Why I Like the Hospital – Reasoning (20+ Questions)

Complete the following sentences by providing a brief reason. Do not write the question.

1. The speaker describes slouching along the underground garage because __________

2. The hospital grants "permission for pathos" because __________

3. The closed beige doors resemble a prison wall because __________

4. The speaker observes a mother with cancer deciding how to tell her children because __________

5. The bald girl's shunt above her missing breast represents __________

6. The poem contrasts the hospital elevator ride with hospital interiors because __________

7. Patients create complex scoring systems in notebooks because __________

8. The man in the lime-green dressing gown holds his own hand in sympathy because __________

9. The speaker appreciates the "forced intimacy of the self with the self" because __________

10. Each sick person is described as "standing in the middle of a field, like a tree" because __________

11. The hospital environment allows people to express emotions freely because __________

12. The title "Why I Like the Hospital" is ironic because __________

13. The speaker does not focus on medical facilities or treatments because __________

14. The "long prairie of waiting" metaphor conveys __________

15. The antiseptic smell and discarded flowers represent __________

16. The poem criticizes society's expectations because __________

17. Vulnerability and helplessness are shown in the hospital because __________

18. The man no longer expects to be "saved" because __________

19. The poem addresses contemporary societal norms because __________

20. Human suffering observed in the hospital arouses pathos in the speaker because __________

21. The hospital becomes a place of self-reflection for patients because __________

Answer Key

i) He is moving through an ordinary, confined space that exemplifies the alienation and separation prevalent in modern society and daily life.

ii) It is the only place where people can openly express emotional pain, suffering, and vulnerability without social judgment or expectation to hide feelings.

iii) They symbolize confinement, separation, and feelings of imprisonment that accompany serious illness and the need for hospitalization.

iv) The hospital setting forces her to confront the reality of her illness and communicate her suffering to those she loves most.

v) The visible and permanent consequences of medical treatment and illness on the human body; the physical transformation resulting from medical procedures.

vi) The garage elevator represents the cold, isolating, modern world where people hide emotions; the hospital interior represents authentic human connection and emotional expression.

vii) Illness prompts introspection and moral accounting as patients face mortality and begin to evaluate their past choices and deeds in life.

viii) He has accepted his illness and mortality; he is no longer expecting supernatural rescue but instead finding self-compassion through acknowledging his vulnerability.

ix) Illness forces people to confront their innermost thoughts, fears, and vulnerabilities in intimate ways that ordinary life rarely permits or demands.

x) Each patient experiences profound isolation and loneliness despite being physically surrounded by other suffering people in the same hospital.