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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Sacks think about as he moved down the mountain?

2. What vital support did the surgeon take away when he dismissed Sacks's concerns?

3. What word does Luria use to describe the modern approach to peripheral disorders?

4. How did Sacks descend the mountain?

5. What language was the sign "BEWARE OF THE BULL!" written in?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the literary effect of Sacks's description of his injury? Why do you think the injury is not detailed later?

2. What meals does Sacks describe most from his time in the hospital? What do these meals say about his frame of mind at each time?

3. On page 167, how is the account of this man's body-agnosia similar to Sacks'? How is it different?

4. What timeline does Sacks establish for the development of neurology? What is still lacking from this branch of science?

5. Sacks's description of the Caster, Mr. Enoch, is amusingly melodramatic and terrified. In your opinion, why was Sacks scared of Mr. Enoch?

6. What is the most basic purpose of classical neurology? As can be inferred from the purpose of Sacks's book, how does classical neurology fall short?

7. How many patients with neurological disorders did Sacks study following his recovery? What does this number say about the people involved?

8. While in the hospital, Sacks felt morally and physically prostrate before the doctor. How do you think this happened?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did Sacks achieve the certainty which "bypassed the most complex mathematics" (Chapter Five, pg 121)? Was there any element of divinity in this certainty? How did this certainty relate to his idea of the world as a whole?

Essay Topic 2

As Sacks was being pressured to begin walking, what miracle occurred? How was this miracle the same thing he had been working toward since his accident?

Essay Topic 3

What role does sight play in Sacks's story? When is his sight best and worst? What affects his sight? How do his eyes serve as symbols of his leg's injury and recovery?

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