55 pages 1 hour read

Oliver Sacks

An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1995

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Essay Topics

1.

Sacks begins the Preface talking about his own shoulder injury. Why does he begin the book this way?

2.

Temple Grandin tells Sacks that she often feels like an alien, which sparks the title of the book: An Anthropologist on Mars. Write an essay about a time you felt like an “other,” and consider why Sacks places significance on feeling like an “alien.”

3.

In the Preface, Sacks tells the reader he wishes to become a “neuroanthropologist.” What does it mean to be a neuroanthropologist, and how does this affect Sacks’s writing? Cite and analyze specific examples from the text.

Related Titles

By Oliver Sacks

Plot Summary

logo

Hallucinations

Oliver Sacks

Hallucinations

Oliver Sacks

Study Guide

logo

Musicophilia

Oliver Sacks

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

Oliver Sacks

Plot Summary

logo

On the Move: A Life

Oliver Sacks

On the Move: A Life

Oliver Sacks

Plot Summary

logo

Seeing Voices

Oliver Sacks

Seeing Voices

Oliver Sacks

Study Guide

logo

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

Oliver Sacks

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

Oliver Sacks

Plot Summary

logo

The River of Consciousness

Oliver Sacks

The River of Consciousness

Oliver Sacks

Plot Summary

logo

Uncle Tungsten

Oliver Sacks

Uncle Tungsten

Oliver Sacks