The Doctor Stories, by William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams uses the examination and expression of details in The Doctor Stories to show various emotions and the readers’ reactions to those emotions. He uses positive emotions such as enchantment, pleasure, excitement, surprise, and a sense of satisfaction to express the upside of a clinical encounter. He also enables the use of negative emotions for expression - disappointment, frustration, confusion, and perplexity.

In order to properly identify the varied emotions and reactions to the complex dimensions of clinical encounters in William Carlos Williams The Doctor Stories, one must first understand the what and the how of clinical encounters. A clinical encounter is when a healthcare provider interacts with the patient and has the responsibility of assessing and treating the patient. Each encounter has specific key foundations, but the four basic steps are: a) Establish the main problem and develop a differential diagnosis. b) Perform a background history on the patient and a physical examination. c) Office diagnostic testing and lab testing. And finally, d) Establish a possible diagnosis and treatment.

At the time, Williams had to work with hysterical, hypochondriac parents, obstinate children and impoverished families with too many children and were thus unable to pay for services rendered properly. He also had to contend with ungodly hours that are unheard of in the present day time, as well as varied settings in which he had to go to and deliver the clinical encounters. At least he did not have to deal with patients with technological access to information about all types of ailments which makes them think they know what is wrong with them, which actually causes more problems because the doctor is unable ...

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...0). It is a sense of excitement and pleasure that one gets at finally discovering something new more than seeing the patient. There is really no reason for the narrator to go through the clinical procedure because upon his first observance he notes that she is fine. After telling the old lady she was fine to get up, which she already knew, he walks down and interacts with the old man in a positive manner even though they cannot communicate properly due to the language barrier. He was also delighted by the payment of snuff from the old man even though his services were not needed, exclaiming the probability of never having an experience like that again. Overall, the narrator presents the reader with the emotion of simple satisfaction because of the lack of anything negative in the story.

William Carlos Williams, The Doctor Stories, New Directions; 1984. Print.