Narrative Neuropsychology,
Spring 2007
Topic for first class paper
due on Friday October 19th. Email it to me as either a Word file (.doc)
or plain/rich text format (.txt).
The goal for your first
class paper is a comparative analysis of the case studies of Alexander Luria
and Oliver Sacks. All of your papers should consider the content, aims and style
of these works in detail, but your own writing can take several forms:
- An analytic paper where
you compare and contrast the work of Sacks and Luria. This should be richly
illustrated with multiple examples from the case studies.
- An integative book review
where you discuss both of Luria's little 'romantic science' texts and a sampling
from Sacks' collections.
- An imagined NPR style
interview with either Sacks alone discussing both his work and Luria's or
with both Sacks and Luria. My model for the interviewer is Terri Gross from
Fresh Air, and she has indeed interviewed Sacks: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10115666
- A fictional piece populated
by at least one character based upon one or more of the people featured in
Sacks' and Luria's case studies.
The length of this paper
is 7±2 (This is taken from cognitive psychologist George Miller's
classic 1956 paper 'The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two')