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Alfonso 1 Michelle Coleen S. Alfonso Dr.

Lynda Haas Writing 37 02 March 2014 A Medical Sherlock Holmes Mystery is a genre of fiction where the plot revolves around a mysterious happening that acts as the driving question (TVTropes). According to Routman, mysteries are imaginative stories dealing with the solution of a secret, problem, or crime, and involving suspense or intrigue. Some of the genre conventions in a mystery/detective story includes gathering of clues, a sidekick, the pursuit of science vs. supernatural and a detective figure who uses a science called deductive reasoning. Clues move the plot forward by giving the main character substantial information regarding the crime, a sidekick who normally helps the main character solve the mystery, the idea of science vs. supernatural especially during the Victorian Era where most people strongly believes in the supernatural and a detective figure who solves the crime in the end along with his scientific explanation. One of the most important convention of Arthur Conan Doyles stories and in fact, are still being used today in modern-day adaptations of Sherlock Holmes is the use of deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning which is a basic form of valid reasoning. Deductive reasoning, or deduction, starts out with a general statement, or hypothesis, and examines the possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion (Live Science). It is still generally being portrayed by many of the modern-day adaptation shows we have today. The TV show Psych depicts the use of deduction as Shawn Spencer uses his eye for detail, outside-thebox thinking, and throw-caution-to-the-wind-to-follow-a-hunch attitude make him excellent at following and solving cases (Psych Wiki). Another modern adaptation of Holmess deductive

Alfonso 2 reasoning skill is shown in the TV show Elementary where a crime-solving duo cracks the New York Police Departments most impossible cases (Elementary Wiki). Bringing intrigue and mystery in the form of unusual medical cases, House M.D. conveys a great mystery genre convention through Dr. Gregory Houses brilliant deduction as he solves all the cases brought to him and makes the impossible to others possible to him. It is a critically-acclaimed American medical drama series by David Shore which debuted on November 16, 2004 on Fox Network with a total of eight seasons. Dr. House characterizes an eccentric, drug addict, but medical genius who can deduce and diagnose a great deal just by looking at a person. House M.D. is a modern-day revision of Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories, updating genre conventions for its 21st century audience; in particular, the convention of Houses methods of diagnosis is an update of Conan Doyles use of deductive reasoning, with specific revisions such as Houses way of approach to his cases who sometimes guesses while Holmes hates guessing and talks about not theorizing before having all the data. In Season Three Episode Eighteen Air Borne, Dr. House and Lisa Cuddy travels back to New York from a pandemic symposium in Singapore. As House is being served dinner, he notices a Korean man near him who is moaning and sweating furiously. Few moments after, the man regurgitates pink liquid and appears to get worse by the minute. Cuddy believes that the man may have meningococcus which is a highly contagious form of bacterial meningitis that can be easily passed from one person to another but House is assured that it is not menigococcus as he is already deducing the possible causes at the back of his mind. Soon, other passengers starts exhibiting the same symptoms the man has and causes mass agitation. House lists the possible causes and ends up with a conclusion that only the Korean man is sick and is suffering from decompression sickness due to his scuba diving trip the day before the plane flight while the

Alfonso 3 other passengers are just exhibiting psychological response called mass hysteria. In here, House uses the process of deduction by starting from a general premise and ending up with a specific conclusion. Most episodes revolve around a primary patient and its search for diagnosis which starts with the scene that shows prior events leading to the appearance of the patients symptoms. House uses a method called differential diagnosis where he lists all the possible causes on a whiteboard and eliminates most of them after his team provides logical medical reasons that they are not a possible cause of the disease (House Wiki). The background sound mainly focuses on the Korean man moaning as one of the symptoms of his sickness which sets more feeling as the audience hear it that enables them to imagine his pain. House is also wearing a bright yellow polo which emphasizes his character as other passengers of the plane are wearing dark and neutral colors; showing his importance as a doctor during that situation. The show often uses the walk and talk filming technique that draws the viewer into a closer, more intense relationship of the audience to the actors and creates urgency and intensity at the same time. In this specific episode, House and Cuddy discusses the possible causes of this phenomena as they are checking up on other passengers and eliminating the causes that are inaccurate and do not have medical basis. An important focus in this episode is the appearance of several symptoms of the passengers from time to time on the plane that complicates Houses attempt even more to finalize a diagnosis. Before coming up into a conclusion of what might have caused it, another symptom shows up and totally changes the perceived conclusion House originally has. With the use of his keen observation, trial and error testing, experimenting and the process of elimination, he moves on to the method called differential diagnosis where he makes a list of all the symptoms of the passengers and begins to connect one point to another while applying his

Alfonso 4 knowledge about their medical nature and from there, eliminates the impossible causes provided with a medically proven explanation and finally arrives to a conclusion. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyles novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes reveals his extraordinary analytical mind as he observes and deduces information from the letter received by Sir Henry Baskerville the moment he arrived in London. He uses his keen observation, creative imagination, knowledge and sensitivity to details as he tries to find out who the writer of the letter could have been. Deductive reasoning is used throughout his investigation as he observes the physical aspects of the letter such as the handwriting, postmark, the type of paper used and that the pen used is actually a complimentary hotel pen because of its poor ink quality; uses his knowledge that only people of the higher class reads that kind of newspaper and never uses poor quality pens but instead uses the fine and expensive ones. From there, Holmes deduces that the writer of the letter is in fact from a higher class but is actually trying to disguise his/her identity by using such methods. The same idea of deductive reasoning is being portrayed in the Fox TV show House M.D. as he first observes the symptoms manifested by the patients, apply his medical knowledge and by the use of the process of elimination, concludes with a medically supported diagnosis. Although Holmes and House have a lot of things in common, revisions of the genre convention of deductive reasoning are made in order to appeal to a modern-day audience. While House is a doctor, Holmes is modeled after Conan Doyles professor named Joseph Bell due to his great deduction skills that inspired him to write about the stories of Holmes. Some aspects of Holmes changes as it transitions to his modern day counterpart Dr. House such that of his sense of humor as there are many comical parts of the show constantly being portrayed throughout the series centering around Houses personality quirks and insults that brings comic relief to a serious medical drama. Both of them are drug addicts but Holmes

Alfonso 5 uses cocaine to stimulate his mind while House uses Vicodin as treatment for his leg pain. Through this, modern-day audiences do not easily get bored by just watching a doctor solving different diseases but instead gives a twist to the character where the show basically revolves around. In order to adapt to a modern-day audience, directors and producers of such shows has to make changes that will attract more viewers and this could be done by changing some of the characters personalities, the way they act, the usage of language, and even filming techniques. The idea of using a genius doctor is very appealing to everyone since most of us would want to be the best that we can and be on top of our game just like him, as he serves as a role model for us and an example that we draw from to be a better person. The convention of deductive reasoning is still present in all the modern-day adaptations of Holmes stories and remarkably never gets old in captivating the audiences attention because people do not find all these characteristics from anyone today. Holmes gives the audience interesting and twisted mysteries and actually solves it while in the real world, there are also mysteries but they are not completely being solved and we are still longing for the answers.

Alfonso 6 Works Cited "Exploring The Mystery Genre." Scholastic Teachers. Scholastic, 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. Higher Read LLC. N.p.: n.p., n.d. The Hound of the Baskervilles Read It and Know It Edition. Higher Read LLC. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. "Mystery Fiction." RSS. TVTropes, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. "Polite Dissent." House Episode 18 (Season Three): Airborne. N.p., 10 Apr. 2007. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. Routman, Regie. "Genre Characteristics." Writing Essentials. N.p., 2005. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. Staff, By LiveScience. "Deductive Reasoning vs. Inductive Reasoning." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 10 July 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. "Wikia." Elementary Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. "Wikia." Psych Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

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