The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat



The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

By Oliver Sacks

PART ONE: LOSSES

Chapter One: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

1. What was wrong with Mr. P.? Please be detailed. Include information from the entire chapter.

2. Why should Mr. P. visit a neurologist not an ophthalmologist?

3. Why was this chapter titled The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat? (p11)

4. How did Mr. P. describe pictures? (p10-11)

5. Read the quote on page 16. Explain the quote. Who was more damned?

6. Describe how Mr. P.’s paintings changed over time. (p17)

7. What was the cause of Mr. P.’s impairment? (p 19)

Chapter Four: The Man Who Fell out of Bed

1. What unusual thing did the patient find in bed? (p. 55)

2. What happened when he tried to throw the leg out of his bed?

3. What might be wrong with the patient’s brain?

Chapter Five: Hands

1. What does congenitally mean? (Look it up!)

2. Why was Madeleine J. admitted to the hospital?

3. What was wrong with her hands? Be detailed. Give examples from the entire chapter.

4. What did Dr. Sacks do to motivate Madeleine J. to use her hands?

5. Describe the time when she first used her hands. How old was she?

6. Do you think the babying of people with disabilities is common? Why or why not?

7. Do you think that it is good or bad to baby people with disabilities?

8. How might the babying of people with disabilities affect them?

Chapter 8: Eyes Right!

1. What parts of the brain are in the deeper and back portions of the right cerebral hemisphere? (look this up in your textbook or on line!)

2. What can’t Mrs. S. see?

3. How does this affect her life? Give at least three specific examples from the chapter.

4. If Mrs. S needs to go left what does she do?

5. What might be some solutions to help people with hemi-inattention and left hemi-field extinction?

PART TWO: EXCESSES

Chapter 11: Cupid’s Disease

1. What was Natasha K.’s “problem”?

2. What is “Cupid’s Disease”?

3. Define neurosyphilis. Look it up on line!

4. Did Natasha K. Want to be cured?

5. How did Dr. Sacks treat Natasha K.?

6. Should some diseases not be treated?

7. Compare the past chapters you read in the section Losses and the chapter you read in the section Excesses. What is the main difference between the two sections? Why is each section named what it is? Give specific examples from the book.

PART THREE: TRANSPORTS

Chapter 17: A Passage to India

1. Why was Bhagawhandi P. admitted to the hospital?

2. As her tumor moved towards the temporal lobe and the decompression started to bulge, how did her seizures change? (p. 153-4)

3. Did Bhagawhandi P. want to be treated for this new kind of seizures?

4. What was the cause of these new seizures?

5. In the last two paragraphs, how did Bhgawhandi describe her seizures?

Chapter 19: Murder

1. Under what circumstance did Donald kill his girl?

2. Why didn’t anyone ever reveal the details of the murder to Donald?

3. What punishment do you think Donald deserves?

4. Do you think that Donald is dangerous to society?

5. What happened to Donald while riding his bike on parole?

6. What happened to Donald because of the brain damage he received from the bike accident? (p. 162)

7. What are some of Dr. Sacks’ possible explanations for Donalds’ returned memories? (p. 163, 164)

Chapter 20: The Visions of Hildegard

1. Who was Hildegard of Bingen?

2. What caused her visions?

3. According to Hildegard what was the cause and significance of her visions?

4. If she lived during modern times, do you think she should (or would want to) treat her migraines and therefore give up the visualizations?

PART FOUR: THE WORLD OF THE SIMPLE

Chapter 22: A Walking Grove

1. What was Martin A.’s main talent?

2. How did music make Martin A. feel? (p. 188)

3. Why didn’t many people like Martin A.? (p190)

4. What happened to Martin A. in the home? (p190)

5. What did he need?

6. Why do you think the term “idiot savant” is not the best term in general, but especially when referring to Martin A.?

After reading the chapters from this section, why is this third section called Transports? Give examples from the chapters.

Chapter 23: The Twins (Read only up to page 200, unless you want to keep reading)

1. What was the twins’ main talent?

2. Describe the twins’ facial expression as they calculated dates. (p197)

3. Describe their other math skills? (p197)

4. Why is the title “human calculators” not the most appropriate for the twins? (p200)

5. How is their memory? Give a few examples. (p198)

6. What was the significance of the numbers twins liked to say to each other?

Chapter 24: The Autist Artist (read to page 232, no postscript unless you want to)

1. What made José different from most people with autism?

2. How did José develop autism? What did his family do about it?

3. How much contact to the outside world did José have? Why?

4. What was José’s main contact with the outside world?

5. What event caused José to finally leave the house? (p221)

6. What might have caused his violent rage? (p222)

7. Do you think that José benefited from the powerful new drugs he received in the hospital? Explain.

8. How could Dr. Sacks tell that the hospital was “life saving” for José?

9. Why did José relapse? (p223)

10. What did José do when asked to draw the fish from memory after not seeing it for three weeks? (p223-4)

11. What improvements did José make in the hospital? (p227)

12. What makes José different from most people with autism? (p230)

13. Why does Sacks call autism an “island”? (p230)

14. What are some jobs that José could do? (p231-2)

15. Why do you think people do not usually hire people with autism?

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