discussion questions

random house, inc. teacher’s guide

4guided reading and discussion questions (continued)

www.randomhouse.com/highschool

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8. Compare the medical terms describing Elsie’s condition with the terms used by

Henrietta’s friends and family. What are the connotations of the two sets of terms?

9. How did Pearl Harbor change life in Turner Station?

10. Contrast the working conditions of black workers and white workers at the Sparrows

Point Steel Mill.

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