Friday, September 28, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain
Suggestions for writing #1
Although embalming is a very invasive, somewhat disgusting process I would argue for this restoration. The practice has been used throughout history beginning I believe in Ancient Egypt. Overall it does provide grieving families with a dishonest portrayal of the deceased, but families want to remember their loved ones as physically beautiful. After numerous cuts, fluid replacement, and makeup, the body does appear physically perfect. Despite the beautifying effect it has on the body, I do believe that embalming a body should require consent from the family or the deceased person’s will, just as people give consent to be an organ donor before they die and have no control over the situation. And yes the process is rather disgusting, but is it really that much different to what a surgeon would do with the body of an organ donor?
The process of embalming is horrifically gruesome, “It is jabbed into the abdomen, poked around the entrails and chest cavity, the contents of which are pumped out and replaced with “cavity fluid.” Mr. J. Sheridan states that the restoration is aimed at presenting the body “in the semblance of normality . . . unmarred by the ravage of illness, disease, or mutilation.” Although the finished appearance of the body is very fake, it does lend a visually pleasing result. Clearly, the whole embalming process is meant to make the deceased appear how they did in their prime - physically strong, healthy, and attractive.
The restoration is invasive but once the funeral comes, those who work in the funeral industry must work to please the family members of the deceased. The family members will be deeply saddened by the death of their loved one, so they will not want to have a reminder of the illness or accident that killed them. Their last vision of the body will want to remind them of the positive aspects of the person. For example, it is more pleasing to see the person’s mouth formed into a smile, than a frown. People may argue that the method to achieve this curvature of the lips, “needle directed upward between the upper lip and gum and brought out through the left nostril,” but the affect is has on mourners leaves them sufficiently satisfied with a “Beautiful Memory Picture” of their loved one.
According to Jessica Mitford, people pay millions of dollars to morticians for an embalmment without knowing how the beautiful sight is achieved. She also states that books and information on the subject are very hard to find. I assume this favors the morticians greatly and keeps them in business. However, do we, as a society, really want to know how our deceased become beautiful for an open casket ceremony? I would think that most do not. In this case, ignorance is bliss. Grieving family members have enough to mourn; knowing the gruesome process would only add to their burden. Embalming should be continued since it leaves families with a positive image of their loved one.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Illiteracy post - structural element
Jonathan Kozol begins The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society with general information about illiteracy, including a few statistics, giving some background on the subject. He states some heavy claims about our failure as a society to truly be democratic. As I read I thought, “he better back this claim up really well.” And of course, he makes for a strong argument with numerous devices, but most importantly through the use of parallel structure.
Kozol begins the bulk of his argument with the phrase, “Illiterates cannot read the menu in a restaurant.” Similarly, the next two paragraphs begin with the same two words, “Illiterates cannot,” and then continues to explain what it is they cannot do. A bit later in the essay, more paragraphs begin the same way. This parallelism gives a rather mundane voice to the piece. However, it does serve a greater purpose. The repetition of the words “illiterates cannot” portrays the idea that the list of things that illiterate people cannot do is very lengthy, almost as if it is un-ending.
In between paragraphs beginning with “illiterates cannot” there is one that begins “illiterates do not.” This is striking because it disrupts the flow that we were used to (“illiterates cannot”). Since it contrasts the commonly occurring parallelism, the phrase, “do not” is very powerful and implies that they are inherently barred from this action. In this case, it is not that they are lacking the ability, they simply do not, no questions asked.
The repetition of the term “illiterates” also contributes to the overall theme or message of the essay. When I think of the word “illiterate” I think of someone who is very poor and lacking any type of intelligence. Basically, it has a very negative connotation. The author chooses to repeat the word, instead of calling them “people who cannot read” or “nonreader” or “the unread” or “analphabetic.” Perhaps he is commenting on the way the rich and educated view the illiterate. They are grouped together into one, and can be paralleled to the untouchables in the Indian caste system. Maybe that’s a bit severe, but they are somewhat related; both do not truly have a voice in the government (due to lack of knowledge in the illiterates case), and cannot provide for their families with a stable income. Both are looked down upon by other members of society.
Although the parallelism of the opening phrase of many paragraphs is not found throughout the entire essay, it provides the framework for the author’s evidence of his belief that America is not truly a democracy due to the large population of people who are illiterate. It is also striking that he never invokes a shift in the tone; the essay is consistently using phrases such as “illiterates cannot” and “they do not.” This further shows his disappointment in the failure of society to do something to solve the problem of illiteracy.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
College (it's boring but fitting)
Some of us seniors are beyond excited for college, while others wish that senior year would never end. But all of us seem to be dreading the application process, myself included. The common application has made it somewhat easier on us, but almost all schools still include multiple supplement essays. Let’s face it, it’s a drag. The entire application is just searching to find out who you are, and personally, I find it difficult to write about myself. To make it even harder on us, the essays can be no more than 500 words. That is not long enough to lay out my life story or express the depths of my soul, but that’s what they want.
Now let’s talk about expectations. The top colleges expect each of us to be superheroes. We have to save the world (by age 17), get straight A’s while being a top-notch athlete, and have a 2400 SAT score. And it helps a whole lot if you’ve had a major challenge such as a deceased family member or a debilitating disease, and don’t forget about race - minorities win. What are we supposed to do if we’re “normal?” Most of us, kill ourselves with numerous AP classes, tons of community service, along with sports practices and competitions. What do we do in our free time? Oh wait, we don’t have any.
The problem is that everyone knows how high the expectations are, so everyone is looking to do the next best/most impressive thing. Many of us have fed the homeless or built houses in places ravaged by natural disasters. But even with an impressive community service project and stellar grades, how are we supposed to compete with those kids who go to prep schools and win national science contests or take AP Calculus in 5th grade? To a certain extent, we can’t. We have to be crafty with our applications. I personally know two “normal” people who have gotten into IVY league schools, one Harvard, the other Princeton. Both were good academically, but nothing outstanding in the eyes of an IVY admissions officer. When asked, both students said that they believed it was their essay that got them into the university. So I think here is the key, the essay.
An article by the New York Times reported that in 2008 Harvard received a record number of applicants: 27,278. That’s a lot of fierce competitors we have to face. So if our academic achievements don’t set us apart from the average applicant, our essay has to if we’re gonna have a chance at acceptance. The essay is a place where admissions can see and understand our character and the things that matter to us. But it is also a place for us to showcase our accomplishments and brag about our very successful selves. Hopefully, our application essay will make just one person in admissions look twice and think “wow he/she is very unique, we need to have him/her on our campus!” With a strong resume, good test scores, a killer essay, and a some luck, maybe we’ll have a chance at receiving that acceptance letter. Good luck to us all!
Greasy Lake post
Upon finishing Greasy Lake by T.C. Boyle, I was pleasantly surprised and amused. The narrative begins with a humorous opening where the boys are described as “bad” yet hints that they are actually the opposite and quite loserish. A few paragraphs later the author describes the first three nights of their summer, where they go around trying to find something “cool and bad” to do, with no success, so they decide to grab some gin and go up to Greasy Lake. Clearly they had nothing better to do.
In the second paragraph of the narrative, Greasy Lake is described ominously as “fetid and murky” with “broken glass [and] beer cans” foreshadowing the “bad” actions that will follow. The night starts off bad with an innocent prank proposed by Digby. They turned their brights on, honking and laughing hysterically hoping that they would embarrass their friend Tony while he was with a girl. Typical teenage boys. But their prank failed; it wasn’t Tony’s car they were messing with.
Almost immediately, the fight was on. It is told by the narrator in a very humorous way, showing the boys’ lack of bravado and strength. For example, he says that the man’s steel-toed boot “chipped [his] favorite tooth.” It seems that he was more worried about the sentimental value of the tooth, then the actual physical damage.Surprisingly enough the author narrates the fight as if it was entirely one sided. One man seemed to injure three others, with little effort. This is surprising since the first paragraph of the narrative is trying to show that the boys are “bad.”
Then out of nowhere, they find a tire iron and end the fight. Immediately they are scared of being caught for their act. But quickly their attention is turned to a girl the man was with, “the fox.” For some reason, out of all the body parts that could have attracted them, her flashy toenails captivate their attention. Before they could do anything, they are caught like deer in headlights. They run quickly into the woods, just like the brave men they make themselves out to be. Then they find out that the guy they beat up with the tire iron was alive; ah relief. The guy who seemingly came back to life was lucky, Al not so much.
They then return to their car to find that the windshield and the headlights had been completely wrecked. Two girls in a mustang come up to them, drank and out of balance. They ask about Al, but the boys deny knowing anything about him, so as to not explain to these girls that he was the dead man. Lucky for them, they leave the scene without any major tragedies. They also leave just as foolish as they came.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)