Author Archives: Anna McNamara

“Gunner”

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: Student (Medical School)
Residence: Honolulu, Hawaii
Performance Date: April 12th, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, French

Informant Data: The informant is a second year medical student at John A. Burns School of Medicine with the University of Hawaii. She is Caucasian, and with a distant Irish and Russian lineage that she feels little connection to. She grew up in Seattle, Washington, and obtained an undergraduate degree in Bio-medical Engineering before starting her medical school journey. She is very enthusiastic about medicine and healing people.

Item: the slang term “gunner” as used within the medical community. The following quotations are direct transcriptions of my dialogue with the informant, while the additional information provided is paraphrased.

Contextual Data: My informant was introduced to the term in the first few weeks of medical school and believes it to be used universally among medical students. No one specifically explained to her what a “gunner” was, but overtime it was used so much that she was able to define it contextually and understand the sentiment over a definition. My informant describes it as “A medical student or premedical student who thinks they always have the right answer, and want to show off in front of everyone and show their attending that they know more than the rest of the group. They are intense; overeager or smug and always have to be right; they are willing to put other people down and make them look inferior to try to impress superiors.” While this may seem akin to a “teacher’s pet,” the following examples are to illustrate the proper use of the term within the medical community:

“On a final exam, one student loudly rants about missing two points, and how he ruined his score and his budding career, leaving the other students to feel bad about their own scores.”

“When a student has looked up the attending’s research on their own, and attempt to ask a complicated question about it, something they have no schooling in yet, just to impress.”

“An attending asks a question to a student in a small group, and another student jumps in to blurt out the right answer to impress the attending.”

“If an attending asks the question to the group, the gunner would come back the next day with a presentation on the subject for the attending—a lecture for everyone’s general knowledge and benefit (said in a sarcastic tone)”

The informant mentions that the term can also be used as a joke, “if someone looks very formal and prepared, dressed nice, you can use the phrase sarcastically: “Oh are you trying to be a gunner now?”

Overall, the term has a negative connotation. It does not harp on one’s intelligence but rather their intensity and desire to leave others behind in their dust. While excelling in medical school is always encouraged, there is also a counter-sentiment of struggling with your peers, lamenting over the exhaustive work and bonding with each other over “med school miseries.” A balance between the two seems vital for survival, and the ways of a gunner tend to isolate themselves, leaving them without the social support of their peers through such an excruciating program.

“If you break your hip, you will die within a year”

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: Student (Medical School)
Residence: Honolulu, Hawaii
Performance Date: April 12th, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, French

Informant Data: The informant is a second year medical student at John A. Burns School of Medicine with the University of Hawaii. She is Caucasian, and with a distant Irish and Russian lineage that she feels little connection to. She grew up in Seattle, Washington, and obtained an undergraduate degree in Bio-medical Engineering before starting her medical school journey. She is very enthusiastic about medicine and healing people.

Item: The saying that goes “if you break your hip, you will die within a year.” The following quotations are direct transcriptions of my dialogue with the informant, while the additional information provided is paraphrased.

Contextual Data: The informant first heard this expression in medical school, speaking one-on-one with a doctor about a hip-fracture case. The doctor regarded the saying as well-known within the medical world; however, not in any way a medical fact. The informant describes the phrase as “it’s not a fact, just a general indication that patients who break their hips don’t recover well. It’s really hard to rehabilitate from. They tend to recover from the hip replacement just fine, leave the hospital just fine, but they just never get back to their original strength and function. Some of it could be the long term complications from it, pulmonary embolism or fat embolism, but a lot of it is the weakened state, definitely not a hard-fast rule but you just know they will never be the same.”

The informant went on to explain that “doctors do not tell this to patients, and people don’t know because they recover fine from the surgery and get to go home.” The morbid saying is restricted to the medical community and serves as a reminder of how essential preventative measures are with elderly patients. Elderly people are often resistant to take certain precautions—“they don’t want to lose their independence, they don’t want to get a hand-rail in the bathtub or a railing on their staircase, or get rid of rugs in their house. Moral of the story is doctors need to remember to ask about rugs and nightlights and how well they see and do they have stairs and all the things that could be a risk factor.” While it may reduce one’s independence, they don’t realize how much one fall could change their life from then on.

The informant said that doctor she first heard it from in fact had a personal experience with the saying as well. He, already privy to the saying with his career, had his mother pass away not six months after a hip replacement. “While his family was rejoicing her return home post-surgery, the expression loomed in the back of his mind.”

“Anansi and the Tar-Baby”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 14th, 2013
Primary Language: English

Informant Data: My informant is an International Relations major here at the University of Southern California. He is African-American, and was brought up on many West African folktales. When he retells the following tale, he speaks emphatically and passionately.

Item: The folk-tale of “Anansi and the Tar-baby.” The following quotations are direct transcriptions of my dialogue with the informant, while the additional information provided is paraphrased.

“So once Anansi lived with his wife and many children in a house somewhere in West Africa. Every day, Anansi’s wife and his children would go out to the farm where they live and they would pick yams and tend to the farm animals and all the while Anansi would recline at home and eat the fruits of their labor. And every day, once his family returned from their hard day at work, they would find that Anansi had eaten everything in the house, having contributed nothing to the labor. And as they grew thinner and thinner, Anansi grew lazier and lazier and fatter and fatter. Anansi’s wife devised a plan to get rid of him; they would play on his pride and his anger. She goes out to the fields and she makes a visage of Anansi out of tar. The next morning she came in and told Anansi there was a stranger on their property, and he wouldn’t leave no matter how much they implored. So Anansi, full of pride and self-righteous anger, went out to confront this trespasser. Anansi addressed the tar-baby, but the tar-baby didn’t respond, which made Anansi angry. Anansi repeats his challenge, but again gets no response. And what he perceives as an additional slight infuriates Anansi and drives him to punch the tar-baby. His hand becomes stuck in the tar and he demands the tar-baby to return his hand to him. Upon getting no response, Anansi is further angered and strikes the tar-baby with his other hand, resulting in it getting stuck as well. So he continues to kick and punch the tar-baby until all his limbs are stuck. His anger continues until he is driven to bite the tar-baby. His face becomes stuck in the tar as well, which causes him to suffocate and die.”

Contextual Data: The informant first heard this tale in his early childhood. “I must have been pretty young [when first introduced], my mom used to tell them to me and my older brother when we were little on long car rides, the stories in my family are one of the few cultural things I have from my West African heritage, so Anansi and his many stories definitely hold significance to me.” I asked my informant to describe and, if possible, define “Anansi” and his transcending role in his stories, to which he replied “Anansi is a lazy trickster thief of West African legend who is credited with winning Stories from the Sky God and bringing them to the people of the earth.” He emphasized that “Stories” was with a capital “S” because he was not simply the keeper of stories, but “the origin, the concept and the sharer.” I asked how this made my informant feel and what he thought of Anansi, to which he replied: “I think he’s awesome. I really like his stories, I named my dog after Anansi and still name things after him today, like internet passwords or small things. The messages of his tales are always concise, and there’s beauty in the simplicity.” As for what the message of this particular tale is, he assuredly stated: “To reprimand pride and laziness.” The tale serves a purpose beyond that of entertainment; it provides an anecdotal exaggeration to caution listeners about their self-serving actions. It clearly defines the actions of Anansi as undesirable, immoral and worthy of reprimand, in attempts to serve as a guiding script in the future actions of the audience. Tales like that of “Anansi and the Tar-Baby” are often, regardless of their original targeted audience, utilized as parenting tools to introduce and engage children with the expected moral standard of their society, as evidenced in my informant’s personal interaction with the folk-tale.

“Why Anansi Has Eight Long Legs”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 14th, 2013
Primary Language: English

Informant Data: My informant is an International Relations major here at the University of Southern California. He is African-American, and was brought up on many West African folktales. When he retells the following tale, he speaks emphatically and passionately.

Item: The folk-tale of “Why Anansi has Eight Long Legs.” The following quotations are direct transcriptions of my dialogue with the informant, while the additional information provided is paraphrased.

“Anansi, which means spider in the African language of Akaan, has always been a great trickster. While he has always had eight legs, they have not always looked as they do now. Once upon a time they were small and sturdy instead of long and thin. Anansi was always a lazy spider. Instead of cooking his own dinner, he liked to drop in on his neighbors and sample their suppers. One evening he smelt boiling carrots and went to his friend Hare’s house.

“Those carrots smell delicious,” said Anansi.

“Oh Anansi, what a pleasant surprise,” replied Hare. “I’m afraid they aren’t quite done yet, but you are more than welcome to stay for supper.”

Anansi lied to his friend and said, “I wish I could, but I’m very busy,” too lazy to help prepare the meal. “I know, I will make a web and tie one end around my leg, and you can hold the other. Give it a pull when the carrots are ready and I’ll come back for supper.”

Hare agreed and Anansi went on his way. As Anansi left, he picked up the smell of cooking beans and his tummy rumbled. He stopped in front of Monkey’s house.

“Would you like to have some supper with me?” asked Monkey politely. “The beans are almost done!”

“Ah, if only I could Monkey. But I have many things to do,” said Anansi. “I know, I will make a web and tie one end around my leg, and you can hold the other. Give it a pull when the beans are ready and I’ll come back for supper.”

Monkey agreed and Anansi went on his way, laughing to himself: “Ha, ha, ha!”

Next, Anansi caught a whiff of some boiling potatoes. “Is someone here boiling potatoes?” he asked.

Ah, it was his friend Hog. “I’m making some potatoes right now, would you like to have some for supper with me? I just have to set the table.”

“If only I could Hog. But I have many things to do,” said Anansi. “I know, I will make a web and tie one end around my leg, and you can hold the other. Give it a pull when the potatoes are ready and I’ll come back for supper.”

Hog agreed and Anansi went on his way. He continued on like this until he had a web tied to each of his eight legs. Satisfied with his cleverness, Anansi decided to lie down in the sun and take a nap before dinner.

Suddenly, Anansi was awoken by a tug at one of his legs. He wondered to himself which meal was ready for him first. But then, another leg was tugged from the other direction. And another. And another. And another! Soon Anansi was being pulled in eight different directions! Eventually everyone stopped pulling on their webs, but not before Anansi had been stretched all out of proportion. From then on, Anansi walked on eight thin, long legs and never tried to trick people for their food again.”

Contextual Data: The informant first heard this tale in his early childhood. “I must have been pretty young [when first introduced], my mom used to tell them to me and my older brother when we were little on long car rides, the stories in my family are one of the few cultural things I have from my West African heritage, so Anansi and his many stories definitely hold significance to me.” I asked my informant to describe and, if possible, define “Anansi” and his transcending role in his stories, to which he replied “Anansi is a lazy trickster thief of West African legend who is credited with winning Stories from the Sky God and bringing them to the people of the earth.” He emphasized that “Stories” was with a capital “S” because he was not simply the keeper of stories, but “the origin, the concept and the sharer.” I asked how this made my informant feel and what he thought of Anansi, to which he replied: “I think he’s awesome. I really like his stories, I named my dog after Anansi and still name things after him today, like internet passwords or small things. The messages of his tales are always concise, and there’s beauty in the simplicity.” As for what the message of this particular tale is, he explained it as two-fold: “It serves a purpose, to explain why spiders have long spindly legs. What happened to Anansi is extrapolated to all spiders. But then there is the moral of the story, that laziness and trickery will get you nowhere.” The informant gives the impression that although Anansi is chronically acting on idiotic and selfish whims, only to be reprimanded by an unfortunate fate, he is still a beloved character. The tale serves an anecdotal purpose to explain a natural phenomenon; as if meant for an audience in the midst of childhood curiosity (easily recognized by the questioning of “Why?” to every facet of our existence). Additionally, the folk-tale assists in the implementation of our society’s moral code, illustrating why trickery and laziness are not to be sought after.

“Don’t cut your baby’s hair before their first birthday”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 14th, 2013
Primary Language: English

Informant Data: My informant is an International Relations major here at the University of Southern California. He is African-American and does not identify with any religious system of belief.

Item: The folk-belief that it is bad luck to cut your baby’s hair before its first birthday. The following quotations are direct transcriptions of my dialogue with the informant, while the additional information provided is paraphrased.

Contextual Data: My informant first heard this belief around the time he was in high school. He overheard his mother and her colleagues mention it, and when he inquired to its veracity he remembers their light-hearted affirmations. “They seemed to think of it lightly, but still as a solid parenting rule.” When asked what would happen, according to the belief, if one were to cut their child’s hair prior to their first birthday, he was a little unclear. “I always just assumed bad luck, not for the parent but for the child, in health or development, or perhaps it prophesies a future of horrible hair for the kid.” He continued on to explain that in the African-American community, there is a strong fear of coarse and hard to manage hair, and that perhaps this belief is an attempt to evade such . Additionally, the roots of the saying could be traced to a more evolutionary position, in which hair served a principal role of keeping the child warm, and cutting a baby’s hair would indicate potential illness or vulnerability. The informant continued on to say that he felt it common “in the African American community that superstitions contribute a great deal, whether consciously or otherwise, to how individuals conduct themselves in their everyday lives.” While this may be valid for many groups, the informant’s resolute acknowledgment of such a facet of his own community speaks to its prevalence. When asked if he agreed with the position of this being a parenting rule to abide, he replied, “I cannot think of a substantial reason why it would be valid, at least in modern day. So yeah, if my kid needs a haircut before their first birthday, I wouldn’t deny them that on the account of superstition.”