Oliver Sacks

A Leg to Stand On, by Oliver Sacks, is a written narrative about Oliver Sacks and his personal struggles. Sacks depicts the story of his self-induced disability, the mental/physical barriers he faced within recovery, and acceptance. Sacks broke down this process into seven steps: the mountain, becoming a patient, limbo, quickening, Solvitur Ambulando, convalescence, and understanding. Along with the physical and mental barriers he faces within this journey, he encounters differing macro/micro contextual issues. These issues include problems with his doctors, with his self-identification, and body ego. Sacks grew up as an athletic individual, his health being a main priority throughout his life. He talks about how he grew up valuing his physical…

world is different for each individual but, that perceptual world contributes to the experience of the individual regardless of its constituents. In a few case studies of paradoxical neurological disorders Oliver Sacks illustrates the perceptual words of those who differ from the norm. Oliver Sacks was a British born neurologist that spent the majority of his professional life in the United States. In addition to being a well-known physician, Sacks was also a naturalist and author who wrote many…

Over the years, the term “creativity” has been given numerous varying definitions. It appears as if each individual— a few of whom include Oliver Sacks, Sigmund Freud, and Jean Piaget— has his/her own unique understanding of the seemingly simple term. In analyzing Oliver Sacks’s An Anthropologist on Mars, the definition of creativity is a crucial factor in the clarification and appreciation of individuals with a variety of neurological disabilities. Without a universally accepted definition,…

In Oliver Sacks’ work, An Anthropologist on Mars, Sacks delves into the increasingly difficult task of defining creativity, ultimately illustrating that successful adaptation of the brain toward creativity depends on not only physical brain plasticity, but also the internal and external motivations of the victim, asserting that a creative mind holds the key for successful processing and acceptance of loss. Brain plasticity, as defined by the Society of Neuroscience, “refers to the extraordinary…

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales is a book describing the case histories of some patients of the author, Dr. Oliver Sacks. The book was first published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd in 1985. The electronic edition was published in 2010 by Picador, an imprint of Pan Macmillan. The author, Dr. Oliver Sacks, is a British-American physician and a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine and a visiting professor at the University of Warwick.…

Identified Literary Techniques in Dr. Sacks’ Work In order to be an effective science writer, one must clarify their writing and ideas and captivate and convince his or her readers in their articles. Dr. Oliver Sacks’ article “The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat” successfully clarifies, captivates and convinces readers using various literary techniques that are common to both Science writers and English literary writers. Throughout the passage Sacks utilizes simile as a way to clarify his…

words, identification is not about fitting in to a label, but making the label fit into the individual’s perception of their self. In “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” Azar Nafisi and her students exercise the power of identification by congregating in a space where the literal and metaphorical black veil that their misogynistic society and government has placed on them does not hold complete control anymore. These women are able to shine in their individuality and expand their world and sense of…

The first time Oliver Sacks encountered music in a clinical setting was in 1966 at Beth Abraham Hospital located in the Bronx in New York. Here is where he met around eighty patients who had suffered from encephalitis lethargica, a central nervous system disorder that had an outbreak epidemic from 1916 to 1927 (CITE JOURNAL). These people were considered Parkinsonian patients. Parkinsonian is typically referred to as a movement disorder, but movement is not the only aspect of human life that is…

Oliver Sacks On the Move: A Life In reader response 3 a review will be examined. The review will contain 3 parts: a brief summary, the views attributes, and using chapter 11 of Everyone’s An Author with readings discuss how the review might be improved. The review chosen for this response is Andrew Solomon’s (The New York Times) review of Dr. Oliver Sacks’ memoir On the Move: A Life. The review comes just months before Dr. Sacks’ death (from cancer) earlier this year. The author leaves the…

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be trapped inside your own body? Or to have an IQ of 68? These fantasies were realities for Leonard Lowe and Charlie Gordon. Charlie is a 37 year-old man with an IQ of 68 who dreams of being smart. He is picked for an operation to become smart and goes through with it, but who knows if it will work? Leonard Lowe was put into a catatonic state at age 11 because of a disease called encephalitis. He is discovered by Dr. Sayer who puts him on the L-Dopa…