Doctor in the House
The Analysis of “Doctor in the House”
The analyzed text is an extract from the book “Doctor in the house” by Richard Gordon, a well-known English writer. His own life was closely connected with medicine and he had also gone through such examinations that is why the characters and the situation are true to life. The author has selected the first person narrative, but it is combined with several lines of dialogues. Despite the fact that we see the story through the eyes of the main character, we can as well feel the author`s attitude to it.
The plot of the story is s very logical and follows the chronological order of events. The story begins with the narrator’s reflections upon students and examinations – that’s the exposition. The complication is found in the passages devoted to the period of taking the final exam, including the process of taking either written or oral parts of it, the description of the types of students and the days waiting for the results to come out till the climax - the moment the main character is about to learn whether he passed or not. The rest of the story, namely the passage where we see the main character emotionally relieved, is denouement. The characters of the text are presented indirectly through action and speech. The protagonist, R. Gordon, is faced with the problem of sitting for an exam. We also meet his antagonist, Grimsdyke, whose attitude to examinations is just the opposite. As a result of this experience, the protagonist does not achieve greater self-knowledge or awareness, he simply got his goal. The way he went through it is quite the same with the way every student goes through his or her final examinations. The context is not historical or cultural, we can only point out several moments, which help us to understand, that the story takes place in London. |
This extract is constructed around the single theme which can be formulated as procedure of the exams. The author uses numerous thematic words, such as:
The analyzed text is an extract from the book “Doctor in the house” by Richard Gordon, a well-known English writer. His own life was closely connected with medicine and he had also gone through such examinations that is why the characters and the situation are true to life. The author has selected the first person narrative, but it is combined with several lines of dialogues. Despite the fact that we see the story through the eyes of the main character, we can as well feel the author`s attitude to it.
The plot of the story is s very logical and follows the chronological order of events. The story begins with the narrator’s reflections upon students and examinations – that’s the exposition. The complication is found in the passages devoted to the period of taking the final exam, including the process of taking either written or oral parts of it, the description of the types of students and the days waiting for the results to come out till the climax - the moment the main character is about to learn whether he passed or not. The rest of the story, namely the passage where we see the main character emotionally relieved, is denouement. The characters of the text are presented indirectly through action and speech. The protagonist, R. Gordon, is faced with the problem of sitting for an exam. We also meet his antagonist, Grimsdyke, whose attitude to examinations is just the opposite. As a result of this experience, the protagonist does not achieve greater self-knowledge or awareness, he simply got his goal. The way he went through it is quite the same with the way every student goes through his or her final examinations. The context is not historical or cultural, we can only point out several moments, which help us to understand, that the story takes place in London. |
This extract is constructed around the single theme which can be formulated as procedure of the exams. The author uses numerous thematic words, such as: