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Tag Archives: Literature
Literature Review: Creating Value in US Health Care Industry
By David Baek, VI Form
Literature Review: Creating Value in US Health Care Industry
Redefining Health Care, by Michael Porter, and Fixing Health Care From Inside & Out, by several Harvard Business School professors, will be the foundation upon which this review will be built. The two books differ in that the former centers its content on a general, abstract principle that can be applied to the whole industry while the latter provides practical business solutions to problems occurring inside each component of the industry. Many health care leaders today are provided with far too many solutions, such as these two, to decide which one is the best option. This review serves to combine the two seemingly complementary solutions to better the health care leaders’ vision for moving US health care forward.
The status quo of the health care industry is looking very dim. There have been reports of unhelpful pharmaceutical mergers, doctors charging patients unnecessary amounts, a decline in employer-based (more…)
“I Am” Poetry
By Miss Amanda Hultin, English & Religion Faculty, and Charlie Mosse, Gillian Yue, Cooper Giblin, Hailey Dubose, Peter Ackerman, & Mark Wang, IV Form
“I Am” Poetry
In the first days of school, there is much that I want to learn about my students. I ask them to write, “How can I be a good teacher for you?” “What do you want me to know about you as a student? As a person?” The answers are read only by me.
I also want my students to learn about each other and to begin creating the learning environment unique to each class. I assign the “I am” poem as an exercise in thinking, writing, and talking about (more…)
Anatomy of a Course: Getting LOST
Anatomy of a Course: Getting LOST
By John Camp, English Department Head
mrcamp@stmarksschool.org
Twitter: @gettinglostcamp
In September of 2004, commercials ran for a new fall show on ABC called LOST. As a self-ascribed t.v. critic (and an acerbically judgmental one at that), I remember distinctly and succinctly saying to my wife Tara, “That looks stupid.” Interestingly, when Lloyd Braun, then the head of ABC, pitched the idea at a
network retreat, virtually all ABC execs had the same reaction that I had. Senior vice president Thom Sherman, however, was intrigued and pursued the idea with Braun and the writer Jeffrey Lieber. Through a few stages of scripting, Braun’s original idea became LOST–driven by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, and eventually Lindelof and Carleton Cuse. In the summer of 2006, friends of mine implored me to watch the show, saying that they knew I, specifically, would love it. So, I borrowed the Season 1 box set, and Tara and I sat down to watch at least the pilot episode. From the initial moment of protagonist Jack’s eye-opening and its inherent symbolism (Eye of Horus, the Mind’s I, gateway to the soul), the mythology intrigued me, and binge-watching, of course, ensued. From those origins, LOST became a literal religion for me as well as the inspiration for what I consider to be the magnus opus of my teaching career, my course “Getting LOST.” (more…)
Books Are Better Than People
By Maggie Nixon, English Faculty
Books Are Better Than People
Or, the more accurate and less eye-catching, Why I Read Books
Or, Bibliophage
When I was in first grade, my brother and I got a really cool gift for Christmas. Or for a birthday. Or randomly. I don’t really remember when we got it – but it was really cool. It was a “design your own plate” kit–you drew your designs on a white circular piece of paper, shipped it off to a company, and in a few short weeks, BAM, you had plates with your drawings on them. My brother and I each made two plates. His were the “My Mom is Great” and “Hamerhead Shark” plates. He couldn’t spell yet. The misspellings resulted from me trying to be a teacher. I also made two plates. The first was the “Hawii” plate where I drew a lovely picture of a beach and wrote about the 50th state. Jokingly, my father refers (more…)
A Cake of Dante’s Inferno!
By William D’Angelo and Erica Christensen, VI Form
A Cake of Dante’s Inferno!
As the final project for our Independent Study reading and discussing Dante’s Divine Comedy, we baked and constructed a cake that featured the Circles of Dante’s “Inferno.” On the Saturday prior to Prize Day, during the Academic Showcase, we presented the cake. If students or faculty wanted a piece of cake, they needed to read all nine of our descriptions for each specific Circle and write down what Circle they would be in according to Dante. (The cake is designed upside down strictly for balancing purposes!)
The Yellow section (First through Fourth Circles): Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed
The Pink section (Fifth through Seventh Circles): Wrath, Heresy, Violence
The Red section (Eighth and Ninth Circles): Fraud, Treachery
Below are our explanations for each Circle: (more…)
Female Value: Dead in the Ashes of McCarthy’s The Road
By Marissa Huggins, V Form
Female Value: Dead in the Ashes of McCarthy’s The Road
In a post-apocalyptic world, the way of survival is quite literally “every man for himself.” The few humans that survive the apocalypse are forced back to their primitive states of being and live in constant fear of death. Some survivors, known as “the bad guys,” change their perception of human life and become morally limitless with their methods of survival. The “bad guys” either kill or capture people, depending on the perceived threat or benefit. Thus, the post-apocalyptic world’s culture is one where everyone’s purpose is to sustain his or her own life. Unlike most of the survivors in McCarthy’s The Road, the father and son have a co-dependent relationship that often promotes their survival. While the father may have been upset that his wife killed herself, his wife was wise to end her life and escape her life of imprisonment. (more…)
Self Obligation, Patriotic Obligation, or Family Obligation? I’m with Antigone
By Abby Peloquin, IV Form
Self Obligation, Patriotic Obligation, or Family Obligation? I’m with Antigone
Throughout Antigone, the question of what is most important in the lives of the characters varies greatly. Creon professes his deepest devotion to his country through his actions concerning Polynices and Antigone; Antigone, on the other hand, remains steadfast in her beliefs in family as she sacrifices her life and marriage for the sake of burying her brother. I mirror the meritorious attitude of Antigone – my family, more than any material or human law–is the most essential part of my life. They are the basis of my existence, the platform upon which I draw myself together and carry on my journey of life, and the arms that hold me and guide me through the turmoil set before me. (more…)
Book Club: A Necessary Tool in Partnership
By Desmond Goodwin, V Form & Student Chair of the Haiti Partnership Committee
Book Club: A Necessary Tool in Partnership
At the end of last year, the Haiti Partnership held a meeting to discuss our goals for the 2014-2015 school year. The committee members agreed that we needed to emphasize to the community that the Haiti Partnership is just that: a partnership. How would we show St. Mark’s that we are benefitting just as much from this relationship as St. Marguerite’s, our partner school in Latournelle, Haiti? We knew that we had to bring Haiti to St. Mark’s. We wanted to bring the beautiful culture to our school and teach our fellow students and faculty about life in Haiti. We wanted to celebrate the country. By creating a “Haiti Book Club,” we hoped to bring a part of Haiti to St. Mark’s and use it to strengthen our partnership with St. Marguerite’s.
The idea was to read three books over the course of the school year; one book would be read over each vacation. Over Thanksgiving vacation, we read Clare of the Sea Light by Edwige Dandicat, a Haitian-American author. Over winter vacation we read The Big Truck That Went By by Jonathan Katz. And over spring vacation, we will read A Wedding in Haiti by Julia (more…)
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