Autumn term 2017, Group 402
Text linguistic analysis "Doctor in the House"
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Text linguistic analysis "Doctor in the House"
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The extract is taken from “Doctor in the House” written by Richard Gordon. But the real name of the author is Gordon Ostlere. He is an English surgeon and anesthetist who has written a lot of novels and works in popular history, mostly dealing with the practice of medicine. In 1952 he left medical practice and devoted his life to writing. Richard Gordon, or Gordon Ostlere, is famous for long series of comic novels on a medical theme starting with “Doctor in the House”. The text is about the final examinations at the medical university and about the conditions of students before, during and after exams.
ОтветитьУдалитьThe text begins with his telling about examinations in medical universities in the whole and about the states of students. Then the author depicts the procedure of the exams which consists of two parts: written papers, after which one of the students gives a very specific theory of the way the tripos is marking at Cambridge; and the viva – the oral examination, before which he characterizes different types of candidates’ behavior anticipating it. After it the narrator tell us the procedure of telling the results of the exams. The extract ends with the detailed description of the emotional state of the author before the very moment of his success, his excellent results.
In most, the text presents us descriptions. These descriptions are descriptions of the procedure of exams and the description of the student’s state of mind. I think that the author does it to show that final exam can be reason for a great psychological pressure and a real challenge for students. But of course we should also say that it is also a piece of narration. It is so because the actions it the text take place in logical order. The dialogues are also included. They are between the narrator and another student and between the narrator and the examiner. Dialogues help us feel the emotional state of the main character.
The general slant of the text is lyrical and ironical. We can say that we face with ironies very often in the text. It is really so because the statement using irony actually means something different from what is written. For example we can see irony in the description of women students (“… not those who are feminine only through inescapable anatomic arrangements”)
The text is divided into two logically complete parts according to the mood of the character. The first part begins with “To a medical student the final examinations are something like death…” and finishes with “One or two of my friends heartened me by describing equally depressing experiences…” In this part the author tells us about the negative states of mind, about fear, about the procedure of the exam and the participants of it. The second part begins with “I began to hope” and continues up to the end of the text. Here we can see the description of telling the results of the exam. The climax is the moment of the highest intensity when the Secretary is pronouncing the narrator’s result of the exam.
Kris Nik.
CONTINUATION
ОтветитьУдалитьAs for the mood, it is obvious that in the first part it is sad, sorrowful, melancholy and wistful. But in the second part it is different. HOPE appears here.
As for the characters, of course the hero is the author, the student of a medical university. His feelings are in the focus of the writer’s attention. The minor characters are the examiner and some other students. But other students’ emotions are also taken into consideration.
Now I want to say some words about the author’s language and style. In the extract the author uses a lot of different stylistic devices. Thus, the most frequent are similes. For example, “the final examinations are something like death” The author sews the string of death through the whole linen of the story to show all seriousness of this period for the student and associates it with inevitability and ending of their easygoing lives. The narrator gives us an opportunity to look at the process of exams through the eyes of student and many times underlines their suffering after the oral examination: “The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident.” Other similes are like a prize-fighter, like the policeman, like a cow in a bog, like the condemned cell and some others. The author also uses the allusion referring to the Bible’s Judgment day. We see that final exams are death and the Secretary as an archangel corresponds where they would go to the paradise or to hell. “The candidate would step up closely to the Secretary, who would say simply "Pass" or "Failed". Successful men would go upstairs to receive the congratulations and handshakes of the examiners and failures would slink miserably out of the exit to seek the opiate oblivion.” Some hyperboles can create a great chasm between students and examiners: ” But the viva is judgment day. A false answer and the god's brow threatens like imminent thunderstorm.” There are also many metaphors in the text when one thing mentions another one. Thus the examples are: “ran a final sprint down the well-trodden paths of medicine”, “looked like poor victims”, “the god’s brow threatens like imminent thunderstorm”. Also there are a lot of epithets in the text like “an unpleasant inevitability, frank cheating, flagrant cheating, frustrated brilliance, working admirably” and many others. With the use of these epithets, our writer is able to describe the characters and settings more vividly in order to give richer meanings to the text.
The main idea of the text may be expressed as the fact that final examinations can be reason for a great psychological pressure and a real challenge for the students. But the text is written to show that in reality the exams are not so awful as all students think.
To sum up I would like to say that I liked the text because I liked the author’s style of describing of people’s emotions. I am sure that it is brilliant that he uses a huge number of stylistic devices. So, the text is written in such a manner to be understood by every person.
«Doctor in the House» is a story written by Richard Gordon; he was an English surgeon, anaesthetist and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. He left medical practice in 1952 and started writing his «Doctor» series. This book is one of Gordon’s twelve «Doctor» books and is noted for witty description of a medical student’s years of professional training.
ОтветитьУдалитьThe extract under analysis is taken from the book «Doctor in the House». It is devoted to the final examinations at the medical university.
The narrator is the main character in this story. The story is told in the first-person point of view. The narrator uses the first-person pronouns I and me.
In this text there are such forms as narration( the story gives us a clear sequence of events), description( the author describes in detail the exam at the Medical University, he also describes his feelings he had experienced during and after the exam), dialogues( there is a dialogue between R. Gordon and his friend Grimsdyke. The author shows us Grimsdyke as a careless and frivolous man who does not take care about written papers, he believes rumors that say that written papers are not even checked. There is another dialogue between the examiner and R. Gordon. The author says that he was invisible as he was occupied in reading the morning’s Times and judging by their dialogue he did not care about the answer of the student), dramatic monologue( he expresses clearly his experience about the exam: «My pulse shot in my ears. My face was burning hot and I felt my stomach had been suddenly plucked from my body»)
The story has a straight-line narrative presentation because the events are arranged as they occur, in chronological order. But in my opinion, the text contains an element of foreshadowing. In the end, the reader is waiting tentatively whether the main character passed the exam or not. But we know that the author was a doctor and that he wrote this story about himself and this information gives us a hint that he still passed the exam.
The general slant of the narration is humorous and sometimes ironical. The author uses such stylistic device as simile: « The final examinations are something like death», « he goes at them like a prize-fighter», «struggling like a cow in a bog». It describes the student’s feelings and attitude to the exams. The author also uses such stylistic device as antonomasia for the description of the student that is based on the antithesis – «Nonchalant», «Frankly Worried», «Crammer» and «Old Stager».
The main character struggled inside with his experience about the exam, with his fears. Such struggle is called an internal conflict.
The climax of the story is situated in the end of the story when the character finally was able to exhale with relief hearing that he had passed the exam.
I believe that one of the author’s goals was to immerse the reader in the atmosphere of his student youth. He used different stylistic devices to paint this story, to make the reader feel all the feelings he had experienced.
Analysis of the text
ОтветитьУдалить«Doctor in the House»
By Ryzhickova Veronika
I. The given text was taken from the book «Doctor in the House» written by English writer Richard Gordon. He was a ship`s surgeon, anaesthetist and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. He left medical practice in 1952 and started writing his "Doctor" series. Most of his works are based on his personal experience as a student of medical department or as a doctor.
"Doctor in the House" is one of Gordon's twelve "Doctor" books and is noted for witty description of a medical student's years of professional training.
II. Richard Gordon tells the story of a young medical student who is to take his final examination. This exam consists of two parts: written examination (the paper) and oral examination (the viva).
At the beginning the author gives the full and detailed description of the exam procedure and filings a student is faced preparing and passing it. Gordon describes the finals as a very horrible event, he compares it with death, straight contest, severe accident and even judgment day.
The examination begins with the written papers. The student have three hours to write the work after that a bell rings and the porters are to tear papers away from the gentlemen taking the exam.
Then goes unpopular oral examination called viva which is considered to be the hardest one because of its significance.
Gordon also mentions the only female student who is suppose to pass the exam easily because the male examiners are so afraid of being prejudiced favorably by their sex they usually adopt towards them an attitude of underserved sternness.
After all exam are passed students are invited to the ceremony where the students find out whether they pass or failed the exam. As for the main character he passes successfully.
III. The opening of the story is a digression where the narrator describes the notion of the examination for a medical student. Then the story changes from description to narrative. This story is told in the first-point of view. The narrator uses the first-person pronouns I and me. The author uses short character-drawings to give a reader the image of his characters. In the paragraph where he describes students waiting for the viva, the author uses a stylistic device antonomasia, so the students are called Nonchalant, Frankly Worried, Crammer and Old Stager.
IV. The general slant of the story is ironical. To create the ironical effect the author uses many similes. First of all, the author compares final exams with death «an unpleasant inevitability to be faced sooner or later». Describing exam the author uses simile «a straight contest between himself and the examiners», compares the student to a «prize-fighter» and author equals examination to sport. Moreover, Richard Gordon uses words associated with prison describing the waiting room like «condemned cell» and names students «poor victims» to redouble the reader`s attention to the students’ psychological condition.
ОтветитьУдалитьV. This story can be divided into two logical parts: the exam itself and the moment the results coming out. In the first part we can see the way exams took place and the process of exam for the main character. In the second part we can see the worrings about results and the emerging of the results.
The story gets to its climax when the author knows the result. The outcome of the text is the moment when the author goes away knowing the result but still unable to believe that he is free.
VI. The story is filled with the fear, tense atmosphere and anxiety. The author describes his state in details «My pulse shot in my ears. My face was burning hot and I felt my stomach had been suddenly plucke d from my body.» to share the fever of his excitement. The hyperbole «The traffic stopped, the plants ceased growing, men were paralyzed, the clouds hung in the air, the winds dropped, the tides disappeared, the sun halted in the sky» enlarges this effect.
VII. There is a small number of characters in this story. . The main character, the narrator of the story is Richard Gordon himself. He is worrying about the results and his friend, Grimsdyke tries to calm him down joking about the way the tripos are marked and at Cambridge. In spite of Gordon’s telling about the process of taking an exam at a medical college, it doesn’t make any difficulties to understand the characters feelings as the author tried to describe his feelings as true-to-life as possible. He also introduces us 4 different types of students; they are Nonchalant, Frankly Worried, Crammer and Old Stager. These 4 types represent 4 ways of preparing to exams and different attitudes to it. This fact proves Richard Gordon to be a good psychologist. Moreover, the author draws our attention to so called woman-students, and their way of passing exams.
VIII. The language of the story is not very difficult and it doesn’t do any difficulty to follow the main idea. The bulk of vocabulary is mostly neutral but sometimes bookish «thenceforward», «flagrant», «nonchalant», «well-established». Also author uses student’s slang that produces the effect of authenticity of the real student’s life «cheating», «viva», «old don», «crammer», «old-stager», «tripos».
IX. The story is devoted to the problem of people’s attitude to life.
With the help of the text Richard Gordon wanted to show not only students’ different attitude to exam, but people’s attitude to life in whole. Some people are too anxious and worried about everything as “Frankly Worried”, others are too easy-going. Some of us don’t think about the future, about our consequences, they just do nothing to achieve some goals.
"Doctor in the House” is a story written by Richard Gordon. He was born in 1921. He was an English surgeon, anaesthetist and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. He left medical practice in 1952 and started writing his "Doctor" series. "Doctor in the House" is one of Gordon's twelve "Doctor" books and is noted for witty description of a medical student's years of professional training. The text is devoted to the final examinations at the medical institution. The author describes the atmosphere and feelings of the students during the whole period of the examinations. The author gives the description of the preparation for the examinations, the way they run, the way they are marked and the type of students who are waiting for the oral examination.
ОтветитьУдалитьThe text is devoted to the final examinations at the medical institutions and tells us about the condition of students before, during and after exams. It begins with the comparison the final exams with death; this image presents the students’ attitude to the event. The author gives the description of preparation for the examinations. Then the narrator depicts the procedure of the exams which consists of two parts: written papers and the viva. After that the reader gets know about the process of announcing of the results. The story ends with the detailed description of the emotional state of the author before the very moment of his success. At the end we learn that he passed the exams. This extract is constructed around the single theme which can be formulated as procedure of the exams. The author uses numerous thematic words, such as: the student, the final examinations, the exams, to prepare, the examiners, cheating, textbooks, the written papers, uniformed, examinees, knowledge, viva, marking, grading, to pass and so on. Besides the basic theme the text touches upon many very important secondary themes: the psychological types of students, cheating at the exams. The main idea conveyed by the author may be expressed as: the final examinations are reason for a great psychological pressure for the students. The following key words can prove it: prize-fighter, fighting spirit, to hope, to hit, depressing and others.
The main character is the narrator. His feelings and experiences completely in this text. The other heroes are his friends, other students and teachers. The most frequent are similes and the most important are following: “ To a medical student the final examinations are something like death”. The other simile shows that students position themselves as the prisoners sentenced to death feeling helpless and despondency: “I was shown to a tiny waiting-room furnished with hard chairs, a wooden table, and windows that wouldn't open, like the condemned cell.” The narrator gives us an opportunity to look at the process of exams through the eyes of student and many times underlines their mental suffering which becomes physical after the oral examination: “The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident.” The next simile illustrate ”d us a breathless expectation of the results emphasizes the extremely depressed condition of the main character during long waiting . “The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb.”
In conclusion, I would like to say about the main idea of the text. I think that the author decided to show us how important it is to prepare for exams if you want to become a good specialist. But on the other hand you are a student, which means that you are young and happy, and even if you do not succeed, you do not need to make a tragedy and compare your university with the prison.
Кobyteva Angelina
Этот комментарий был удален автором.
ОтветитьУдалить1.Composition
ОтветитьУдалитьThe text itself presents a combination of several elements, such as digression, narration, descriptions, dialogues.
The digression we can observe at the beginning of the story, where the narrator shares his thoughts about emotional tension with which medical students are usually faced at their final examinations. The exams are compared with the decease, because students undergo fears similar to those, which afflict people just before the Day of Retribution.
The narration we can find at the beginning of the story after the digression where the narrator tells us about his and his friends` preparations before the written exam. In his narration was mentioned that they had despondently ticked the days off the calendar, swotted up the spot questions, run the final breathless sprint down the well-trodden paths of medicine and had attended all ward round of Malcolm Maxwoth, the St. Swithin`s representative on the examining Committee, just before the exam.
In the text we can find a lot of descriptions. For example, here is the description of invigilators` arrangement at the room for examinations, its atmosphere which prevailed during the exam: “A single invigilator sat in his gown and hood on a raised platform to keep an eye open for flagrant cheating. He was helped by two or three uniformed porters who stood by the door and looked dispassionately down at the poor victims, like the policemen that flank the dock at the Old Bailey.” In the text we can also find the description of women`s appearance and their readiness to the viva: “Women students are under disadvantage in oral examinations. But this girl had given care to her preparations for the examination. Her suit was neat but not smart; her hair tidy but not striking; she wore enough make up to look attractive…”. One more description of the narrator`s physical state just at the day of publishing the results: “My pulse shot in my ears. My face was burning hot and I felt my stomach had been suddenly plucked from my body.” The description of examiners also takes place in the text: “I didn`t recognize the examiners. One was a burly, elderly man like a retired prize-fighter; the other was invisible, as he was occupied in reading the morning`s Times.
Having set a goal to create vivid images of the main characters, to create a contrast between them, the author filled the story with three dialogues. The first dialogue was between the narrator and his friend Grimsdyke just after their written exam. They shared their impressions with each other and Grimsdyke was trying to calm the narrator and avert his tense anxiety:
- “How did you get on?” I asked.
- “So-so,” he replied. “However, I am not worried. They never read the papers anyway.”
The second dialogue was between the narrator and one of the examiners at the oral exam:
- “Well, how would you treat a case of tetanus?”
CONTINUATION
ОтветитьУдалитьI started off confidentially, reeling out the lines of treatment and feeling much better.
- “All right, all right,” he said impatiently, “you seem to know that a girl of twenty comes to you complaining of gaining weight, what would you do?”.
The third dialogue is between the Secretary and the narrator, when the results were come out:
- “Number three oh six? R.Gordon?”
- “Yes”
- “Pass”
2.The general slant of the story
The story is told in the first-person point of view, because the narrator is a main character in the story.
The general slant of the story is more ironical than satirical. Writer`s attitude to what he writes about we can notice at the way of narrating, which he decided to follow. Firstly we can see that he is very anxious about the topic of his story as he was a medical student himself and he hat to survive his stressful examinations from year to the next over and over again. He tries to convey the whole earnest and imminence of an approaching judgement day by saying: “An examination is nothing more than an investigation of a man's knowledge, conducted in a way that the authorities have found the most fair and convenient to both sides. But the medical student cannot see it in this light. Examinations touch off his fighting spirit; they are a straight contest between himself and the examiners, conducted on well-established rules for both, and he goes at them like a prize-fighter.” The imagery of the day of reckoning, fortune, making a mockery of the final exams` victims, destiny of either punishment or encouragement is employed by the writer in describing the student`s anticipating the examinations. The first simile “the final examinations are something like death” conveys the risk of students to fail the exam. The second simile “I walked down the stairs feeling as if I had just finished an eight-round fight” creates an effect of the difficult fight, which student can win or lose. The author makes us accept this battle as too long-termed, as if it is a fight of two boxers on the squared circle. The room, where the exam was taken place was compared with the condemned cell. This simile created an effect of desolation which suffer prisoners sentenced to death at the jail. The same feel students when they are not well-prepared for their exams and they hope to be lucky. “The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb.”
CONTINUATION 2
ОтветитьУдалитьThe narrator gives us an opportunity to look at the process of exams through the eyes of student and many times underlines their mental suffering which becomes nearly physical after the oral examination: “The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident.” The allusion “But the viva is judgement day” creates the effect of the overtaking justice, which is waiting for students who are not to get through their exams. We discover that final exams are death and the Secretary as an archangel corresponds where they would go to the paradise or to hell. “The author decided to describe students at the exams by their psychological types: “There were six other candidates waiting, to go in with me, who illustrated the types fairly commonly seen in viva waiting-rooms. There was the Nonchalant, lolling back on the rear legs of his chair with his feet on the table. Next to him, a man of the Frankly Worried class sat on the edge of his chair tearing little bits off his invitation card and jumping irritatingly every time the door opened. There was the Crammer, fondling the pages of his battered textbook in a desperate farewell embrace, and his opposite, the Old Stager, who treated the whole thing with the familiarity of a photographer at a wedding. He had obviously failed the examination so often he looked upon the viva simply as another engagement to be fitted into his day.” The Nonchalant was not worrying at all because he didn`t care of his future results, he wasn`t much interested in that. The Frankly Worried was too nervous and too scared like, he was strained to the limit. The Grammer felt that it wasn`t in his power to change anything and he was quite, but desperate. And the Old Stager was like a professional at failing the exams that he was going to do his work quickly and chaotically. To create the sense of futility that Richard had after the examinations the author uses the sustained metaphor: “The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident. For the first few hours I was numbed, unable to realize what had hit me. Then I began to wonder if I would ever make a recovery and win through. One or two of my friends heartened me by describing equally depressing experiences that had overtaken them previously and still allowed them to pass. I began to hope. Little shreds of success collected together and weaved themselves into a triumphal garland...”. The exam was compared to a severe accident to express that the narrator wasn`t sane at that moment, he couldn`t understand what was going on with him and where he was, who were all those people, examiners, he couldn`t believe that everything was behind and he started hope that everything was not for nothing. He could manage that. To show the atmosphere of growing suspense, the author uses the simile “The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb.” At any moment could something happen and nobody knew what exactly, everyone was excited and unaware. “A clock tingled twelve in the distance. My palms were as wet as sponges. Someone coughed, and I expected the windows to rattle. With slow scraping feet that could be heard before they appeared the Secretary and the porters came solemnly down the stairs. The elder porter raised his voice.” Every movement, every sound put students on their guard. They were waiting for results and everyone understood that there would be those who would fail, but every student hoped that it wouldn`t be he/she. After emotional tension, which took place at the beginning of the story, comes relief, as we get to know that the narrator, R.Gordon, had passed his exam. The reader`s expectations are justified. At the beginning of the extract we follow the narration with calmness, but with every paragraph the suspense was growing and the peak of the stress was nearly at the end of the story just before the announcing the results.
CONTINUATION 3
ОтветитьУдалитьThe humour prevails in the text, for example: “…but the candidates spend almost as much time over the technical details of the contest as they do learning general medicine from their textbooks.” The author tries to reach out to any student, not only medical. And we can judge by our own experience that it`s really essential part of preparing to exams to think up everything which is possible to cheat and not to be caught. Another example of humour is: “…and failures would slink miserably out of the exit to seek the opiate oblivion.” Here to fail the exam means to off oneself. Of course it`s obvious that no one wouldn`t kill himself because of bad results at the exam, but still we may laugh at the way of how the author depicts things exaggerated. We can see that the narrator was no so self-confident: “I felt my stomach had been suddenly plucked from my body. Suddenly I found myself on top of the Secretary. Number three or six?" the Secretary whispered, without looking up from the book. "R. Gordon?" "Yes," I croaked.” He was too sensitive: “My palms were as wet as sponges. I jumped and struggled my way to the front of the restless crowd. My pulse shot in my ears. My face was burning hot and
I felt my stomach had been suddenly plucked from my body. Suddenly I found myself on top of the Secretary.” But he didn`t give up: “I began to hope. Little shreds of success collected together and weaved themselves into a triumphal garland...”.
3.Characters
In the story we can find nine characters, where one of them, Richard Gordon, the narrator, was the main character, and Grimsdyke, Benskin, Malcolm Maxworth, six candidates in viva-waiting rooms, porters, and examiners were the minor characters. The author uses the direct and indirect methods of portraying characters. The direct method is: “Her suit was neat but not smart; her hair tidy but not striking; she wore enough make-up to look attractive, and she was obviously practicing, with some effort, a look of admiring submission to the male sex.” In that way an author makes us understand that usually girls, who look like that, describing in the text, have no problems at the exams as they could attract examiners by their appearance. The indirect method of portraying is: “One was a burly, elderly man like a retired prize-fighter; the other was invisible, as he was occupied in reading the morning's Times.” Describing examiners in such a way, the author shows us that those people were rather confident and experienced, but too old to judge students at the exams. Such people may keep their own philosophy in this sphere and due to this they can be prejudiced.
4.Sympathy
The author sympathizes to his main character – Richard Gordon, who actually was rather talented student, but who was under influence of his friends, who doubted. He was caught by his inner fear to fail his exams, to be not clever enough for that, to be inappropriate for being a good doctor. I also sympathize to the main hero, because I respect people, who come out victors at any difficult tasks.
5.The main idea
The text touches upon many very important secondary themes: the psychological types of students, cheating at the exams, students’ prejudice, the psychological pressure of the process of the examination on the students. The main idea conveyed by the author may be expressed as: the final examinations are reason for a great psychological pressure and a real challenge for the students.
I would like to begin my analysis with some words about the author of the text < Doctor in the house> Richard Gordon. He is an English surgeon, anesthetist, and assistant editor to the British Medical Journal. He left medical practice in 1952 and started writing his "Doctor" series.
ОтветитьУдалитьThe general slant of the story is ironical, ex: To a medical student the final examinations are something like death.
The writer in describing the student`s anticipating the examinations employed agitation and fear. (To a medical student the final examinations are something like death: an unpleasant inevitability to be faced sooner or later, one's state after which is determined by care spent in pre¬paring for the event.)
The author use the allusion < judgement day> to express the student`s fear of the examination. There are also several cases of simile in the text like ( examinations like a death, uniformed portres like the policemen, like a supporters of a home team …) this cases of simile show the student`s attitude and their behavior to examination.
The types of Students are also vividly described. Giving names to his characters the author uses such stylistic device as antonomasia: Nonchalant, Frankly Worried Crammer, Old stager. All these types are generalized. The first one is lolling back on the chair with his feet on the table. Next to him there is a man of the Frankly Worried class sat on the edge of his chair tearing little bits of his invitation card and jumping irritatingly every time the door opened. There is a man of the frankly worried class sat on the edge of his chair tearing little bits of his invitation card and jumping irritatingly every time the door opened. There is also The Crammer founding the pages of his battered textbook in a desperate farewell. His opposite is the Old Stager who treated the oral examination < with the familiarity of a photographer at a wedding> ( there is a comparison) and looked upon the viva simply as another engagement to be fitted into his day ( it is a simile).
A woman student is described in the following way < Her suit was neat but not smart, her hair tidy but not striking> ( there are parallel constructions) . The author writes about all these types of students with irony, but his irony is very kind, and his humor helps the reader to imagine these students very realistically.
The writer conveys a sense of futility and despair in the de¬scription of the aftereffect of the examination on the Richard`s example : (The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident. For the first few hours I was numbed, unable to realize what had hit me. Then I began to wonder if I would ever make a recovery and win through. One or two of my friends heartened me by describing equally depressing experi¬ences that had overtaken them previously and still allowed them to pass. I began to hope. Little shreds of success collected together and weaved themselves into a triumphal garland...)
The atmosphere of growing suspense created when the invigilator tapped his bell half an hour before time ; the last question was rushed through, then the porters began tearing papers away from gentlemen dissatisfied with the period allowed for them to express themselves and hoping by an incomplete sentence to give the examiners the impression of frustrated brilliance.
The contrast in mood and atmosphere be¬tween the whole text and the last paragraph is rather different because the mood and atmosphere of the whole text is strain and in the last paragraph we can feel relaxation.
ОтветитьУдалитьI believe that Gordon was a man not confident enough in his abilities.
The text presents a combination of several Elements:
dialogue ("How did you get on?" I asked.
"So-so," he replied. "However, I am not worried…)
narration ( The examination began with the written papers. A single in-vigilator2 sat in his gown and hood on a raised platform to keep an eye open for flagrant cheating.)
description ( Her suit was neat but not smart; her hair tidy but not striking; she wore enough make-up to look attractive, and she was obvi¬ously practising, with some effort, a look of admiring submis¬sion to the male sex.)
digression (An examination is nothing more than an investigation of a man's knowledge, conducted in a way that the authorities have found the most fair and convenient to both sides.)
In this story we have main and minor characters. The main character is narrator. And the minor characters are Nonchalant, Frankly Worried, Crammer, Old Stager and a woman.
The author uses the direct and indirect method of portraying in this story.
Direct : But this girl had given care to her preparations for the examination. Her suit was neat but not smart; her hair tidy but not striking; she wore enough make-up to look attractive, and she was obvi¬ously practising, with some effort, a look of admiring submis¬sion to the male sex. I felt sure she would get through.
Indirect : The Nonchalant lolling back on the chair with his feet on the table.
The author sympathize to the main character because he describe his fillings (I walked down the stairs feeling as if I had just finished an eight-round fight)
As for me I also fell sympathy for the main character because I am also a student and I know how is that, to fell fear and agitation before exams.
In conclusion I would like to say about the main idea of the text. I suppose that the author wants to underline the thought that it is important to prepare for examination properly in order to become a good medical specialist.
Strazdina
ОтветитьУдалить“Doctor in the House” is one of the twelve “Doctor” books, written by Richard Gordon, who was an anaesthetist, surgeon and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal.
The extract given to consideration is devoted to the final exams at the medical institution. It begins with the author’s thoughts about the exams and students’ state. Then, he depicts the procedure of both written and oral exams. Also we receive some presumable information about how the written part is checked: they throw the papers and those, which stick on the top flight of a staircase, are given the best marks and those, which reach the ground floor, are failed. The results of the exams are given orally by the Secretary of the Committee with two uniformed porters. There are only two possible answers: passed or failed. The extract ends up abruptly just like the worries of those students who have passed.
The author opens up the extract with the digression about the medical examinations being “something like death” to students. Then the narration prevails but we also see different descriptions of the narrator’s state and thought during the exams and preparations and of the procedure of the exams. The story is told in a first-person point of view. It is clear from the usage of the personal pronouns “I” and “me”. The author gives no full characterization of any character as he is mostly concentrated on the actions, thoughts and emotional state. Besides, he draws some general information about some of them with the help of metonymies (the Nonchalant, the Frankly Worried, the Crammer, the Old Stager).
The general tone of the passage is humorous because the author gives us ironical view of very emotional state of the student. He compares exams with “something like death”, the writing part with “an eight-round fight” and etc. We can observe in the extract such stylistic device as irony, for example, the system, which worked “admirably for years”. Also the whole text is grotesque and exaggerated, so, we see the hyperbole in “the viva is judgement day” and “a false answer, and the god’s brow threatens like imminent thunderstorm”.
We can divide the text into logically complete parts and do it in the way of separating the description of exams from the waiting for the results. In the 1st part, the narrator tells us about the written and the oral parts and how they usually go. In the 2nd part we see the exaggeration of the narrator’s worries and his self-consciousness.
The climax of the story in the very end when the narration abrupt after we find that the narrator has passed. Nevertheless, the extract is finished with the stillness of his disbelief in the realness of the good results.
Strazdina continuation
ОтветитьУдалитьThrough both part we see the fear, uncertainty, nervousness and exaggeration of the student. In the 1st part we see irony and similes. For example, “I was shown to a tiny waiting-room furnished with… and windows that wouldn’t open, like the condemned cell”. And in the 2nd, there are more narrator’s assumptions about his failing in the exams: “I began to wonder if I would ever make a recovery and win through”. So, the mood is tensed.
The main character of the story is the narrator himself. We observe through his eyes his thoughts and worries and see the events described. The writer uses indirect method of the portrayal, as there is no written description of the main or minor characters. Also in the story we meet Grimsdyke, who tries to calm the narrator by telling him about the procedure of checking the written papers, the Nonchalant, the Frankly Worried, the Crammer and the Old Stager, who are presented like the face of different student groups. In my opinion, the author doesn’t show his attitude toward any of the characters because the narrator, being under the influence of his emotions, doesn’t also pay any attention to other people and characters. All he thinks about is the exam.
The author’s style is very vivid, it creates a very clear picture of the events and emotions. His language is emotional and realistic. He uses the large number of stylistic devices such as metonymy, irony, simile and etc. to create the colourful picture. The bulk of vocabulary is mostly neutral but we can point out some of slang, which are typical for the students (“viva”, “cheating”) and bookish words (“flagrant”).
Richard Gordon raised the problem of human emotional involvement in different aspects of life, especially studying. It is hard to say, whether the narrator of the story would or wouldn’t pass exams successfully without being so much stressed. But nevertheless, the author has succeeded in sharing the emotions. That’s in why we can consider his work to be rather mature.
All in all, to sum up, I may say that this extract can make any student nervous and make us worry about the narrator’s results. This story could be funnier if it wasn’t so real.
Analysis of the text “Doctor in the House”
ОтветитьУдалить(Kate Pushkarevich)
1. This text is taken from the book “Doctor in the House” written by Richard Gordon. He was born in 1921. Before his career as a writer he had been an anaesthetist at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, a ship’s surgeon and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. “Doctor in the House” is one of Gordon’s twelve “Doctor” books and is noted for witty description of a medical student’s years of professional training.
2. At the beginning of the story the narrator touches upon his final examinations, which were something like death to medical students. So, the first exam was written papers. A single invigilator sat on a platform and kept an eye open on students. When the time was over, the papers were torn away from the students to be marked and graded. A lot of students were dissatisfied with the period allowed for them to express themselves; they didn’t finish the last sentence in order to impress the examiner by their frustrated brilliance.
A week later the students had an oral exam. The author described different psychological types of students: the Nonchalant, who lolled back on the chair with his feet on the table; the Frankly Worried sat nervously on the edge of his chair; the Crammer, who fondled the pages of his textbook; the Old Stage, who treated the whole thing with the familiarity of a photographer and a woman.
The days after this exam were black ones, because the narrator was afraid that he had not got through. Further we see the students waiting for the results. All of them were nervous. Everything stopped when the narrator heard the word “Pass”.
3. The text presents a combination of several elements:
1) the first is a narration where the author gives a very detailed account of events
2) the second one is a dialogue between Gordon and the examiner to show Gordon’s state, his fear; the second dialogue is between Gordon and Grimsdyke to show different attitude of people to exam
3) the third is a description; the author describes the waiting room (I was shown to a tiny waiting room furnished with hard chairs, a wooden table, and windows that wouldn’t open, like the condemned cell) to show this frightening atmosphere
4. The general slant of the text is humorous.
The following examples show that this text is humorous: Grimsdyke’s opinion of the way the teachers mark the papers in Cambridge, the description of different types of students, the attitude to women during exams.
5. The text can be divided into 3 parts:
1) In the first part the author describes what the final examination to a medical student is. (It is something like death)
2) In the second part the author describes the procedure of the written exam, the viva and different types of students
3) The third part is about the announcement of results, the atmosphere during this process and the statement of students
Climax is achieved in the scene when secretary called out the names of the students who passed.
6. The 1st part: the atmosphere of tense
ОтветитьУдалитьThe author creates this atmosphere by:
1. simile :“like death” to show fear before the exam
2. metaphor :a final breathless sprint down the well-trodden paths of medicine
3.epithets : an unpleasant inevitability, fighting spirit, breathless sprint
The 2nd part: the atmosphere of tense with hope
The author creates this atmosphere by:
1.metaphors: the viva is judgement day, the god’s brow threatens like imminent thunderstorm, the poor victims
2. epithets: nonchalant air, frustrated brilliance
3. antonomasia: the Nonchalant, the Old Stager, the Crammer, the Frankly Worried
The 3rd part: the atmosphere of tense and growing suspense
The author creates this atmosphere by:
1. similes: like an unexploded bomb, my palms were as wet as sponges
2. epithets: a subdued, muttering crowd; frightening, unexpected silence
7. In the focus of the author’s attention is Richard Gordon, the main character.
Grimsdyke, Benskin, Malcolm Maxworth, five candidates in viva-waiting rooms, examiners are the minor characters.
The author uses the direct and indirect methods of portraying characters.
Direct: Her suit was neat but not smart; her hair tidy but not striking….
The author used the indirect method of portraying the main character.
-He was clever(he passed the exam)
-He was sensitive( he was afraid of punishment or fail the exam)
-He was with a sense of humor
So, the author sympathizes to his main character. I also like the main character
because in spite of all troubles he preserved his self-possession.
8. There are some peculiarities of the author: metaphors, long sentences, the usage of medical terms(tetanus),bookish words(frustrated, inevitability, nonchalant), colloquial words(muff, plough).
9. I think that the main idea of the text is the difficulty of exams; the author shows us how difficult to pass them, what feelings students have during their exams and when they are waiting results.
10. This story is not simply entertaining for me, it have us to look at our attitude to our study, teachers, friends. We are very nervous about our exams, our feelings with the main character are alike. So,this text was very interesting to read.
The text is taken from Richard Gordon’s book “Doctor in the House”. Richard Gordon was an English surgeon and anaesthetist. He wrote numerous novels, screenplays for films and television, mostly dealing with the practice of medicine. “Doctor in the House” is one of Gordon’s twelve “Doctor” books and is noted for witty description of a medical student’s year of professional training.
ОтветитьУдалитьThe text is about the way medical examinations take place and about students’ emotional stress before and after them. From the extract we learn the examination procedure itself, which parts it consists of, which types of students in exams exist. We see how examiners mark and grade the papers. All of these are inevitable components of medical students’ life.
The text presents a narration, description and dialogue. The narration serves to show all the events, happening with the main character before, in and after his exams. The description is employed to reveal the exam procedure in detail for us to understand it quite correctly. And some dialogues express the students’ emotional states, concerning the upcoming results and their future destiny.
I reckon the general slant is rather satirical and perhaps ironical. The purpose of satire is to reveal the drawbacks, in other words to criticize something or somebody but with humour. It’s a jest about anything that has its own negative attributes. Here we can see some mockery of the system of education which is pretty unfair for students because they have to suffer from their teachers’ moods and oddity. We read the dialogue between the main character and Grimsdyke, in which the second talks about examiners marking the tripos: “The night before the results come out the old don totters back, from hall and chucks the lot down the staircase. The ones that stick on the top flight are given firsts, most of them end up on the landing and get seconds, thirds go to the lower flight, and any reaching the ground floor are failed. This system has been working admirably for years without arousing any comment”. We also meet the description of women students, which seems to be quite ironical: “Women students — the attractive ones, not those who are feminine only through inescapable anatomic arrangements — are under disadvantage in oral examinations… she wore enough make-up to look attractive, and she was obviously practicing, with some effort, a look of admiring submission to the male sex. I felt sure she would get through”.
We can divide the text into three main parts. The first ends with the sentence “Meanwhile, we despondently ticked the days off the calendar, swotted up the spot questions, and ran a final breathless sprint down the well-trodden paths of medicine”. In this part we learn about all the difficulties that medical students face with. The mood created is pitiful, because we feel sorry for the poor students, who decided to take up medicine. We can understand that the period of exams is something horrible for every medical students (“the final examinations are something like death: an unpleasant inevitability to be faced sooner or later”, “a straight contest”, “there is rarely any frank cheating”, “swotted up the spot questions”, “ran a final breathless sprint”). The second one ends with “The examination results were to be published at noon”. In this part we deal with a detailed description of the examination procedure. The prevailing mood is excitement, because all the students were worried about their exams. They swotted up and they were extremely nervous. And the third one goes to the very end. In the final part the tension reaches the limit. The students were waiting for the results to come out. They were gripped by fear, because these results were very important for their future training and career itself. The relief came when Richard realized that he had passed it successfully.
Richard is the main character of the text. He is one of the medical students. He’s a narrator of the story. We see all the events happen from his point of view. We can understand that the author tells us about his own memories of being a medical student. Indeed Richard appears to be a single character of the text, because the rest ones are mentioned in passing. The author speaks about different types of examinees like the Nonchalant, the Crammer, the Frankly Worried and the Old Stager. The names are given due to their behaviour and attitude towards exams. The author uses an indirect method of characterization. It manifests itself in such examples as “my palms were as wet as sponges”, “my pulse shot in my ears”, “my stomach had been suddenly plucked from my body”. So the author does not simply say that the main character is nervous or hypochondriac, but shows his physical state for us to make our own conclusions. So we can judge Richard by his thoughts, actions, words and so on. I was distressed for Richard while reading the extract. His emotions are genuine and it makes you feel like you are one of these students, sitting the exam.
ОтветитьУдалитьThe author’s language is rich. He uses many expressive means in this text. You can come across a metaphor (“finish an eight-round fight”), simile (“gazing at him like impressionable music enthusiasts at the solo violinist”), allusion (“judgement day”), epithet (“look dispassionately).
The main idea of the text is to mock at the drawbacks of educational system and futility of being nervous because of inevitable exams, that makes no sense at all.
I find this text rather amusing, because the author managed to trigger absolutely different emotions of mine. I genuinely had a fellow feeling for the main character, at the same time I laughed at some moments, which seemed to me witty and funny. The suspense was hold masterly. You have no idea how it ends. You share the main character’s emotions because you are in the same boat. You are both students with common problems. A great story which is read in one shot.
I want to describe a story written by an English surgeon, anaesthetist and an author of numerous novels, screenplays for film and television and accounts of popular history, mostly dealing with the practice of medicine, Richard Gordon “The Doctor in the Gouse”.
ОтветитьУдалитьThe story is told in the 1st point of view and I want to prove it:
“I walked down the stairs feeling as if I had just finished an eight-round fight…”
“I stood before table four. I didn’t recognize the examiners.”
As the author was a doctor, he was to know the feelings and thoughts of young doctors. That’s why he was telling the story from his own experience and the main purpose of the 1st person point of view was to convey the real emotions of each student.
The narration is dynamic. It makes an ex-examinee reading the story to feel the emotions while examinations. In the story, we can see a great number of descriptions:
“The examination began with the writing papers. A single invigilator sat in his gown and hood on a raised platform to keep an eye open for flagrant cheating. He was helped by two or three uniformed porters…” or “One minute to twelve. The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like unexploded bomb. A clock tingled…”
But the story is also full of dialogues between the author, his friends, an examiner:
“How did you get on? ” I asked. “
So-so” he replied.
“However, I’m not worried. They never read…”
The narrative presentation is straight-line, the events are arranged as they occur, in chronological order from the preparation for the exams to the announcement of results. But to convey the pressure of the moment, the author used the retardation, when we speak about the moment of announcement:
“One minute to twelve. The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb. A clock tingled twelve in the distance...”
ОтветитьУдалитьIn the story the main character, of course, the narrator. He was a student of Cambridge and was really diligent and experienced in medicine. And, of course the exam scared him very much. We can see, all the students even the most knowledgeable and self-assured are feared of exams and all of students feel the same terror and panic.
The antagonist of the narrator is the exam itself.
“If the candidate loses his nerve in front of this terrible displeasure he is finished: confusion breeds confusion and he will come to the end of his interrogation struggling like a cow in a bog .”
The text is easily divided into complete parts.
The exposition includes the general information about students’ attitude to the final examinations and the way of preparation for this important event:
“To a medical student the final examinations are something like death: an unpleasant inevitability to be faced sooner or later…”
“… and ran a final breathless sprint down the well-trodden paths of medicine.”
The complication of the narration is showing the process of exam, examinee’s excitement and suspense of the results.
“The examination began with the written papers”
“Number three oh six?” the Secretary whispered, without looking up from the book.
“R. Gordon?” “
Yes” I croaked.”
The climax of the story is the moment of the highest pressure when the Secretary said the result of the narrator:
“The world stood still. The traffic stopped, the plants ceased growing, men were paralyzed, the clouds hung in the air, the winds dropped, the tides disappeared, the sun halted in the sky. "Pass," he muttered.”
ОтветитьУдалитьThe denouement of the text is the untying of the knot of this story a kind of liberation and the ending of suffering.
“Blindly, like a man just hit by a blackjack, I stumbled upstairs.”
The author used a lot of stylistic devices to prove that the final examinations are reason for a great psychological pressure and a real challenge for the students.
Similes:
“To a medical student the final examinations are something like death” The author compared the exams with death to show all seriousness of this period for the student and associates it with inevitability and ending of their easygoing lives.
“I was shown to a tiny waiting-room furnished with hard chairs, a wooden table, and windows that wouldn't open, like the condemned cell.”
” Like an unexploded bomb.”
The main theme of the story is the procedure of the exams. The author uses numerous thematic words:
the student, the final examinations, the exams, to prepare, the examiners, cheating, textbooks, to swot up, the written papers, uniformed, examinees, knowledge, “tripos”, viva, marking, grading, to pass and so on.
Also we can see a great variety of different sub-themes:
the psychological types of students, cheating at the exams, students’ prejudice, disadvantage of women student at the exams, the psychological pressure of the process of the examination on the students.
The extract we've recently come thorough belongs to the series of Richard Gordon's novels called "Doctor". Being an anaesthetist and a former ship surgeon he perfectly depicted all the aspects of the doctor's life and labour in a shape of witty and ironical stories narrated both by medical college students and mature doctors.
ОтветитьУдалить"Doctor in the House" reveals us a short episode from a every day life of medical student passing the final examinations. Gordon, who's also a narrator of the story describes the process of exams as a real combat consisting of two parts : written papers and vivas (oral examinations). He involves the reader into the stressfull atmosphere of despair, astonishement and hope, twinkling between small pieces of success. After passing written exams he impatiently awaits for vivas, sharing his fears and hopes with his groupmate Grimsdyke who heartened his friend by telling the stories about reluctant marking and grading the tripos papers by the local invigilators. Thus, vivas, according to the Richard's point of view, went on less successfully, though he tried to rally his thoughts and finally get through. He failed to explain the treatment of women's gaining weight, though had succeed in case of tetanus. Black days of suspense had gone by and the invigilator was ready to call the names of those who had failed or passed. At the end, as stressful waiting and despair were over the verdict was clear - the narrator has passed.
(Lemeshinskaya)
The text itself presents a piece of narration, as it describes the events taking place at the medical college and a description, as the author gives as an authentic and colourful picture of the exam procedures and the portrays of the occupants of exam rooms (here we can see all the classic characters well-known among students: Cheater, Old-Stager, Nonchalant, Crammer and etc;). There're also some pieces of dialogue between Gordon and Grimsdyke, sharing his ideas about the grading tripos by the dons in a rather peculiar and careless way - throwning the lot with the papers downstairs. These vivid and natural dialogues are similar to every day students' communication during the process of receiving an education, so the atmosphere is conveyed brilliantly.
ОтветитьУдалитьThe story is written in a rather saritical and humorous way, as the suspence and fear of inevitable facing the faith is seemingly exaggerated, because all the epithets, metaphores, similies and comparisons are drawn in a negative colouring, as if it had been a real interrogetion where the suspects were put into condemned cell and flanked by severe porters and invigilators. Even the noun "brilliance" was attributed as"frustrated", showing the prevalent mood among the student coping with the written tasks. The paper were not handed in, they had been "torn away" by the porters. They were students no longer - they were "poor victims" captured by their tormentors.
Such exaggeration provokes only ironical laughter and smile, as every student in the end of the "judgement day" realizes that the Devil is not so black as it's painted.
ОтветитьУдалитьThis story may be divided into two major parts. The first is devoted to the exam itself with all its peculiarities and students' emotions in their natural colouring, sense the tension of this "eight-round fight" experienced by young Gordon. The second part is devoted to the results, the point of no return, where you either win or get defeated. Here we can reach the very climax of the story, sense each skipped beat of student's heart, which limps and gets slower and slower with every minute of expectation. With a great relief we can face the following truth - he had passed. Terrible displeasure is finished. It was something more powerful than happiness - Gordon described his condition of "a man just hit by a blackjack".
Speaking of the major and minor characters we focus on Gordon himself, his groupmate Grimesdyke and some more minor characters such as all these typical college inhabitants.
We observe the story from Gordon's angle, in simple words, we are able to get through these events in his shoes. One can't say that this character is a slacker or a flagrant cheater, as he described these typical occupants of seminar rooms on exams. He is full of challenging spirit and youth wit. He compares the member of the Committe as an impressionable violinist constantly surrounded by impressionable music enthisiasts during the ward rounds with amateur young doctors. Even the female students are called female not because of their "anatomic arrangements", it's more about their "admiring submission to male sex". His mind easily produses exact nicknames for his peers: Nonchalant, lolling on his chair, Frankly Worried, who can't stop tearing papers into pieces, a Crammer weaponed with his buttered textbook and the Old Stager "who treated the whole thing with the familiarity of a photographer at a wedding".
Gordon's friend, Grimsdyke is a far more easy-going in this case. Swooting up and cramming are not his cup of tea. He's full of hilarious stories about college life and capable of soothing his worried friend. One can easily recognize his own mates or colleagues in those two. They are vivid, voluminous and easy on the reader's eye.
ОтветитьУдалитьWe should also admit that author's language is colourful and generous in stylistic devices.
There're many quickwitted comparisons, similaries and metaphors ("violonist", "a cow in a bog", "photographer at a wedding", "condemned cell", etc). Exams were compared to Death, moreover, there was an allusion of "judgement day", referring finals to the epochal, Biblical events from the narrator's point of view. These exceeding emotions are well-known by every student, so they are close to their hearts and minds.
The message we're receiving from the author is an idea of youth's restless imagination and emotions which always overcome the rational beginnig, what turns a procedure of passing an exam into infernal torture or mortal fight. These pecularities are caused not only by student's tendency of exaggeration. That's an ironical hint at educational archaic orders which can't follow the changes of time immdeiately, as the younger generations do.
We can't deny that Richard Gordon brilliantly illustrated the truths of student's life, simply submerging the audience into boisterous atmosphere of young expectations, hopes, and faulires alternating with small shreds of "success weaving into a triumphal garland."
PART ONE
ОтветитьУдалитьI. The author employs the following narrative method:
a) The narrator is a character in the story, consequently, the story is told in the first point of view. The narrator uses the first-person pronoun “I” and “me”. We can see it in such sentences as “I stood before table four “, “The examiner suddenly cut me short.” This method of narration helps us to understand main character’s feeling better because when we read the pronoun “I” we image ourselves the main character of the story.
b) the narrator is in the center of the events and the main character of the story.
II. The author employed the following forms of the subject matter presentation:
- narration : “To a medical student the final examinations are something like death…”
-direct speech(dialogue): "How did you get on?" I asked. "So-so," he replied.
- character drawing: “Her suit was neat but not smart; her hair tidy but not striking; she wore enough make-up to look attractive, and she was obvi¬ously practicing, with some effort, a look of admiring submis¬sion to the male sex.”
-description :“…a tiny waiting-room furnished with hard chairs, a wooden table, and windows that wouldn't open, like the condemned cell.”
The forms of the subject matter presentation are interrelated because the events, described in narration, continue to develop in dialogues. In its turn, character drawing and description make the narration more detailed and informative.
In the text there are not so many events, because of it the narration is pushed into the background. There is one more reason for it. The author’s aim is to describe the process of preparation for the examinations, the procedure of passing the exam, the feelings of students, therefore the description stand out more prominent.
III. The events goes in the story in chronological order. First, the narrator described the preparation for the exam. Next went the written part of the examination. After that we read about the viva. And finally the results came out. The author presented events in such way for us to feel increasing anxiety, to show how students came through all steps of examination and what they felt.
IV. The general slant of the story is humorous and ironical. In the text there are many humorous similes such as: “To a medical student the final examinations are something like death”, “…he(student) goes at them like a prize-fighter”, “…he (candidate) will come to the end of his interrogation struggling like a cow in a bog”, “The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb.”. In the story we can see some cases of irony. For instance: “Women stu-dents - the attractive ones, not those who are feminine only through inescapable anatomic arrangements”(it’s irony because we cannot use the word “arrangement” about a human being). The author used it to show that girls did everything to make examiners let them pass. One more example of irony is: “Someone coughed, and I expected the windows to rattle”. The window can’t be broken because of the sound of cough but the author aimed to describe “frightening, unexpected” the silence in the room.
So, because of humorous and ironical tone of the text the author catch readers’ attention not letting them boring. Moreover, if the reader recognizes himself in the story’s character he can laugh at himself.
The author divided the story into two logical parts. The first part is the examination. The author creates the atmosphere of nervousness and fear. The second part is the learning the results when the hardness is back and the students began to hope.
PART TWO
ОтветитьУдалитьV. The main character is the narrator himself. We see all events from his point of view, the reader can follow his thoughts, reasoning, his feeling and fear. The narrator was honest with the reader and wasn’t afraid to show his worrying. In the story there are also minor characters which don’t influence plot development but help us to understand the nature of the exam better. For example the author told us about Malcom Maxworth for us to see how students «prepare» to the exam. Or we can see four types of students represented by Nonchalant, Frankly Worried, Crammer and Old Stager.
VI. The conflict of the story is the students’ fear of the passing hard exam. It’s a struggle within a character so it is called an internal conflict.
VII. The climax of the story is the declaration of the main character’s result. When he heard that he passed the whole anxiety which continued through the story went down sharply.
VIII. The main theme of the text is the procedure of the examination. The author wanted to convey the feelings of students who passed the exam and countered them to the calmness and indifference of the examiners.
IX. The author’s style has its peculiarities. R.Gordon used a lot of SDs(simile, metaphor, grotesque, epithet, allusion and irony) so, the text isn’t flat and dull. Moreover, the author use instead of simplest word combination more interesting ones, such as “expression of self-consciousness and superiority”, “entire knowledge of medicine”, “rushed through”, “frustrated brilliance” and etc. Therefore the language of the text is vivid and sapid.
X. The writer achieved his purpose and conveyed his idea used different SDs, first-person point of view and choice the humorous and ironical slant.