The Empathy Exams

Historically, melodramas were a type of dramatic work in which the plot was highly sensationalized to create a strong emotional impact, though current melodramas are characterized by theatricality and an emphasis on plot and physical action. This term has been extended in its adjectival form “melodramatic,” which highlights a sensational appeal to the emotions. The movie Titanic is an example of melodrama because it hinges on the romance between two characters and their tragic ends. Jamison, at first, uses melodrama as a negative term but gradually embraces her love for the melodramatic and melodramas as she notes the importance and power of excessive emotion.

Jamison uses the word pain to describe physical, mental, and emotional feelings ranging from discomfort to extreme anguish. Pain exists at the center of Jamison’s argument because she is of the belief that people who experience pain deserve to be given empathy. All pain is unique to the experiencer, and pain is therefore above cliché.

In The Empathy Exams, procedures are the main way in which Jamison begins to channel the idea of empathy. Procedure refers to both the order in which things are done and a surgical operation. Jamison experiences two such operations in the first essay but also discusses the procedures related to empathy exams as a structure. Jamison highlights the ways in which surgical procedures inherently evoke empathy while day-to-day procedures can evoke apathy.

Saccharine is a descriptive word used to indicate an excess of sweetness or sentimentality. Jamison dedicates an essay to saccharine in which she defends both the love of sweetness and the love of heavy emotions. Jamison urges the reader and herself to be comfortable in their experiences, claiming there is no moral weakness in those who enjoy the saccharine.

Sentimentality means to be in a state of excessive tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia. Jamison returns to the idea of sentimentality periodically throughout the text as she discusses the importance of emotion and struggles to come to terms with her own relationship with feelings. She spends time discussing her resistance to sentimentality and its influence on her writing as well as her eventual acceptance and defense of it. Jamison, at the end of “In Defense of Saccharin(e),” highlights the importance of sentimentality for its uses in grounding the experiencer.