Doctor in the House

This is a passage from the book “Doctor in the house” by Richard Gordon, a well-known English writer, the author wrote his “Doctor” series, which is noted for description of medical student’s years of professional training. The present extract touches upon the final examinations of medical students.
The text under analysis belong to the psychological type and description type as it is concerned mainly with the emotional actions of the characters. The subject-matter of this text is about sitting for examinations. The author tries to show the reader different actions and feelings during the passing the examinations.
The composition of this text consists of the following components: exposition, when the author gives the concept of an examination. Narration, when the author describes passing the examinations, an interesting story about passing an examination at Cambridge. And the climax, when the author shows the examination results. The ending is absent.
The idea of the text can be formulated that an examination is nothing more than an investigation of man’s knowledge. We learn about the students well, because the author created true-to-life characters, even more so the Author was passing the examinations himself.
The author proves to be a real master. And he employs a lot of expressive means and stylistic devices to make the story vivid and bright. The text is emotionally moving, and some details produce an emotional reaction. I would like to comment on the effect of the use of metaphor, simile, hyperbole, metonymy.
For example by a simile “the final examinations are something like death” the author shows condition of a student before an examination, “like a prize-fighter” also shows a contest, then the author compares, using the simile, the students that want to produce a certain impression and looking at professor like the “impressionable music enthusiasts gazing at the solo violinist”. Medical textbooks compared through metaphor to a “well-trodden paths”.