Cornea Transplant Miracles: Analyzing 'Take My Eyes'

Analysis of "Take My Eyes" by Juan Manuel Daganzo

The intention of the following commentary is to show the "miracles" that can be achieved through a cornea transplant—the cornea being the part of the eye that functions as a transparent lens located in front of the eyeball, with the mission of saving the vision of those who need it. The proposed text for the commentary, "Take My Eyes" ("Toma mis ojos"), is an article written by Juan Manuel Daganzo, a journalist for the magazine Muy Interesante ("Very Interesting"), in which this fragment is published. It is an argumentative text in the form of scientific reasoning. In addition to the referential function, which is intended to convey a reality that the receiver now knows and wishes to disclose, we see to a lesser extent the presence of the conative function, which attempts to influence the behavior of the receiver.

The Miracle of Cornea Transplants

The author develops the theme of cornea transplants and their mission to save eyesight. To do this, he shows us that the recovery of sight as a whole is difficult, although the transplant helps achieve a notable improvement. In short, a nurse from the project Construyendo Juntos ("Building Together") managed to move Leticia—a Cameroonian girl born with cataract and corneal problems—to a Barcelona clinic. There, after a couple of operations, her vision did not recover fully, but the transplant itself helped her achieve an almost normal life in her village. Finally, we can say that the author's intent, conveyed through the optimistic tone of the text, is to report on this specific issue and influence readers.

Linguistic and Stylistic Analysis

In the text, declarative sentences and verbs in the present indicative mood predominate. The deliberate use of hypotaxis denotes a more elaborate style. The abundant use of conjunctions, or polysyndeton, confers a sensation of slowness and solemnity. The form of the language used is elaborate, intense, elevated, deep, rich in resources, and sincere. The sociolinguistic register or lexical variant used is specified as cultured (culto).

The presence of descriptive phrases like "injured cornea" and "blood vessels" imparts a more objective and accurate value to the text. The abundance of nouns gives the text a more expressive and static character. The language used by the author is accurate and exact. The use of italics and quotation marks in the first paragraph of the article highlights words used in a sense different from their normal meaning, indicating they have been intentionally selected rather than used by mistake. It also indicates the intention of employing a wry look at certain words. We can observe technical terms such as keratoplasty or scleral, through which we notice a more scientific language.

Conclusion and Final Assessment

An overall assessment of the text leads us to assert its success in blending scientific dissemination with human empathy.