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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In order to escape being caught on the mountain all night, what was the latest possible time Sacks could reach help?
(a) Ten o'clock PM.
(b) Nine o'clock PM.
(c) Six o'clock PM.
(d) Eight o'clock PM.

2. What analogy does Sacks use to describe his left leg's failure during therapy?
(a) A flat pasture with lazy cows.
(b) A city with deserted streets.
(c) A car with an empty gas tank.
(d) A cliff with an impossibly smooth face.

3. What did Sacks think when he woke from the surgery?
(a) That he had been asleep for nearly a day.
(b) That he was tired and wanted to sleep.
(c) That he had been asleep only a few minutes.
(d) That he had been asleep for seven hours.

4. What role did Mary-Kay Wilmers play in Sacks's recovery?
(a) She served as the impetus for his philosophical musings about his injury.
(b) She suggested and edited his article entitled "The Leg."
(c) She nursed him in the convalescent home.
(d) She nursed him in the hospital after his surgery.

5. When was Studies in Neurology published?
(a) 1940.
(b) 1910.
(c) 1920.
(d) 1930.

Short Answer Questions

1. Since his accident, what has Sacks been aware of?

2. What was the occasion for this book?

3. What book of the Bible does Sacks quote at the beginning of Chapter Three?

4. When did Sacks write the preface to the book?

5. What is the essential idea of Thomas Mann's quote?

Short Essay Questions

1. Leontev and Zaporozhet's book dealt with two hundred soldiers who suffered hand injuries. What was Sacks's reaction to the book? How did it help his healing process?

2. At the beginning of Chapter One, Sacks quotes Thomas Mann to say that the silent world receives and tolerates man but always remains menacing (pg 1). How does this relate to Sacks's experience in the world?

3. How does Sacks describe his first few steps? How might this description be applied to another time in life, one which has never been described?

4. Through what physical senses does Sacks reenter the world of men?

5. What did Sacks think when he saw his left leg for the first time in two weeks? How did his own thoughts tie into the doctor's summary of the recovery?

6. During the first night in the hospital whom did Sacks see in his dream? How did Sacks live to imitate this person?

7. How does the quote at the beginning of Chapter Four compare to Sacks's own words which begin the chapter?

8. While descending the mountain, what vision did Sacks cling to? Why do you think this was the picture he chose?

9. During his first night out of the hospital, Sacks wept in the doorway of the convalescent home. Briefly summarize his experiences so far to explain the tears.

10. What does the detail from Sacks's journal explain? How does this excerpt capture the split between doctor and patient, which is captured in one person?

(see the answer keys)

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