Having someone's life in your hands is terrifying, but poetic. In Richard Selzer's The Knife, it is communicated that surgery is a risk, an art form and an invigorating sensation.
The fact the surgery is dangerous is clearly conveyed to the reader with a number a different rhetoric methods. One of the first lines is "I still marvel at its power--cold, gleaming, silent." Here, Selzer is talking about the knife, and clearly lets the reader know that it is a tool of danger-"cold, gleaming, silent." The words "marvel" and "power" are also effective at adding to the creepy tone. Next, he says "More, I am still struck with a kind of dread that it is I in whose hand the blade travels […] this terrible steel-bellied thing and I have conspired for
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He claims it is a skill that demands patience and spirituality. He begins this which his description of the knife, which he relates to a flower and an instrument, two images that one relates to peace and purity. He also says "The knife is not for pressing. It is for drawing". This implies that the tool he is using requires a delicate and thoughtful hand to guide it. Also pertaining to art, he says, "there is color." The word colour itself is often immediately associated with hues that are bright and many, setting an upbeat feel. Selzer even beautifully describes the skin of the patient falling to the sides when he says it "Blooms with strange flowers". Selzer next says that surgery is a holy act. He says, "I must confess that the priestliness of my profession has ever been impressed on me." Also, he says that surgery "is a ritual cleansing", and relates the patient's body to a "temple". These two metaphors help create the strong message that surgery can be divine. Lastly, Selzer forms a stunning comparison between physician and poet in the lines, "And if the surgeon is like a poet, then the scars you have made on countless bodies are like verses into the fashioning of which you have poured your soul." The diction is one element of these lines which immensely aids the strong message, for instance, "fashioning", "poured", and "soul". However what is even …show more content…
He does this also by describing the knife, in detailing how one must hold it, "not palmed nor gripped nor grasped, but lightly, with the tips of the fingers." In using words like "palmed", "gripped", and "grasped" he successfully develops a mood of harshness, with which he contrasts with the words, "lightly" and "tips of the fingers". The next sensation that Selzer describes "is an entry into the body that is nothing like a caress; still, it is among the gentlest of acts". This line creates a clear and relatable feeling, because he is distinctly relating the act of surgery to intimacy, a passion which many can relate to. Although Selzer states that the operation is not a romantic act, he makes it known that it still has the same closeness. He also describes the patient's body as a "vista [which] is sweetly vulnerable […] a kind of welcoming". This lets the ready know that although surgery is high-risk, it can be beautiful and inviting. Throughout the piece, Selzer also describes many of the senses one feels when doing surgery, to help the reader understand the feeling. He identifies the kind of touch in the line, "It is a fine hour for the fingers, their sense of touch so enhanced." The idea of heightened feeling depicted here creates imagery to help the reader connect to Selzer's experience. He illustrates his vision by saying, "The blind must know this feeling". In figuratively saying
In Richard Selzer’s piece on the Exact Location of the Soul, he makes several important points that highlight the way that many surgeons may feel. He introduces the piece by posing the question about why would a surgeon write and giving the most common answers that most “outsiders”, people who aren’t surgeons may see. Eventually he settles on the fact that it is to “search for something meaningful” in surgery which he describes as “murderous, painful, healing, and full of love”. I found that this phrase was interesting because it seemed to imply that surgeons see writing as an escape, a way to justify the horrors or other feelings that they may experience when they perform surgeries. On the other hand the phrase itself of being murderous but also healing and full of love seems very obscure in the sense that generally events that are described as murderous aren’t healing at the same time. Selzer’s use of these phrases emphasizes the complex nature of surgeries.
Enns, C., Gregory, D., (2007). Lamentation and loss: expressions of caring by contemporary surgical nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing 58(4), 339-347
Popular television paint a glorified image of doctors removing the seriousness of medical procedures. In the non-fiction short story, “The First Appendectomy,” William Nolen primarily aims to persuade the reader that real surgery is full of stress and high stakes decisions rather than this unrealistic view portrayed by movies.
The chapter, Church, has the troop hold up in a church for a few days. In the church, the monks take an immediately likely to the troop help with food and weapon cleaning. A few of the soldiers discuss what they wanted to do before the war. The troops learn more about each other and insight into what faith can be to them.
Truman Capote showcases his very distinct style of writing in his true crime novel, In Cold Blood. Capote intentionally frames ruthless murderer Perry Smith as a relatable, well-intentioned human throughout the whole novel, and employs various rhetorical devices to show us that Perry is not just a stone cold killer. Specifically, Capote uses diction comprised of complex words, interviews conducted by Capote personally in which he interacted with the suspects and their loved ones, and sentence structure that came off as very to the point, in order to illustrate Perry’s dynamic and unique personality, opposed to the one dimensional heartless murderer many made him out to be.
Resection was a process that “involved cutting open the limb, sawing out the damaged bone, and then closing the incision” (Jones, 1). Resection allows the patient to keep his limbs but it requires a great ordeal of time and skill. This also contributed to the common practice of amputation during the war. But there were cases where surgeons did use this method. Terry J. Jones said in his NY Times article, “resections were used more frequently after surgeons learned that amputations had a much higher mortality rate” (Jones, 1). In another article by Corydon Ireland, it describes Mitchell Adam’s, a Harvard lecturer, grandfather who served as a volunteer surgeon during the Civil War. In the article, “Adams was not a champion of hasty amputations, but argued for excision and other limb-saving measures. And he describes the everyday pressures of a country practice in Framingham, Mass” (Ireland, 1). This meant that not all surgeons at the time only wanted to amputate but strived for alternate methods. This new knowledge shows that some surgeons were more dedicated to thinking about the well-being of their patients than others and this opens up to other possibilities that may have occurred during the war. This allows an image to come to mind of a surgeon diligently operating on a soldier with care and compassion. However, even though there may be many possibilities, we can’t truly know every event that occurs during a
Rothrock, J. C. (2007). Alexander's Care of the Patient in Surgery. St Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
In Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, the author uses different methods to engage the reader. The author’s passion for history is an attribute that rubs off when read, and impacts the perception of other similar pieces of nonfiction. The main engaging piece is the difficult historical and scientific concepts explained in everyday and simple language. His humor is slight, and requires a keen eye, but the small amount distributed through the text really bring out the ironic and laughable opinions held by some people. The inclusion of visuals for things such as migration give a brief break from solely text explanation to put the facts in a visual sense, and tactical descriptions appeal to the logical, and give the base, and most important
Terry Moore presented at a TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) talk posted in May 2011 “How to Tie Your Shoes.” explained in a humorous manner, that there is the right way to tie shoes and the wrong way to tie shoes. Not only does he explain in detail, but also demonstrated it live on a shoe with laces, also showing people how to tell if its tied incorrectly and correctly, while making the point that it is one simple change. No matter how small a change one person makes, that change can cause a whole range a results, good or bad, no can predict this type of change.
...Once more the odious courtesies began, the first handed the knife across K. to the second, who handed it across K. back again to the first. K. now perceived clearly that he was supposed to seize the knife himself, as it traveled from hand to hand above him, and plunge it into his own breast. But he did not do so, he merely turned his head, which was still free to move, and gazed around him. He could not completely rise to the occasion, he could not relieve the officials of all their tasks; the responsibility for this last failure of his lay with him who had not left him the remnant of strength necessary for the deed....
Initially, the diction that the author uses is fairly serious. He begins to overthink his surgery to the point of utter nonsense and throws himself fully into an anxious state of dread. He develops a picture of his surroundings for the readers. Specifically the hospital by referring to it as the “tower of london”; a well known place of torture and by referring to the stretcher as a “tumbril”. In the Passage
In his painting/collage, line is emphasized in the floor and moves up into the line of his pants which forces you to focus in on the texture of his pants because they are real jeans. It makes you want to reach out and touch it and feel it for yourself. The line continues up to the rest of his body only to notice that his collar too is a piece of fabric which sticks out a few inches from the painting. The line also forces you to look over to the paining that he is creating and notice once again his use of fabric in the collage he is creating and then down to the box of rags at his feet. His use of fabrics throughout the paintin...
As the time goes by, inevitably many new diseases and medical conditions will be discovered and they could have a huge impact on more than just a few lives. However, with our current medical technologies and research and development teams around the globe, we will also find new ways to overcome many health problems that will or already arose. Certain health conditions can be cured by using drugs and therapies. Some others can be treated just by a change in lifestyle. But for some diseases and conditions, there is no better treatment known to men at the current moment other than going under surgical procedures. Similar to drug treatments, surgical procedures are not 100% safe either. But compare to drugs, most people will be more terrified of surgery and it is not hard to understand why. The idea of being knocked unconscious and under the knives will naturally make both patient and doctor to try avoiding surgery as much as they could. Before any doctor decides to go with surgery, they will need to weigh the pros and cons of the said surgery on patient’s well-being. Any surgery will have their own level of risk depending on the degree of invasiveness and the organ involved. However, even the safest, minimally invasive surgery can have some complications, whether avoidable or not, later on. Patients undergoing surgery will mostly be given sedative or anaesthesia to make them unconscious. It is debatable whether anaesthesia plays a huge role in contributing to post-operative complications after the surgery was done#. The complications might be minor ones or they could be major that require immediate medical attention. There are a few common complications that the patients have higher chance to get after their surgery an...
Once Williams treated a patient who had “a slim chance of surviving” and the surgery he was performing “became so grueling that one of the nurses fainted”, but Williams still kept his work going and “made quick stitches between heartbeats to prevent further bleeding”, which resulted in the Patient being able to survive and say Williams “had the greatest pair of hands”(: "Surgeon Daniel Hale Williams; Blaze Your Path: Determination earned him a place in the world's heart." Investor's Business