Doctor in the House

Text Analysis Doctor in the House (Richard Gordon) 1. The informant of the story is Richard Gordon. It is the pen name employ by Gordon Ostlere (born Gordon Stanley Ostlere on 15 September 1921), an English surgeon and anesthetist. As Richard Gordon, Ostlere has written numerous novels, screenplays for film and television and accounts of popular history, mostly dealing with the workout of medicine. He is most famous for a long series of comic novels on a medical theme starting with Doctor in the House, and the attendant film, television, radio and stage adaptations.His The Alarming History of Medicine was published in 1993, and he followed this with The Alarming History of Sex. 2. The literary piece under consideration is fiction, prose fiction, niggling story. 3. Setting of the story. Geographical location England, London ( the events take place in St, Swithins hospital which is historic all toldy located in England, London) Time the late forties Social environment middle c lass, students. Atmosphere tense, mentally difficult. 4. Theme of the story examination period as a driving force for a psychological and emotional students tension. 5.Point of view the 1st person point of view (I walked down the stairs feeling as if I had just undone an eight-round campaign or I stood before table four. I didnt recognize the examiners. ) 6. The composition Character sketch 7. 1. Richard Gordon is the main character of the story. He plays the central design in the story so we may call him a protagonist. I consider him to be a flat (simple) character, because Richard has only several personal traits. The author characterizes Richard both directly and indirectly. He is a static, because Gordon remains the same doneout the story. Direct debutRichard Gordon was born in 1921. He has been an anesthetist at St. Bartholomews Hospital, a ships surgeon and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. He left medical practice in 1952 and started writing. Indire ct presentation * Hard-working student. Example Benskin discovered that Malcolm Maxworth was the St. Swithins representative on the examining Committee and thenceforward we attended all his ward rounds, standing at the front and gazing at him like waxy music enthusiasts at the solo violinist. * Intelligent. Example How would you treat a causal agency of tetanus? My heart leaped hopefully.This was smth I knew, as there had recently been a case at St. Swithins. I started off confidentially, reeling out the lines of treatment and feeling much better. Pass he murmured. * C beful, attentive, observant. Example 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 NonchalantNext to him a man of Frankly Worried classThere was the Crammer, the archaic Stager. The other occupant of the room was a womanBut the girl had given care to her preparations for the examinationI felt sure she would get through .About half-way through the anonymous examinees began to differentiate themselves. Some of them strode up for an extra answer book, with an awkward expression of self-consciousness and superiority on their faces. Others rose to their feet, handed in there papers and left * Impressionable. Example The old age after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident. For the first few hours I was numbed, unable to view what had hit me. Then I began to wonder if I would ever make a recovery and win through. My palms were as wet as sponges.My pulse excavation in my ears. My face was burning hot and I felt my stomach had been suddenly plucked from mu body. 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 cheer halted in the sky. 7. 2. The plot of the story. The composition of this text consists of the following components The exposition contains the general i nformation about students attitude to the final examinations and the way of preparation for this important event..Narration, when the author describes passport the examinations, written paper and viva, candidates excitement and suspense of the results. The tension reaches its highest degree when poor Gordon almost believes in his fail. And the climax, when the Author describes how the Secretary of the Committee calls out Gordons name, because in that moment we become interested in his results, does he pass or fail. The author deliberately postpones the denouement keeping the reader in pressing anticipation. It comes in the last paragraph, when he hears the magic word Pass. 7. 3.The type of speech. It is the narration ( I walked down the stairs feeling as if I had just finished an eight-round fight or I stood before table four. I didnt recognize the examiners. ) with elements of dialogue ( How did you get on? I asked. So-so he replied. However, Im not worried. They never read) an d a great number of descriptive passages (The examination began with the writing papers. A single invigilator sat in his enclothe and hood on a raised platform to keep an eye open for flagrant cheating. He was helped by two or three render porters or One minute to twelve.The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like unexploded bomb. A clock tingled). 7. Stylistic devices. * Similes To a medical student the final examinations are something like death I was shown to a tiny waiting-room furnished with hard chairs, a wooden table, and windows that wouldnt open, like the condemned cell. The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident. The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb. 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 Benskin discovered that Malcolm M axworth was the St. Swithins representative on the examining Committee and thenceforward we attended all his ward rounds, standing at the front and gazing at him like impressionable music enthusiasts at the solo violinist * Allusion Bibles judgment day * Hyperboles But the viva is judgment day. A false answer and the ods brow threatens like imminent thunderstorm. * Repetition of sound s - The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb. A clock tingled twelve in the distance. My palms were as wet as sponges. Someone coughed, and I expected the windows to rattle. With dumb 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. * Parallels constructions 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 t he sky. * Metaphor judgment day slink miserably out of the exit to seek the opiate oblivion * Exaggeration My palms were as wet as sponges The windows were actually My pulse shot in my ears The world stood still. 8. The main subject of the text is that the examination is nothing more than an investigation of mans knowledge. The idea the final examinations are reason for a great psychological pressure and a real challenge for the students.