Diagnosis By Lisa Sanders Writing Style

Lisa Sanders, a well known assistant clinical professor of internal medicine and education at Yale, has been writing for the New York Times since 2002. Sanders is also well known for her column, Diagnosis, in which she writes about rare diseases and cases. Over the years she has developed a unique writing style, consisting of mystery, and suspense to express that the human body is a miraculous thing. A strong use of sophisticated diction in her writings allows her to fully express the rarity and importance of the cases. Throughout her columns, Sanders uses description masterfully, resulting in readers being able to fully comprehend the thought process as if they were a doctor on the case. In each and every one of her writings, Sanders addresses

She later trails on to say, making a correct diagnosis is like solving a mystery. In the selected columns, Sanders displays a powerful use of diction to show the intensity of the patient’s symptoms and behavior, including phrases like, “episodes of total panic”, “drenched in sweat”, “full fledged attack”, “angry and irritable”, and “stomach heaved”. Addressing the symptoms and behavioral changes in this manner allows the reader to see the seriousness of the disease at hand. Her target audience is mostly doctors, and medical students. Description of the case allows them to trail off to possible diagnoses.This technique also draws in the reader’s attention and concern, shifting their thought process. Relating all of the patient’s symptoms gives a foundation of what could possibly be wrong. Sanders is slowly building up to the mysterious region of diagnosis. In, “Why Did This Man Lose His Memory, Words and Even His Ability to

Walking through the cases, she allows the readers to visualize what could be wrong with the patient. Making symptoms and lifestyle changes known are used to make diagnoses, as well as rule them out. Sanders displays all of the patient's symptoms to lead the reader into thinking of a common diagnosis. She even gives confirmation of other doctors agreeing on the most common illnesses. In all of her writings, she uses the current situation of the patient to foreshadow something far more serious is wrong. In “She Had Never Suffered From Anxiety. Was She Having Her First Panic Attack?” Sanders foreshadows something being wrong with the woman when she states, “patients aren’t always right”. Bringing in suspense and uncertainty allows Sanders to give diagnosing cases a detective like feel. She makes the reader understand the mystery and art of diagnosing a patient by displaying the symptoms as clues, the reader then understands diagnosing the patient correctly is detective's work for doctors. Sanders bounces off thoughts and ideas to the reader, and showcases the stories like a mystery novel. In “Why Was This 3-Year-Old So Irritable, and What Was Wrong With Her Eye?” She gives a rundown of a three-year-old’s case. A third year medical student makes several diagnoses for her niece’s eye. Her first diagnosis, conjunctivitis, was ruled out because there were few similarities in