For this phase, I chose to complete option #2. Since I had already looked at Notes on Nursing, I tried to access Notes on Matters but they had a problem locating that text, so I decided to stick to Notes on Nursing since I had found it so interesting last time. I analyzed "Chapter XI. Personal Cleanliness," and got an even better grasp of the way Nightingale writes and presents her argument. This chapter discusses the need to be particularly aware of keeping the skin clean, especially while ill, by washing often and thoroughly. It also explains the importance of changing the clothes often, for the clothing of the sick quickly gets contaminated with their illness. Nightingale organizes the chapter by beginning with a few sentences broadly introducing the general argument she is making, and then going into more detail. She begins to discuss the specifics of washing, such as how hot water with soap is much more effective than cold water with soap, or water without soap. She discusses the importance of rubbing, rather than just soaking like people tend to do. A strategy Nightingale consistently uses is discussing the wrong ways to care for the sick and then comparing them to the right ways, demonstrating how the right method is much more effective.
Judging by the way Nightingale addresses these topics, she seems to be involved in two debates. One of these debates is that most people go halfway in caring for the sick, but do not go the extra mile that they need to in order to fully cure them. Another debate she seems to be involved in is the argument that people tend to think that once they are sick, all they can do is just wait it out. This is not the case, according to Nightingale- these people do not realize there are measures they can take for a much quicker and easier recovery.
A strategy from our class that is evident in Nightingale and helps to explain her argument is audience construction. Nightingale constructs her audience as those people who care for the sick or will have to at some point in their lives, particularly, it seems, parents who must care for their sick children. This is demonstrated by a lot of the ways in which Nightingale carries out her argument in this chapter, such as when she states, "Every nurse ought to be careful to wash her hands very frequently during the day." Clearly Nightingale is offering up this tip because she is writing for those who would actually be in that position.
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Is this article recommended for parents or heatlh professionals? I wonder if it is possible that the audience really matters because it could become confusing for a non medical professional. Nightingale writes in a way that she tells what is common now and what is the right way, correct? In my opinion if she does this with the wrong audience she could cause mass confusion and do more harm than good. I just found that interesting!
ReplyDeleteCara, it doesn't surprise me that you would note explicit audience construction in Nightingale's _Notes_, especially given what you found out and reported about the text during Phase One, which is that it was written both as a report of and a recommendation of wartime medical practices. Doesn't Nightingale write this to be a reference manual of sorts?
ReplyDeleteIf that's the case, then I wonder how else you might show us how you see these debates? Are there parts of this chapter that truly do present arguments or commonplaces, or is there perhaps another chapter (or a preface or introduction) in _Notes_ that would help us see her argument and/or those "debates" more clearly? Do we find any evidence or empirical reasoning, rational logic, pragmatism?
-Dr. Graban
I have been working with Nightingale throughout our phases thus far, but have not had a chance to look at "Notes" and have been intrigued by your post:). From what I can gather, Nightingale's writing in this text is more instructional or informational? If that is the case I feel it would be a great supplement to "Matters" which I have primarily worked with and is presented mainly in tables or lists. Thank you for giving me something new to look at to supplement what I have been working with so far!
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