1. Shadowing
Recall James’ tale. Take James’ role and tell us what happened to your dad. Feel free to use your notes. If possible, record yourself narrating and compare it to James’ version.
2. Production
Talk about an incident that you cannot forget. What happened? What makes it so special?
Answer
1. Shadowing: Recall James’ tale. Take James’ role and tell us what happened to your dad.
Well known antonyms for hope: doubt, despair, pessimism. Most people forget to add ‘cancer’ to that list. For me, distress and fear are the only things I felt throughout my father’s struggle with cancer.
It’s all started during my college first year’s final exams ٬ when for the first time my father started to complain about a small pimple in his face near his nose that hurts him a lot and nothing seems to be useful to treat it or reduce the pain thus he decided to consult a doctor who just gave him some local skin creams and sent him home but as the days goes by that pimple was still growing, as result he went to all the dermatologists in our city yet one after another they failed to give him a proper answer on what kind of illness it is, they even made it worse by taking biopsy for analysis which make the pustule inflamed even more.
Dealing with all of that made my father’s mental health deteriorating since he was afraid that his illness was serious due to the fact he was a heavy smoker, and he didn't quit until this few recent years, I still remember his words to me that the disease was likely to be fatal and how I need to learn to be responsible because I’m his only son and I need to take care of the family if anything happens to him. I was shattered with devastation and fear when I heard him saying that, however, I tried my best to comfort him that Allah subhanahu watala does not burden any soul with more than it can bear. The next day we arranged an appointment with a private clinic in a whole other city thinking that they will definitely be able to diagnose my father and treat his illness, but unfortunately they were so greedy so even though they failed to diagnose his disease they still decided to remove the pustule through Surgery and when my father refused to do that they forced him to stay, and finally he needed to pay a lot of money for the one night he spent there, so they can let him go.
Crisis, trauma, horror, these words don’t even begin to adequately summarize our emotional frames. It’s been an arduous battle since the first time he felt sick.
After long difficult days we ended up going to one of the biggest hospitals there whom the doctors guided us to a well known dermatologist who fortunately diagnose my father's disease right away as skin cancer, and he was dissatisfied with the delayment of my father’s treatment because cancer cells grow continuously and can break away to spread to other parts of the body, and he clearly said that the treatment is all about cut out the tumor through surgery and that he will not need any further chemo or radiation therapy and since it’s on his face he will make every effort to treat his skin cancer without dramatically changing his appearance, so my father would not worry about it. As much as we were afraid when we heard the diagnosis of his illness, we were relieved that finally someone knows what was my father's illness, and he is going to proceed in the treatment plan that’s right for him.
Bymid-morning of the next day, The doctor delivered the news that the surgery went well, and he was able to resect most of the tumor. I remember feeling deep gratitude, but at the same time, I was scared about what the future holds for us since this type of cancer has high rates of recurrence.
And I must say cancer research and cancer in care in Algeria needs a huge overhaul, not only for the people suffering but as family who sit and watch on. I would love to be a part of trying to make a difference, so another family doesn't have to deal with what we went through 5 years ago .
Record :
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2. Production : Talk about an incident.
The Day I Got Lost
when I was about five years old, i experienced one of the most fearful incidents that could happen to a child.
As far I remember, my father took me with him to a specific market called Al Ain Al Safra far away from where we live which was considered at that time a commercial area due to its availability on various products with the aim of doing our monthly shopping and to buy some supplies that are not available in our city.
After we arrived, my father due to his love for the household electric appliance headly got busy checking on them to the point he forgot he brought me with him thus i was following him steadily until he stops in front of one of the many similar stores there when suddenly he was out of my sight and i couldn't find him no matter where i looked. I was utterly confused my heart beat fast, my head was dizzy, trying to figure out what to do at that moment ,it was a hard feeling i don't think i can ever forget but i fortunately managed to control my emotions and i did not panic , as I thought i must not draw the attention of children kidnappers or robbers and i tried patiently to recall what my father was wearing that day and search for him in the crowed ,when unexpectedly i saw a person that looks like him and he was even wearing the same shirt as my father, i hurriedly tried to get close to him but unfortunately when i looked at him closely it was not my father what made me so frustrated I almost cried so the only thing i could do at that time was waiting for him to realize that I was missing and go back to search for on the same spot where i first lost him . After a long fearfully 10 minutes i saw him near a fast food restaurant so with all my strength i run to him, it was really one of the scariest yet special incident that i had to undergo during my childhood as it taught me that bad things could happen to anyone at any time so instead of crying and panicking we can only try our best to confront it , however difficult it may be, with courage, faith, serenity, confidence and a lot of mental strength. On the other hand, It is the parent's responsibility, to safeguard children and to teach them the skills to be safe as a lot of accidents that occur from time to time are due to neglect and indifference to responsibility such as the issue of the loss of a child, although a majority of these cases end up peacefully, they pose a threat to the security and safety of children, since they are exposed to traffic accidents as well as being vulnerable to kidnapping.