Analysis Of Oliver Sacks's 'A Hospital And A Prison'

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Oliver Sacks presents this passage as a way of comparing two very stressful and manipulative places, a hospital and a prison. He uses various examples of advanced diction, tone and figurative language to compare these situations. Sacks models these areas by connecting to the audience and placing a comparison into the mind of the reader. All of these aspects of the passage add and connect to the connotation and subject of this literary piece. Sacks used diction as a way to convey a negative connotation towards hospitals. While he was in the hospital, he constructs the argument by expressing that he had a “… fever and fantastical neurosis…” Although it may simply pass as a positive connotation due to the word fantastical, the author …show more content…

Although the author portrays a bitter tone throughout the text, there are many occasions in which there are multiple tones being used at the same time. For instance, when the author was in the ambulance, he was perceived as having a critical tone. He was criticizing and finding fault in what the paramedics and doctors were doing as he began to lose his feeling of personalization. Diction begins to tie into here as it also reflects onto the tone through complex word choice. Once in the hospital, he began to compare the hospital with prison by using a depressed yet confused tone. He compares them by telling the audience about the infamous Tower of London. Sacks became delirious and was unsure of what was going on. Adding such tone entices the audience though the effect of depersonalization on Sacks. However, after being told about the operation, Sacks’ tone went from constrained to incredulous and unsure. He claims of having “hallucinatory vividness” which ties back to the incredulous tone. This tone adds the suspicion to the hospital because such distinctness is not a normal occurrence. As explained, tone plays a crucial role in exemplifying the negative connotation and subject of the passage by using pathos and feelings of the author to reflect in the

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