Summary: This novel is divided into four sections which are: “Losses,” “Excesses,” “Transports,” and “The World of the Simple.” Throughout the entire novel Sacks tells a variety of clinical tales that deal with many neurological diseases which he has encountered throughout his career as a neurologist and psychiatrist. The first story is “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” where Dr.sacks introduces his patient, Dr.P, who is a very well respected and skilled musician and musical professor. Despite, Dr.P’s many abilities he has problems identifying visual images. For some reason he can depict distinctive details but cannot conceptualize the “big picture.” Dr.P’s problem is rather severe, he even mistakes his wife’s head as his hat and his
In Chapter 5 from the Oliver Sacks book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Sacks meets a sixty-year-old woman named Madeline J. She has the condition cerebral palsy. She frequently discusses the inability to feel in her hands. Her perception was impaired, and she believes that her hands are useless. It was difficult for Madeline to identify objects. Although she calls her hands useless she still has sensory ability. Madeline could still identify touch, light, pain, and temperature. She believed that her conduction affected her hands. Sacks was confused at her statement because it is not common for the condition cerebral palsy to affect the hands.
What gives the reader the false idea of utopia in Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” is the deep social control in the form handicaps where individual’s abilities and competence and even appearance are neutralized and vilified as a form of inequality. The characteristics of equality chosen by Vonnegut; beauty, athleticism, and intelligence is important to the story’s message. The main focus of the story are the characteristics of equality that are subjective, the very same characteristics we are born with that makes us different and minimally states the objective ones, the ones that plague our society today. This not only satirizes the epitome of equality itself, but rather the people’s flawed ideals and belief of what total equality is supposed to be or should be.
Differentiating one’s identity from one’s abnormalities is often difficult for individuals with mental and physical disorders. In “Witty Ticcy Ray” by Oliver Sacks, Ray struggles to create an identity separate from his Tourette’s. Affecting each individual differently, Tourette’s syndrome “is characterised by an excess of nervous energy, and a great production and extravagance of strange motions and notions” (Sacks, 1981, p. ????). In 1971, following the popularization of Tourette’s syndrome, Sacks met with an individual, Ray, who had suffered from this disorder since childhood. Oliver Sacks and Ray worked to control Ray’s Tourette’s through different treatment techniques like using psychoanalytic drugs and performing deep analysis. Throughout
Egalitarianism can be absurd and detrimental to American society. In the story, heavy weights are put on strong people, and grotesque masks are put on attractive women. Also, many other people who have an above average intelligence often listen to loud noises which render them from completing a thought (5-7). Harrison’s father, George, compares the noises to, “somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball peen hammer.” Darryl Hattenhauer of Arizona State proposes that “The story satirizes the American definition of freedom as the greatest good to the smallest number.” Unfortunately, the sacrifice of the individual to the good of society doesn’t improve conditions for the above average, average, or below (Alvarez). Joseph Alvarez suggests that, “the result [of the] power vacuum [is] a ruthless central government created by legislative controls people’s lives, which have become as meaningless as if they were machines.” In addition, the American dream that is described as moving up social and economic class through hard work and education; turn into a nightmare (Hattenhauer). For example, Kurt Vonnegut infers that the ballerina who reads ann...
... sight: A case of hemineglect. In J. A. Ogden, Fractured Minds (pp. 113-136). New York: Oxford University Press.
Although the title suggests a comical book, Oliver Sacks presents an entirely different look on the mentally challenged/disturbed. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a book that explains why a patient shows signs of losses, excesses, transports, and simplicity. Coincidentally, the book opens with its titling story, letting the reader explore the mind of an accomplish doctor who seems to have lost his true sight on life. In the following context, the seriousness of the stories and their interpretative breakdowns should only cause a better understanding of how the ever-so-questionable human mind truly works from a professional perspective put into simple words.
Seeskin, Kenneth Maimonides: A Guide For Today's Perplexed (West Orange, New Jersey: Behrman House Inc. 1991)
This is an enormous simplification of the complexity of the brain as well as the causes of the perceived changes in those Europeans that go into Africa. The Doctor is assuming because men undergo psychologically changes and the head is associated with the psyche, then therefor the head itself must be changing. Though this book was written in the late 1890s, by modern standards this is a gross oversimplification of the brain’s neural systems. The Doctor is also assuming that because men undergo psychological changes in Africa, Africa must be causing these changes. In reality, these changes are caused by a complex number of factors independent of the stress of the environment, most notably how individuals choose to react in an environment where there are no laws and they are removed from societal judgement and how they cope with the morality of their
Epilepsy, also known as “seizure disorder,” or “seizure attack,” is the fourth most common neurological disorder known to mankind, affecting an estimated 2.3 million adults and 467,711 children in the United States. Unfortunately this disorder is becoming far more common and widespread worldwide. This staggering number of cases of people suffering from Epilepsy also involves an average growth rate of 150,000 new cases each year in the United States alone. Generally, many of the people who develop who are a part of the new are mainly either young children or older adults. Your brain communicates through chemical and electrical signals that are all specialized for specific tasks. However, through the process of communication, chemical messengers, also known as neurotransmitters can suddenly fail, resulting in what is known as a seizure attack. Epilepsy occurs when a few too many brain cells become excited, or activated simultaneously, so that the brain cannot function properly and to it’s highest potential. Epilepsy is characterized when there is an abnormal imbalance in the chemical activity of the brain, leading to a disruption in the electrical activity of the brain. This disruption specifically occurs in the central nervous system (CNS), which is the part of the nervous system that contains the brain and spinal cord. This causes an interruption in communication between presynaptic neurons and postsynaptic neurons; between the axon of one neuron, the message sender and the dendrite of another neuron, the message recipient. Consequently, the effects that epileptic seizures may induce may range anywhere from mild to severe, life-threatening ramifications and complications. There are many different types of seizures associa...
Tourette’s syndrome can be found in every aspect of life, no matter one’s race, genetic makeup, or cultural heritage. An individual with this neurological disease does not stand out from the crowd; rather, only when they feel a compulsive and involuntary tic, which forces them to act out a movement or twitch, do people notice them. This disease does not necessarily have to dominate one’s life, as there are numerous famous figures throughout history that have discovered creative coping methods that distract them from their tics. In the short story, “A Surgeon’s Life” by Oliver Sacks, Dr. Carl Bennet is a surgeon who suffers from Tourette’s disease. Despite Dr. Bennett's condition, he excels in his profession as a surgeon and
Theo and the young Narrator similarly discover the revelatory capacity of art through a single pivotal painting and author respectively, both which become significant motifs in either text. Tartt utilizes an existent painting ‘The Goldfinch’ as a fixed point of reference, which, for both Theo and the reader provides a sense of reality and constancy ‘rais[ing him] above the surface’ of an otherwise tumultuous childhood. Whereas Proust uses a fictional author, ‘Bergotte’, to communicate the universality of art, and invite the reader, through the vivid immediacy with which the Narrator’s early reading experiences are described, to participate in his epiphanic discovery that art can translate ‘imperceptible truths which would never have [otherwise] been revealed to us’ (97). Artistic imagery becomes a motif in Proust’s descriptions of scenes of domesticity and nature. In a scene recounting Francoise ‘masterful’ preparation of a family meal the Narrator describes asparagus in the technical language of painting as ‘finely stippled’ provoking an association between his observations of asparagus and the creation of a painting. By forming this improbable link he elevates unremarkable asparagus to the ‘precious’ status of art in the eyes of the reader. Proust’s presentation of his Narrator’s ‘fascination’ and pleasure at their ‘rainbow-loveliness’, forces the reader to consider asparagus with unfamiliar and attentive appreciation, conveying the idea that art can uncover the overlooked beauty of the mundane. Though Theo reveals a far more cynical view of ordinary life as a ‘sinkhole of hospital beds, coffins and broken hearts’ Tartt conveys the similar belief in art’s capacity to create a ‘rainbow-edge’ of beauty between our perceptions and the harshness of reality. In the most
Dr. Strangelove is a film that raises several issues such as nationalism and prejudice, war and sex, gender, and women as enemy (Dr. Strangelove). These themes have been developed throughout the film through some of the main characters who include Peter Sellers who plays the following characters: Group Captain, President Merkin Muffley, and Dr. Strangelove, General Buck Turgidson, Colonel Bat Guano, and Major T.J “King” Kong among others. This review studies their characters in relation to theories of international relations (Realism, Liberalism Institutionalism, and Constructivism) and alternative theories (Marxist, Feminism, and Post-Modernism). Captain Lionel Mandrake actualizes the theory of Institutionalism Liberalism. In his argument, he believes that British soldiers and the Continental Congress could have prevented the World War II (Robert 428). As the president, Merkin Muffley believes that prejudice against Jewish communities in diaspora can be addressed through the efforts of international and non-governmental organizations.
There are many different themes in, “Love Medicine” a book written by Louise Erdrich. Some of which are poverty, family, racism, and religion. The one that I am going to write about, is love. Love is one of the most prominent themes in this book. It conveys a mother’s love for her children, a wife’s love for her husband, and a son’s love for the ones whom he perceives his parents to be. This is but to name a few examples of love found in the book by Ms. Erdrich. However, there is also the lack of love that this work of literature portrays. There is mistreatment and betrayal, which are examples that are opposite of love.
“ It’s crazy, all that blood and violence. I thought you were supposed to be the love generation”. Conservative mother, Estelle Collingwood says to her daughter Mari in the beginning of Wes Craven’s cult classic The Last House on the Left (1972). With the war in Vietnam in full swing and the long term effects of the Manson family murders, the peace and love counter culture was at the end of an era. American society had become more violent and corrupt, as were the films Hollywood was starting to release. And with the new generation’s style of filmmaking and recent MPAA rating system, filmmakers were pushing the boundaries of their films and shocking audiences and critics to the core. With new filmmakers kicking down the door of Hollywood every year, it’s no surprise that soon-to-be horror icon Wes Craven would fit perfectly into the new generation of Hollywood. Craven’s early films fall into the exploitation category. They were severely gruesome, repulsive, appalling, and ended up being banned in several countries. Craven would go on to make films that reflect on contemporary society by using a number of recurring themes and formal filmmaking aesthetics that included:
Paramedics are frequently presented with neurological emergencies in the pre-hospital environment. Neurological emergencies include conditions such as, strokes, head or spinal injuries. To ensure the effective management of neurological emergencies an appropriate and timely neurological assessment is essential. Several factors are associated with the effectiveness and appropriateness of neurological assessments within the pre-hospital setting. Some examples include, variable clinical presentations, difficulty undertaking investigations, and the requirement for rapid management and transportation decisions (Lima & Maranhão-Filho, 2012; Middleton et al., 2012; Minardi & Crocco, 2009; Stocchetti et al., 2004; Yanagawa & Miyawaki, 2012). Through a review of current literature, the applicability and transferability of a neurological assessment within the pre-hospital clinical environment is critiqued. Blumenfeld (2010) describes the neurological assessment as an important analytical tool that evaluates the functionality of an individual’s nervous system. Blumenfeld (2010) dissected and evaluated the neurological assessment into six functional components, mental status, cranial nerves, motor exam, reflexes, co-ordination and gait, and a sensory examination.