I can't tell what it's implying, I know, I know, I'm not the smartest but I thank anyone that decides to help me 🙇‍♀️.
Are the effects on Phineas mostly positive or mostly negative? What evidence from the text makes you think so?
The text:
The most unlucky/lucky moment in the life of Phineas Gage is only a minute or two away. It’s almost four-thirty in the afternoon on September 13, 1848. Phineas is the foreman of a track construction gang that is in the process of blasting a railroad right-of-way through granite bedrock near the small town of Cavendish, Vermont. Phineas is twenty-six years old, unmarried, and five feet, six inches tall, short for our time but about average for his. He is good with his hands and good with his men, “possessing an iron will as well as an iron frame,” according to his doctor. In a moment, Phineas will have a horrible accident.
It will kill him, but it will take another eleven years, six months, and nineteen days to do so. In the short run, Phineas will make a full recovery, or so it will seem to those who didn’t know him before. Old friends and family will know the truth. Phineas will never be his old self again. His “character” will change. The ways in which he deals with others, conducts himself, and makes plans will all change. Long after the accident, his doctor will sum up his case for a medical journal. “Gage,” his doctor will write, “was no longer Gage.” Phineas Gage’s accident will make him world famous, but fame will do him little good. Yet for many others—psychologists, medical researchers, doctors, and especially those who suffer brain injuries—Phineas Gage will become someone worth knowing.
That’s why we know so much about Phineas. It’s been 150 years since his accident, yet we are still learning more about him. There’s also a lot about Phineas we don’t know and probably never will. The biggest question is the simplest one and the hardest to answer: Was Phineas lucky or unlucky? Once you hear his story, you can decide for yourself. But right now, Phineas is working on the railroad and his time has nearly come.
Building a railroad in 1848 is muscle work. There are no bulldozers or power shovels to open a way through Vermont’s Green Mountains for the Rutland & Burlington Railroad. Phineas’s men work with picks, shovels, and rock drills. Phineas’s special skill is blasting. With well-placed charges of black gunpowder, he shatters rock. To set those charges, he carries the special tool of the blasting trade, his “tamping iron.” Some people confuse a tamping iron with a crowbar, but they are different tools for different jobs. A crowbar is for lifting up or prying apart something heavy. A tamping iron is for the delicate job of setting explosives. Phineas had his tamping iron made to order by a neighborhood blacksmith. It’s a tapering iron rod that is three feet, seven inches long and weighs thirteen and a half pounds. It looks like an iron spear. At the base, it’s fat and round, an inch and three quarters in diameter. The fat end is for tamping—packing down—loose powder. The other end comes to a sharp, narrow point and is for poking holes through the gunpowder to set the fuse. Phineas’s tamping iron is very smooth to the touch, smooth from the blacksmith’s forge as well as from constant use.
His task is to blast the solid rock into pieces small enough for his crew to dig loose with hand tools and haul away in ox carts. The first step is to drill a hole in the bedrock at exactly the right angle and depth, or the explosion will be wasted. All day, Phineas must keep an eye on his drillers to make sure they stay ahead. All day, Phineas must keep an eye on his diggers to make sure they keep up. All the time between, Phineas and his assistant are working with touchy explosives.
They follow a strict routine. His assistant “charges” each new hole by filling the bottom with coarse-grained gunpowder. Phineas uses the narrow end of his iron to carefully press the ropelike fuse down into the powder. The assistant then fills up the rest of the hole with loose sand to act as a plug. Phineas will tamp the sand tight to bottle up the explosion, channeling the blast downward into the rock to shatter it. While his assistant is pouring the sand, Phineas flips his tamping iron around from the pointy end to the round end for tamping. Black powder is ticklish stuff. When it’s damp, nothing will set it off. When it’s too dry or mixed in the wrong formula, almost anything can set it off, without warning. But Phineas and his assistant have done this a thousand times—pour the powder, set the fuse, pour the sand, tamp the sand plug, shout a warning, light the fuse, and run like mad.
But something goes wrong this time. The sand is never poured down the hole; the black powder and fuse sit exposed at the bottom. Does his assistant forget, or does Phineas forget to look? Witnesses disagree. A few yards behind Phineas, a group of his men are using a hand-cranked derrick crane to hoist a large piece of rock. Some of the men remember seeing Phineas standing over the blast hole, leaning lightly on the tamping iron. Others say Phineas was sitting on a rock ledge above the hole, holding the iron loosely between his knees.
There is no argument about what happens next. Something or someone distracts Phineas. Does he hear his name called? Does he spot someone goofing off? Whatever the reason, Phineas turns his head to glance over his right shoulder. The fat end of his tamping iron slips down into the hole and strikes the granite. A spark flies onto the exposed blasting powder. Blam! The drill hole acts as a gun barrel. Instead of a bullet, it fires Phineas’s rod straight upward. The iron shrieks through the air and comes down with a loud clang about thirty feet away.
This is what happens. Imagine you are inside Phineas’s head, watching in extreme slow motion: See the pointy end of the rod enter under his left cheekbone, pass behind his left eye, through the front of his brain, and out the middle of his forehead just above the hairline. It takes a fraction of a fraction of a second for the iron rod to pass from cheekbone to forehead, through and through.
Based on the evidence from the text, the effects on Phineas can be considered mostly negative. Here are the steps that led to this conclusion:
1. Phineas suffers a severe accident while working on the railroad, where a tamping iron enters under his left cheekbone, passes through his brain, and comes out through his forehead.
2. Although Phineas makes a full physical recovery in the short run, his "character" and behavior change. His doctor states that "Gage was no longer Gage."
3. Phineas's old friends and family notice the truth and recognize that he will never be his old self again.
4. Phineas experiences significant changes in the ways he deals with others, conducts himself, and makes plans.
5. His doctor sums up his case by stating that Phineas's accident has had a lasting impact on him.
6. The text mentions that fame brings little good to Phineas and that his story becomes significant for psychologists, medical researchers, doctors, and those who suffer brain injuries.
Based on this evidence, it can be inferred that the effects on Phineas are mostly negative, as his accident leads to significant changes in his personality and behavior.
To determine whether the effects on Phineas are mostly positive or mostly negative, we need to analyze the evidence from the text. The text provides information about Phineas before and after the accident, as well as the opinions of different people.
Here are the steps you can follow to find the evidence and come to a conclusion:
1. Read through the text and identify phrases or sentences that describe Phineas before the accident. These descriptions can help you understand his character and abilities.
2. Look for clues about how Phineas changed after the accident. The text mentions that Phineas will never be his old self again and that his "character" will change. Pay attention to any specific examples or behaviors that are mentioned.
3. Consider the opinions of different people mentioned in the text. The doctor states that "Gage was no longer Gage," suggesting a significant change in his personality. However, the text also mentions that Phineas will become someone worth knowing for psychologists, researchers, and those who suffer brain injuries. This implies that his case has value for further study.
4. Evaluate the overall impact on Phineas. Think about whether the changes described in the text seem more positive or negative. Did his abilities improve or decline? Did his relationships with others improve or suffer?
By carefully analyzing the evidence from the text, you can form a conclusion about whether the effects on Phineas are mostly positive or mostly negative. Remember to support your conclusion with specific examples from the text.