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you know when it's actually started recording? Yeah. Okay, so we're live now. Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining Talk. Um, so this is the med home tutorial series. Um, and it's led by Gabby, Who's here with us today. Um, and then we've got Alex as well. Who's going to be delivering your first talk on the cat in your essay? So thank you so much for joining. Stay tuned to the chat and make sure you get everyone to join if they haven't already, because there'll be a lot more lectures up like upcoming. And also there's there'll be accumulate after this where you guys can ask all the questions you'd like. This talk is recorded will upload the slides on the event. Um, so don't worry if you don't catch everything and please feel free to use the chance to ask any questions. Um, Gabby and Alex are so nice and then have you to answer any questions you have. So please go ahead and ask anything. If you're worried about anything, it's all all right. So, um, you want to go ahead and introduce yourselves and what I'll do is I'll mute and I'll just be in the background. Okay. Um, so Hi. My name is Alex. I'm 1/5 year, and I did med homes last year. Gabby, do you want to introduce yourself? Hey, I'm Gabby. I'm also 1/5 year, and I also did met homes last year, so yeah, if you guys have any questions, please, please, please type them in the chat. Because I had a lot of questions about this essay last year and not many people to answer them. Yeah, Yeah. Bombard Guess skin or Gen? Um, with everything. So, yeah, we're here. Alex is gonna give this amazing talk, so I'm just gonna remove myself for now, but yes. Excited. Thank you. Um, is there a way to share my slide? Oh, yeah. There's the present. Now, button, Can you see at the bottom? It's the middle one of my sickle. Yeah, no worry. Is it working? Sorry. It's just taking a minute. Uh, if if it's not working on your side, I'm more than happy to share them for you. Sorry, guys. I can see that your network went down slightly. That might be okay. Yep. All right. So hopefully it should stop. Okay, so Yeah, we good. Okay, we're recording as well. Okay, um, so Hi, everyone. I hope you're enjoying this year so far. Um, as I said, I'm Alex in my fifth year now, but I did H p l last year. Um, I loved it. Um, And I also did narrative research for my project. Which is kind of why I'm giving you this talk today. Um, so the car opinion assignment I know it can seem quite an overwhelming task. Hopefully, this talks going to kind of alleviate some of those concerns and break it down into something that's a bit less scary. Hopefully, um, so, by the end, you might even be a little bit excited about it, because narratives are really fun to work with, I think. Anyway, um, and you get to shake this assignment to your interests and really engaged with a topic on a different level. Um, it's okay. Not as well. I just hope you feel a bit more prepared and maybe a bit less stressed. Um, so if how do I Yeah. How do I move on the slides? Sorry. Two seconds. Is it like with your basically there should be when you're presenting. There should be some arrows. And maybe I think it's the bottom left hand on it. It's not showing, ma'am. Maybe that's so strange. Did you share window or did you share screen? I shared screen. Okay, so if you shared screen, it should be Is it the arrows? Is all the arrows working? These? Uh, all right. If you press this baseball, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, now. Sorry, guys. Uh, so, um, just a couple of things I'll say to start with. So I'm gonna give you some pointers on what you can include in your essay. Um, but this is your work. Ultimately, so everyone's assignments will be completely different. And instead of treating what I say, it's like a must include list. Um, just use it to start some of your own ideas, Um, and refer to the point whenever you need to. Um, also, everyone's approaches are completely different, so I'm going to show you my way of doing things. Um, it might not work for you, so just take what useful Leave the rest. Um, so yeah, and I've also put in some references as well. They're a good starting point. If you can source them. Um, so on that note, um, just running through the structure of the session will talk briefly about what the assignment is. Um, go through some narrative selection and analysis processes, then, um, how to choose your topic and how to shape your discussion. A few tips on reflection General essay tips and a Q and A to finish with. Um, so this is kind of your assignment details. So you've got to select a narrative from care opinion based around the theme, um, and then analyze those narratives, link it to H p l topic and back again, which is kind of the harder bit I think, um and then reflect on the process as well. Um, and you've got to do all of that by the 18th of November in 3500 words, Um, which I mean, even me saying that I've done the assignment and I feel like that. And so we'll try and break it down for you, um, and just make it a bit less scary. So, um, just starting with what is a narrative. So it's helpful to remind ourselves of this. Um, it's changed over time, but this is my favorite definition. Um, you can see there's kind of the personal experience aspect. There's also the fact that it's communicating its communicating to a reader. Um, it's persuasive, and it's a way of making sense of an experience and finding meaning. Um and there's emotional aspects and also, uh, aspects of a story. So, like you've got a beginning, a middle and an end and some form of time within that, and and this can just be helpful to refer to when you're selecting your narratives and just making sure that it conforms to those core features. Um, and then just a bit that might be helpful about what? How you're justifying and your choice of narratives or why you're using narratives for this project. Um, so narratives are meaningful. Um, there a way to kind of make sense of experiences? Um, and there's so many different aspects to narratives. They're really multilayered. Um, there's just so much in them to explore. Um, there's also kind of these subtleties and nuances, um, that you might miss in using more kind of like scientific objective type modalities. Um, there's also a more social aspect, so there's a real connection with the reader that can be quite fun to explore. Um, they're memorable and powerful. Um, if you think about it, we really remember stories. We remember the books that we read when we were little. Um, these things kind of have a way of really gripping us and staying with us. Um, and they're also very individual, so they're completely different to everyone. Every narrator will have a different way of telling their experience. But also, every reader has a different way of hearing the experience and understanding it. And it's kind of this bridge of meaning that's formed between the teller and the listener, and that again can make it a really rich area to explore. And they're completely subjective. Um, which just makes them, um, kind of again, quite fun to work with, because there's just so much you can explore within that. And there's no objective truth. There's no, um kind of like this is the right answer. This is the wrong answer. It's all shades of I don't know. Um, yeah, it's all different shades of the same thing, which make it really, really exciting and different and just something completely. Yeah, completely different to um what you might have done previously. Um, so starting with choosing your narratives and your topic so you want to have a think about Do you want your narratives to be all the same? Do you want them to have the same sort of message? Same sort of events? Or do you want them to have some variety between them so that you can do a bit of comparison and try and draw factors that are different? Um, to build into your essay also, how long do you want them to be? Do you want a few shorter narratives that you can then pick out certain distinct features? Or do you want a couple of much longer narratives that you can explore lots of different features of How many narratives do you want to work with? I wouldn't suggest choosing too many because you do want to be able to get that richness out of them. You can get so much out of even the shortest of narratives. Um, so usually kind of like three. Maybe maximum four is quite good. Um, but you might only need sort of two if they're really long. Um, and really rich. Um, and also, what's the overriding message of them? Do you want completely positive experiences? Do you want completely negative experiences? Do you want something a bit in the middle? Just have a think about that. And also the links between them. Because you want to be able to work with them together. You don't want to do one, and then another, and then another try and kind of like we've them into each other, find similar things and different things. Um and yeah, that will give you kind of like much more to talk about in your essay, um, and then thinking about your topic. So all of this kind of depends on what comes out of your narratives. So it's quite difficult to give kind of prescriptive advice. But I'd say such your narratives based on your interests, Um, because you know it's going to be so much more enjoyable. And you're going to get so much more out of this assignment if you do things that you're interested in. Um, so just have sort of a general idea what you like and what you don't like, um, and then refine based on what you're reading in the narratives. Um so you could have sort of like, um, 200 narratives don't suggest you read 200 narratives, but you could have sort of 200 narratives and 70 of them all bring out a specific thing. So say narratives of history oscopies. Um and all of them are talking about not being listened to. Um, then you could bring out that as a potential topic to work within, um, we will go through a worked example as well. Um, just kind of like, show you what I mean, um, but kind of see what comes out of the narratives and see what you can put as your overall topic relating that H p l. Um, and it doesn't really matter what you pick. It doesn't really matter which narratives or which topics you pick. Just make sure you justify your choices. Make sure you think through it properly and be able to explain that in your essay, Um, and sometimes it can be really simple justifications, and that's okay. Um, you just want something that's kind of like nice, neat and concise, and that you're able to work with and fill those kind of 3000 words in, um So now just moving on to analyzing your narratives. Um, So I think you've already had this, um, the care opinion workshop where K took you through different methods of analyzing narratives. Um, this I find to be the most accessible way of doing things. Um, so the plot based the linguistic and the functional approaches. Um, So if we start with the plot, what happens? Um and also, how is it? How does it happen? How is it organized within the narrative? How does it start? What happens? How does it evolve? And how does it end? Um, and why do you think they've included what they did? What might be missing from there. They will only have included stuff that is relevant to the point they're trying to make. So just have a think about that and have to think about you know, what aspects of the narrative and seem most important and what might be missing from it. Because that can tell you a lot about, um, what the author is trying to get across. Then we've got the linguistic parts. Um, so that's the styles used, including the language, the punctuation, the structure, um, whether they're kind of like talking really short sentences. If they're missing words, if they're using a lot of punctuation, Um, and if it seems kind of nicely organized or a bit more chaotic and disorganized, you can get a real feel for, um, sort of what the message of the narrative is, um, from these sorts of subtle things. Um, And finally, we've got the functional analysis. Um, which is kind of why did they tell this story here now and who might be listening? Um, so plumbers domains are helpful for this one. So you've got the nature or purpose of the narrative. Um, so why is it being told you've got the making of it? So how is it made? Um, sort of. Who wrote it For what platform? Um, that kind of thing. And then the consuming. So who might be reading it? Um, and how might they respond to it? Then you got the power plays which often comes up in healthcare. Kind of, um, you know, is the author an underdog or are they kind of like, um, the most like? Do they portray themselves to be in control or is someone else taking that control away from them. Um, that kind of thing, And then you've got the wider impact. So where does this narrative sit in relation to bigger things that are going on. So that could be, um, institutional things, organizational things in the NHS. Um, or it could be the wider world social functions of illness, that kind of thing. Um, and I just put a few references there. So there's the Mishler one, which is the three domains, um, plumbers, domains, and just a couple of other suggestions as well. Um, just in case you wanted to use them. Um, Okay, so now we've got a worked example. Um, so this is a narrative. Sorry. It's quite long. Um, this is just one that's been shared in the last week, and I thought we could kind of go through it together to see how these things all fit together. Um, so just have a read a bit and have a think about those different elements of narratives. The plot base, the linguistic and the functional. Um, and just if anything stands out to you about the way it's told or why you think it might have been told as it is, um, just put it in the chat. Um, I'll give you sort of a couple of minutes to read it through, and then we'll go through it together. Okay? Has anyone got any ideas? Okay. So just in the interest of time, I'll just go through what my thoughts were, Um, as I said, this is completely individual. So this is just how I read the narrative. Um, but you might read it completely different. Um, Gabby might read it completely different. Um, it's all completely individual and based on our own experiences, our own perceptions. Um oh, I can see some messages. Let's have a look first. Um yeah. Perfect. So they've included great detail in the interaction between themselves and the doctors. Um, and, yeah, so not being believed and not being trusted. Um, so that's something that I picked up on as well. Um, so yes, the emotive language. Brilliant. Any other ideas? Okay, so I kind of went through it in the three points. Um, so if we just think about plot, um, I kind of picked up on the scene setting, so they start with the ward. So clearly this is something that is familiar to the narrator, but we're kind of a little bit in the dark. Yes. So the power dynamic as well, um, I'm really liking these ideas that are coming up here. Um, so that's kind of the scene setting thing. Passive voice. Brilliant. Um, so there's the scene setting the fact that there's the ward, but we're kind of in the dark as to what type of water is, Um, where about that kind of thing? Um, it seems kind of like were a little bit on the back foot here, Um, and then you've also got the left versus right. That's a real kind of central point. Um, to the to the narrative, Um, and then you've got aspects of time. So what I mean by this is if we just go back, they talked about it being 5. 30 PM 10 PM Then they talk about eight days being in pain. Um, and, um, still saying things like today, um, so there's kind of like, a sense of that being used to, um illustrate their frustration as well. Potentially, um, and there's quite a big focus on the qualities of the pain. If we think about the Socrates that we've all learned. Um, we know exactly where abouts the pain is. Um, we don't know much about kind of like the onset, but we know that it's a severe pain. Um, and there was kind of the disagreement about that, and we know that pain relief isn't helping. Um, things like that. So they seem to be using those kind of words to almost highlight this disagreement and sense of, I thought invalidation that some of you have picked up on as well. Um, then we've got the characters, the fact that it's two doctors, them and me. Um, and it's also told in relation to the self. So we're getting some idea of what it's like to be this person in this situation in the way they're telling the narrative. Um, the summary at the end. Um, which kind of gives us a good, concise roundup of what's going on? Um, but also, are they finding Have they used this narrative to make sense of their experience? We don't know, um and there's also the sense of emotion in both the title and in the conclusion how they're talking about, you know, they're really naming these emotions that they're they're feeling this frustration. So then if we move to the linguistic sort of points I just picked up on a few of these things, Um, so there's the emotive language. Um, like you said, the use of the word atrocious. Um, and there's also this kind of like between the past and present. Um, it kind of seems quite confused and disorientated ng, um, sometimes that can give a sense of still being in the midst of this real anguish. Um, and if we look at some of the sentences, some of them are quite long and seem quite almost rushed to get the words out, whereas others are just very short. Sort of. This was refused. Um, so there's kind of this sense of, um, you know, like, there's so much going on. But then this is really kind of like a standout point that emphasizes. And so there's also a direct conflict in the phrases in the left versus right. Got the repetition. Um, as someone said, the passive voice, the sense of being powerless and unheard. Um, and there's a sense of them owning this pain sort of my pain. It's not the pain It's them. It's a part of their body and it's part of themselves and again the reiterating the emotions in the language they're using and finally just thinking about the functions, which I think is fairly similar between a lot of the narratives that you'll be using. Um, so being shared on care opinion, it's, um, kind of like a review site for healthcare. Um, so it could be a way of connecting with others, um, who have been through similar things, but it could also be a way of communicating and talking back to the hospital. Um, and, you know, it's also seen by educators and students whether that was intended or not. Um, and this sense of, you know, invalidation and powerlessness that seems to pervade the narrative. Um, insuring their narrative. It could have been a way to reclaim their experience, make some sense of it and find some meaning and be able to share it with other people. Um, so now if we think about the discussion, um, this is something that can be quite daunting and challenging to kind of think about how you're going to approach it. So we've done this analysis. We've got lots of different points. Um, we've done all the highlighting and all of that. How do we pin it down? And how do we link it into, um, some form of kind of, like points that we can write down in an essay. So in the assessment booklet, um, it says something like interpretation informing theory and how the theory informed your interpretation. What does that mean? Um, so your interpretation, how we've analyzed the narratives and what points we've come up from it, um, we're going to take that, and we're going to use that to add some depth to our understanding of the H p L topic again, I'll go through an example, and then we're going to use that theory that we've got, um So my example was a philosophy one. So, um, we'll take that philosophical theory, and we'll take it back to the narrative to see what else we can get from it. Um, So the way that I did this in my assignment was to kind of identify a few different themes that come out of your narratives, um, and separate them into kind of like, different paragraph sort of thing that you can all linked together, Um, and build it into your chosen topic, then, um, kind of go exploring the literature. The reading lists are a good place to start, But Google scholar, um, just normal Google, the library, Um, sort of everything that there's no real limits and humanities as to what you can and can't use as a reference or source. Um, so you can use blogs, pieces of art, poetry, books, whatever you want. Um, and so once you've done that, once you found what things you want to include and what you've got some idea as to how you're gonna organize it. You need to link the narratives and the wider reading into the themes. Um, using this kind of, like point evidence, explain link structure. Um, so thinking about it, um, for this narrative, I thought, why not the experience of acute pain? Um, you might not have done phenomenology yet. I know it's quite a popular choice for care opinion essays, I'd say. Unless you're kind of like that Way inclined. Anyway, it's quite a big topic to get your head round. Um, unless you're a big philosopher. Anyway, I'm not personally, um, but one thing I picked up on was the emotion of it, um, so real hurt and frustration, and it's kind of interweave throughout. Um, so kind of from the very start to the end, you get this really strong sense of, um this frustration, this powerlessness and the conflicts kind of seem to exacerbate it. Um, so you've got kind of like when they're saying the left and not the right, but also being told or, you know, thinking it's, uh, or writing. It's a severe pain and being told that it's not that bad and that you're just exaggerating. Um, so that seems to exam, uh, exacerbate this kind of like, real sense of emotion within the piece. And you've got this being related to the reader, um, all of these emotions. So that could be something that's quite good to explore the relationship between emotions and acute pain, Um, and also the aspect of time, because it's kind of they're mentioning specifics, but then, also, in the meantime, it seems quite disorientated. Ng um says a sense that they're kind of still in the midst of this. Um, and when I read it anyway, I felt that quite acutely, so that could also relate to the experience of pain. And you've got the lacking the shared meaning that a few of you picked up on. And it's kind of like an illustrated just so nicely in this left versus right thing. Um, where is the pain, That sort of thing and something that again, I'm not really sure if the author intended to use this, but using kind of like those classic characteristics to describe the pain, Where is the pain? Um, you know, like, what makes it better? What makes it worse? All of those sorts of things, and they're kind of using those aspects of it from an almost medical perspective, but talking about their pain, their experience of it, and again, I think it kind of builds into the owning of their pain. And then is this finding a shared meaning with the reader? So in telling their story, they're connecting with someone who, you know, believes them and actually listens to them. And, you know, from this narrative, it doesn't seem like they really felt listened to. Um, So then we come onto this powerlessness and invalidation, you know, medical learning versus lived experience. These real contrasts in language and and the sense of relentlessness in the telling. It's almost like we're constantly trying to catch up with them. Um, the passive voice. So the sense of powerlessness and again forming meaning in, you know, are they reclaiming their experience by share ing their narrative? So all of these points, um, I kind of made in the analysis section, but now we're starting to organize them into themes. And if we maybe look at some different authors and things like that, we could build these up into more robust paragraphs and sections for an essay. So where would we go next? Um, selecting do 23 other narratives. Um, analyze these, um, maybe they share the themes. Ideally, you'd want to get your themes from the three narrative or from however many narratives you're using together, Um, so analyze them, build on the themes, and then do your wider reading. So, um, just a few I've picked out so philosophers kind of like the you know, whatever topic you're doing, um, the kind of, like big names in that, um and then, you know, other expressions of I said pain. Um, so Deborah, pad fields pain photos, poetry, that sort of thing. You can look at different expressions of what you're exploring, and you can draw similarities between them. Um, and you can also say, you know, this person, for example, um talks about powerlessness in this piece of art or something like that, and then you can take it back to your narrative. And then, you know, I could also look at medicines. Perspective on pain. So, you know, things like Socrates. Um, then, you know, do doctors think there has to be an underlying pathology, things like that, which again, links to definitions. Um, so it's kind of you're using the narratives to guide the reading. Oh, sorry. You're using the narratives to guide the reading, inform your understanding, and then take that reading back to the narratives and it can seem kind of quite boring and kind of, like, really dull. You're just kind of going around in this circle. Um, and sometimes in the phrasing you're using in the essay, it can really seem like you're trying to, you know, really drill this point home sort of thing. Um, but actually, it shows kind of like a really higher level of understanding if you are able to do that and just finish off those points and take it back to the narratives, Um so we then move onto the reflection. So all of this, all of the analysis that we've been doing is with the caveat that this is my perspective. This is my reading of this narrative on this day. Um, you know, wherever. So, um, this is where you need to kind of like, look at your position, what might have influenced your interpretation. It's your chance to kind of, like caveat everything that you've said with, But I'm in this position. I am a medical student, for example. Um, you can say this is my first time analyzing narratives. Um, So, um, you know, throughout the process, I learned a lot. Um, there might also be particular life experiences that you've related to more. Um, did you find yourself making any assumptions about the narrator? Um, often we do because, you know, we're just reading an experience, but this is someone's story, and often we do imagine who it is. Who's talking to us. Um, so you want to think about that sort of thing and explore it? Don't hold back. Um, kind of like, the more reflection you can do, the better. And the more robust. Actually, it makes your analysis. Um And then the second thing to think about is what have you learned in this process? What will you take forward, Um, from doing this assignment a couple of years ago, Um, and also doing my project. I find that I am a much better listener, and I pick up a lot more on kind of like nuances of what people are telling me. Um, so it could be things like that. Um, it could be, um, different ways of reading things. It could be thinking about different interpretations, that kind of thing. All of this will be very personal to you, but I would encourage you to think about it as your you know, as you're kind of like doing the essay rather than leaving it right till the very end before, maybe just kind of like, keep a scrap piece of paper and any thoughts that come to just jot it down because that will make you know your last few 100 words so much easier. Um, then kind of getting there and being absolutely knackered and then trying to think of what you've actually learned doing this. Um, so, yeah, just some general essay tips. Now, you've probably heard all of these before, but it's good to reiterate them. Um, so always planned before writing. Um, don't just kind of like going blind and hope for the best, because especially in something of this length, um, it can be very easy to get off track or suddenly feel stumped and not know where you're going. Um, so plan before writing, make sure you know your readings done. Make sure you've got a direction and a scope for the essay. Um, and that links into having a strong introduction. So you want to say, Well, the purpose of your essay is what scope is going to be. You can't cover everything that's okay and and also the structure of the essay. Because again, it's long and you really don't want the reader to get lost because, you know, get skin and wing May they're marking 20 plus 3500 word essays. Their attention might wonder if they don't know. You know, if they've not got a roadmap for this thing. Um, so following on from that, um, introduce and justify your topic and your methods and also your narratives. Um, so, you know, you can talk about why narratives are so great. Um, and you can also talk about how your topic it's into the narratives and also, you know, is it a really unexplored area? Is it something that's only been explored in sort of, like cohort studies or things like that? Um, what about more subjective ways of looking at experience? Um, the classic point evidence explain, link. So make your point. Find some evidence from the narratives. Um, quotes will be included in your word count, so make these fairly short, but it's good to have kind of like, um, those pieces of evidence in there rather than sending them looking for it in your appendix. Um, and then explain making sure you do that Kind of like circle of linking the narratives to the theory and the theory. That's the narrative. Um, and then link. So your whole point, how does that fit into the bigger picture of your essay? Um, and so each sentence and paragraph should flow building into your overall point. Um, make sure you reference as you go along. Um, because again, that can be a big stress at the end. Um, don't worry about the word count at first. Just write. You know, you've got your plan. You know, you kind of like a vague number of paragraphs that you're going to do. Um, so just right. And then you can always refine it. Um, just make sure you finish it early so you can read it, edit and ask everyone else. Um, not everyone else. Just ask people to check grammar and sense making. So I've just seen a message on the chat. Um, okay, So in terms of using, I would recommend using, um, miche alors way of doing things as a starting point. Um, but it's very kind of like it depends on what narratives you're doing. Um, but as a starting point, I would encourage you to kind of, like, make sure you cover your bases, at least, um, of just having to think about all of those things. Um, So, uh, that kind of relates to the deuce. And don't, um, that I would say so. Trust your judgment, but be critical of it as well. So why am I interpreting it like this? Um, you know, how else could it be interpreted, um, and jot down any biases, anything that might be shaping your lens. Um, start early. Take your time. Um, it's one of those marathon things. Definitely not a sprint. And and it will also the fact that you're able to spend a bit more time away from it. Um, it will kind of mull over in the back of your mind as well, which is really, really helpful for developing those points, especially for the discussion. Make sure you justify everything, um, and use a range of, um, those analytical styles. So the linguistic, um, plot based or you can say content based as well. Um, and functional analysis, um, build your understanding. Using the narratives and wider reading, um, consistently reflect. Keep that list of things of observations about your experience as you go along. Make sure you plan before you start writing. Um, make sure you take care of yourself. A lot of the topics in h. P. L and I don't know what you're all doing for your care opinion, but a lot of the topics are quite hard hitting and this assignment requires you to read people's personal experiences, which can be hard. Um, you know, in medicine, we spend, what, half an hour with each patient and we can't get, um, you know, we'd go mad if we had that depth of, um, kind of like just being with people, um, for that long for two weeks, Just a couple of stories, and that is quite hard. Um, so just take care of yourself and also doing the reading. And so my care opinion was on an end of life experiences, and And I didn't think about in advance the impact of reading all of this stuff about, you know, basically, um, caring for loved ones at the end of life reading about that for two weeks on end. Um, so just have a think about that. It doesn't mean you can't do those things but have things in place. Um, so you can look after yourself. Get time away from it again, Starting early. Helps with that, um, connect with people, talk them about how you're finding it. Um, and just make sure you've got some kind of, like, enjoyable things to do, because I know, especially in those, um, consolidation weeks. It can seem like quite a lonely place when you're just sort of wear on your laptop typing. Um, so, yeah, be patient with it. It will come together. I know it's easy for me to say now, um, but it will come together. Um, trust yourself with it. Um, yeah. Make sure you talk to each other, ask for help if you need to. The course team of their, um, we're here as well. Um, so just ask for help, and they'll be more than willing to help you. Um, just a few pitfalls. So over interpreting, making assumptions about you know what they must be like. So say if there's always pick up on this grammatical mistakes, um, you know, I make an assumption about how they must have rushed writing it. Or maybe, you know, if they're spellcheck wasn't working, I don't know. And so I can't make that assumption, So just keep a check on you know, those interpretations, think about whether they really are justified in the text, Um, and try not to make assumptions about the type of person that's writing it, but again, that can be something good that you can reflect on in your final section as well. Um, trying to be over object, Overly objective. So just saying this, you know, obviously shows this, um that, you know, there's always two sides to it. Um, and narratives are not objective. They are not definite truth and your interpretation. There's no way it can be definite truth. Um, so just be aware of that. When you're writing also comparing to other others, everyone's assignments will be different. Um, so there's really, you know, no need to compare. There's no need to be the same as someone else. Um, you know, there's and also the number you get in your mark It it means you know nothing as to kind of like whether you are better or worse than someone else. Every everything is just different, and that's fine. And that's what's amazing about humanity's. So just try and embrace that subjectivity. Um, I know it's painful. Um, trust me, but yeah, just try and kind of like help each other. Um, and everyone in humanities is always lovely, so I'm sure that won't be an issue. Um, on that note, don't struggle in silence and always ask for help. Don't procrastinate. Just try and get on with it. Try, try and enjoy it. Um, it's kind of yeah, and it's a real opportunity, but don't procrastinate, because that will make your stress so much worse. And it will make it a lot harder in the long run because this is something that kind of takes that thinking that I'm sure you're all getting on with now anyway, Um, and just a warning about secondhand referencing Get skin picks up on it. She knows what is in the library and what is not in the library. She knows, Um, kind of like the exact wording of things sometimes. So just make sure you read what you site and make sure what you're saying about it is actually what's written. Um, that's kind of a little pointer, because she has picked up on it in the past. Um, and yeah, that's kind of the end of my talk. Um, I'd say, you know, absolutely good luck for this. Um, it is a hard assignment. I'm not gonna lie. 3500 words at the start of the year is a big ask, but it's also something that I know you're all capable of doing. Um, 100%. You've got a lot of support out there. I really hope today's talks been helpful. Um, and you know, we'll be around for any questions as well. Um, but ask for help. If you need it. You will get through this, Um, and yeah, after this essay, trust me, you will be so much best prepared for the rest of the year. Um, so it's not a waste of time. It's really valuable. Um, so, yeah. Thank you so much. And happy to take any questions. Now, I think Gabby's here as well, so and she's gonna jump on as well. I just need to work out how to stop share in my slide. Oh, that might be here. There we go. Uh huh. So I just wanted to say Alex really said everything, but I would just reiterate like, don't stress the moach take care of yourselves. This is a bit big assignment. I am a very last minute person when it comes to writing things. And I do not recommend that for medical humanities, because it's really, really stressful when you leave these things for, like, until the very last minute. But for anyone that's think like Oh, maybe like my theme and topic don't really match together, and it's really hard to analyze one within the other. If that makes sense or yeah, I think it's kind of a trial and error. I don't know if Alex, like a straight like this is what I'm gonna do, and that's it. But I have changed both my theme and my topic a couple of times and kind of worked my way around of what matches everything to the structure of this essay is, of course, like it is your work. But at the end of the day, like you kind of have to hit certain, like marking criteria. And I think it's really, really confusing at first, and it's kind of like walking in the dark, being like I don't know if I'm doing this correctly, but just there's not one way to do this. Everyone is gonna do it differently and I don't know which essays you've got your example essays. But we had the phenomenology of and chronic fatigue syndrome, and that is honestly an amazing piece of work, and I don't know who thought of that I don't remember, but GS, but also like you can do something completely different and not do phenomenology because most of these examples were for us about phenomenology And, like, just go for something completely, completely different and be absolutely fine. I did mine on dignity and different things that come into dignity, and that worked out absolutely fine. So I would just say, Trust your process If you think something doesn't glue, try to maybe, like, adjust it a bit, but it will never fully glue in your head, I think because it's just a very tough assignment and very like, counterintuitive in some ways. But just trust your process, start earth kind of mishmash everything. Yeah. I don't know if you guys have any questions, because that's everything I have to say. I completely agree with that, Gabby. Um, yeah, the number of times I changed my topic as well and everything. Um, it was just very sort of like I must have read, like, 50 different narratives and care opinion. I became like a wizard on that website, um, knowing exactly how to filter things and everything. Um and then I actually started to enjoy it and Then I realized I actually had to do this essay instead of just poking around. Um, so yeah, it's hard, but just make sure you look after yourselves. Um, so I've got a question, um, mental health and dignity. Um uh, from, like, dignity standpoint, because I can I can talk about that. I think most of the any care opinion that has something that has violated, like out to, like someone's dignity. You can write about dignity like it's just I think that's the That's That's the trick question that I kept asking myself like, What do I specifically focus on, Like, what do what is my angle? But I know this is part of my friends shit, because you feel like you don't know how to figure it out, but you're gonna figure it out. But it has to be like you're like, you're gonna read a lot of these care opinions and suddenly it's kind of gonna click. I think that, like, at least that's what happened to me. But mental health is a very huge, big, big, big topic as well. So I don't really know what you mean by specifically focused because I think mental health is a huge topic in itself. And for me, I have dignity and procedures. I had, like, procedures that are very, um, like laparoscopies any any sort of like physical procedures that are very intrusive. So that was, like my topic, like physical procedures and dignity within them. And the theme was dignity. And then I was analyzing, like, what? What happened during these? So I think if you have mental health, just really narrow it down to what do you mean by mental health? And then you can find, like, I don't know, for example, people who have depression and where is regarded by doctors And that kind of, um and, like, I don't know, influence their dignity in a negative way or someone that really, positively influence their dignity. Like, really helped them. I start their dignity by understanding them and listening to their mental health problems. I think that's something like to jump off from, but yeah, I don't know Alex. What you think? Yeah. No, I think I think that was good. Like, it is so hard to focus in on a topic. Um, so just kind of on the dignity thing. Um, So there's kind of like you're saying, Gabby, the validation side of things. Um, you could also think about some ethical aspects. Um, so things like, um what, actually, you know, makes up dignity. Um, what is it? There's a lot of writings and kind of like medical law, that sort of thing. Um, you know, I'm sure there's someone that says dignity is, um, based upon the body. It's kind of like bodily integrity and that kind of thing. Um, could be interesting. Interesting. Think that in terms of mental health, um, is it just something to do with the body? Um, or is it you know, more than that kind of us as a whole being. So actually, there's quite a lot you could get into with that. You could also, um, go kind of like a philosophical Juul is, um, kind of way, um, personally gets clear of that. Um, but yeah. So there is a lot you can explore. Just have a think again. Starting early. It gives you that time to trial and error. See what's out there and see what's in your narratives. Um, yeah. Um, So we've got another question. How many extra references should I add, it's I I I feel like to a lot of these questions will just be It's so individual. Um, so, um, extra references just as much. Make sure that what you read actually adds value to your essay. Let's say that, um so don't just scattering references just to, you know, drop a name here, that sort of thing. Um, I'd say really, make sure that you read it and try and use your voice. Kind of like take what they're saying, but also use your voice with it and make sure it links with the narratives. Make sure that it adds to your overall. And I say, rather than just kind of like being an added thing, And I again, I think with references, it will come together. You've got a word count. So you know you can't add 300. Um, because it's not going to fit in your workout. Um, so, yeah, just try and be kind of like judicious with that. And I taper paragraph, you know, only a couple of extras because, really, you should be grounding in the narratives as well. You're getting marks for analyzing the narratives and then bringing in extra material, so yeah, just try and keep the balance there. Um, Gabby? Anything else? I think, Yeah. What? Everything that Alex said. And also it's going to be so weird. You're gonna have paragraphs, would have any references, which is not really natural. Normal for you. After specifically writing I C. A s where everything has to be referenced like in medicine and scientific writing. Everything has to be like based in like scientific literature. But here it's your own work. It's your own work. It's your own analysis. So when you're analyzing the narratives like there might be paragraphs or you have no references and that's absolutely fine or there you there will be something that, like, if you have a point and there's a paper or like a book or whatever that supports it, of course, use that reference. But I have to say, this skin will read every single reference, and she will check if you actually read it or not. So if you're like, ah, this kind of matches, let's just put it in there, not not worth it. You're gonna lose marks for that. So really, really read what you're putting like as a reference. First of all, and second of all, do not get freaked out. If you have, like free paragraphs in a row with no references, that's fine. If this is your like, if it's not like introducing, let's say your thing where you have to explain something and you just need to explain it in like a like a proper scientific right way where you need, like, a definition by like, I don't know, a philosopher or what? Not like you can fully on have paragraphs with no references, and it seems weird. There's also a 3500 word essay. You're gonna have enough references anyways, Like I was really stressed about this. And in the end, I was like, Oh my God, I have so many reference. Why was I stressing about this? Even though I had photographs with no reference inserted? That makes sense. I hope so. But, yeah, you have one more question. Um, I don't really get what you mean by overlap. Yes, um, so, like, Okay, so say when I was talking about dignity and like, ethics and philosophy and, um, I don't know what else I said, but I would try and stick to one, but make sure it's enough. You can talk about different aspects of it. So, um, I'm just going to go back to phenomenology of pain. Even though I hated it, I just feel like there's there's a lot that you know, it's a big thing. Um, So, uh, for those of you that don't know, phenomenology is kind of like describing our experience and the way we we relate to our experience. I don't know if this if I'm saying that's right, Gabby, Uh, in a while. So, uh, um, yeah. So things about how we experience time, how when we're ill getting to the front door might seem like such a big task, Um, things like that. So there's lots of different aspects to it that you can explore a pick out of the narratives and then take from the literature and build into it. So I'd say Don't pick something that is so directly you can actually only want paradox about bit. Um, try and have kind of like three or four. I say themes. I mean, kind of like different aspect to your topic that you can pick out of the narratives and be able to draw on and build together. Um, my actual care opinion was on relative experiences. End of life care, um, in acute hospitals, and I picked out, um Oh, and it my topic was with the medical gays. So I thought about medicalization. Um, I thought about the relationships with the with the healthcare team. I thought about the relationship between the relative and the dying person. Um, I thought about the use of space, and that seemed to come up quite a lot in the narrative. So those things just try and break it down into what actually comes out of the narratives and what goes into your topic. I don't know if that makes any sense. Um, but yeah, I I hope that answers that question. Um, so just try and make it broad enough. Um, so diagnostic labeling. You don't have to specify a particular condition. Um, just kind of have some kind of running theme. Um, So, um, you know, you're looking at diagnostic labeling. That can kind of be your running theme. Um, so it can be someone saying I have schizophrenia, whatever. Or they told me I have, um, things like that or you can just make it very focused. A lot of this kind of will depend on the amount of time you've got available, because it could be a mental health that there's 650 different narratives, whereas with a really niche condition or with, you know, just like one condition. Um, it narrows it down a lot more. So you don't have to read all of those narratives. Um, so, yeah, I just have a thing about that. Be practical with it. Um, anything else cab to add to that one? No, I think that's that's really I'm reading the most recent question. And I think that is very focused. That is, like, very, very focused. And I think, like, it's I don't know how to explain it, But, like, uh, I had the same issue. I know exactly where why you're asking these questions. And I wish there was, like, a simple answer, and like a simple help being like, Yes, this is a great topic, like you're on like you're on it. But like this seems like a topic. Don't get me wrong like this is very focused and very nice and has, like, the theme of dignity and like mental health presentations in A and E settings. But also make sure you can actually find good enough patient narratives because I had an issue where I wanted to talk about identity and the drug abuse. Sorry, drug addition. Um, and honestly, like the narratives weren't just just wearing good enough. And that was something that I really, really wanted to do. But I have scoured care opinion for every single like red. All of the addiction narratives I could could possibly fall under that category. And there wasn't really anything for me to analyze that it was very repetitive and like, not really detailed enough deep enough like it was just very straightforward sentences like I don't know how, like Alex this does this. That's what I'm saying. Okay, So I think if you have a good idea like, if you have a theme and you have a topic, then certain convenience you whether you have enough narratives to choose from and to analyze in depth so you can actually write like a 3500 word essay with a good analysis. If yes, then perfect. Just go ahead and go to town. But I think it's really good to work around whether you have a good narrative narratives to analyze. That's one tip I could give. Yeah, I don't know that. Um, so, yeah, you want to make sure that the narratives you've got are good? Um, and it's kind of so you start by searching quite broad, and then you see how many come up? If just three come up and they're really great, then cool. Stick with them. Um, but often you will have to refine it. And, um, you know, often kind of you've got it down to maybe six narratives. You can kind of see what's coming out, you know of them. And so you've got a kind of topic in mind, and then you really pick which narratives show that off best. And that's kind of your ideal scenario sort of thing. Um, so but yeah, if not just kind of go with it, it's It's a really evolving process. Um, it's really frustrating because the whole time I was doing it, I had no clue what I was doing. And even when I submitted, I was like, I don't even know if this is good. I don't know if this answers any of the questions. Um, but I'm just submitting it because I'm kind of done with this thing. Um, yeah, I I mean, it's satisfying to do, but it's also really not, um, and the fact that you've got such a short deadline for it is also really hard because, like, I did my final project in three months and still I was short of time. Um, and that wasn't many more words than this is now. So yeah, and it is It is a challenge, but you will get there. Just try and be pragmatic about it. I'd say. So what makes the narrative good? Um, well, I'm sure K would have something to say about this. Um, so, firstly, it's those criteria. It seems really hard to judge narratives and to judge people's experiences. Um, but, you know, you want it to be told from their perspective, um, which generally it is, it's being narrated by someone. Um, so it's talking about an experience. There's, um, aspects of, you know, they call it temporal order. Um, So things like this happened then this happened then this happened or this happened. But before this happened things like that. So you've got an aspect, you know, some idea of what what's happening in the time course sort of thing. Um, so it's personal, it's meaningful. It's kind of like a story. Um, there's kind of, like the definitions of narratives, um, which is always a good place to start. So just make sure, um, it conforms to that. And most of them will be because in the nature of telling the story, it's personal. It's talking to someone talking about an event, things like that. Everything else, I'd say, is a lot more subjective. So things like if you get a highlighter and highlight the points from your narrative, how much of the page is colored in? How many scribbles have you got on the page? How much you know richness and value? Have you got out of that narrative? Um, it could be that Gabby reads one narrative and finds so much. And then I read it and get like, two points. That's fine. That's a good narrative for Gabby to use. Not so good for me. Um, so I'd say that kind of thing. Um, so it's very hard to say what makes a good narrative because again, it's subjective. It's humanity's, um, but just how how much richness and diversity you get from it. Um, does it feel really authentic to you? Um, all of these things are very wishy washy, and you'll do a lot more of it this year because it's what this year is about. Yeah. What do you think that they I think adding to that one last thing like and a joke? You wait. But if you know, you know, you read the narrative and you're like, Okay, I can work with that. And I feel like like in not to be Alex and I have talked about previous assignments when we're writing assignments. And we were talking about, for example, the law essay that will come up to you guys sometime in January, February Whenever you have that we had a little call about it with a couple of other people, and we all wrote different things. Kind of the same. All wrote, like different angles, different things, and we all like, had our own ideas. And it's and it's one question you got one question. It wasn't like we had a choice in here. You have such a big choice. It's very overwhelming. But it's also like it is your work fully and like when you find a narrative and you're like, Oh, I interpret this narrative in this way Like, for example, if I'm really interested in using language like I don't really I didn't really analyze my own from a perspective of this is someone story and like, really digging into the storytelling right. I just really like picking very specific things, like words like emoti language. And I really focused on using certain words, uh, emotive language and that that worked out for me. But like when you read the narrative, that's gonna be like a good one for your essay, like you, you will know you will have that feeling like, Oh, yes, this here you're gonna Oh, by the way, print these and annotate or use your ipads and annotate. But it's really like one to get into it and, like, highlight everything like right on it. And then when you have a lot to say, you're going to know or like, even if a narrative has to free things, but they're so strong that you can build a whole paragraph on it cause I had one narrative that didn't have a lot, but two are free. Sentences were so rich and intense that allowed me to use that narrative. That's also fine, but oh my God, the question the when starting should be approached by finding interesting narratives who have been a certain theme. Um, I have to say from my experience, it's whatever works for you because some people had an amazing idea of the theme and topic together. And then just because they were so often written about, it was easy for them to find that these narratives I had it kind of an idea. But then I went on a crazy long journey of reading many, many care opinions and then kind of crystallized my top like theme for my topic, because I just read so many. The theme stood out to me. I think it really depends and kind of just let yourself known for their opinions and read a lot of them. And I think you really guys, you're gonna be fine. This is tough. This is weird. It's very like not your usual. I see a intro aims, methods blah, blah, blah free reign but that's what's kind of cool about it. Alex. I don't know what you know. So I was I was actually the same. So I knew I wanted to do something around end of life care. Um, and I was actually looking for some weird reason. Um, for narratives of people who were dying, they don't exist from a good reason. So and then I had to think about other ways I could do this. Um, so that's how I kind of started looking at relatives experiences, and a lot of them were shared. Um, and yeah, it was kind of it was kind of really hard trying to figure out what type of I was going to do. Um, And then, like I found the narrative like Gabby said, That kind of like I don't know. They say, kind of like this narrative spoke to me. Things like that. Um, so, yeah, I kind of found a few of them, and I still didn't really know. And then I just spoke to one of my friends, Um, and having that outside perspective, Um, it was a h p l friend. So she kind of knew that sort of thing. um and yeah, she just helped me refine the ideas down. And then she was like, You know what? Why don't you do this? Yeah, actually, that that works with all of these. Um, so, yeah, don't be afraid to talk to other people. Um, if you guys have got mentors, um, you know, they're always good people to kind of, like, bounce ideas off of, um and yeah, and, you know, even if you don't know anyone that's done H p l. Before, um, just talk to, you know, friends and family or talk to each other. Um, and just see what comes up, because sometimes you can get so engrossed in these things. You kind of, like, get a bit of tunnel vision these, you know, a wider perspective. And sometimes just stepping back, that's all you need. And it will come to you like an epiphany. Um, so, yeah, again. It will be fine. It will come together. Um, you know, there's not a prescriptive one way to do this, and yeah, it will, you know, everyone does it the same. It's not. Everyone finds their own way of doing it. But you will find your way and it will work out. Um, I'm yet to meet anyone who it's not worked out for care. Opinion. Um, so, yeah, you will be okay. Trust me. Trust us. Um, yeah. Any other questions? I think that's it. Yeah. Guys, I just wanted to say good luck, and it seems daunting. But a year after from my perspective, now I am like, Wow, I wrote a 3500 word essay that I did not know how to write. Then I did it, and it worked out fine. So just trust, trust yourself. Trust your process. Also, have fun with it, cause in a year you're going to be like, Wow, I wish I could write the 3500 word essay again. So there you go. Yeah. And if you've got any questions, feel free to email us. Um, my e mails on the sides, um and yeah, please fill in the feedback as well. I know Re a has sent the forms. I think, Um, yeah. So any final questions? So should we wrap it up, walk up. Brilliant. Um, I think it looks like all the questions are done here. That was a fantastic book. I loved your slides. I think you have everything really, really well. And I think the feedback will reflect that. I've just been, like, looking at the responses and everyone everyone loves it. Um, thank you so much for putting this together. Um, and thank you as well, Gabby, for organizing this first one. Um, it's gone really well, by the way, it's gone. Really? Well. Um fantastic. All right, well, I think we'll end it there. Um, have a fantastic evening as of you. Thank you. Yeah. For organizing. Uh, yeah, very much. I wish we'd have had something like this when we did this last year. Honestly, Well, you have Gabby to thank for that. Taking everyone and making sure that it worked well. And we and you guys had a really good attendance as well, may I say? Because it's quite difficult to get good attendance on these sorts of pictures. We've done really well for yourself. Well, thank you for everyone that attended. Thanks, guys. Good luck. And let us know if you need anything black guys, you'll be fine. Good luck. This this just sounds like an assessment where it's like, um, to break the mold. And then I think after that you get the hung of things. Yeah. I never thought about it. Just made, but yet true. Brilliant. OK, we'll end it there, and I'll stop broadcasting. Um, have a lovely evening, both of you, And I'll be sending the certificate. Experian feedback very soon. Right. Thanks. Thanks. Alex. You have a lovely night high.