Dead people. Not exactly my first choice of topics to read about, but the writing style displayed on the first page, and in fact in the first couple of sentences pulled me in.
Jessica Mitford, the author, describes in this essay the process corpses go through while at the funeral parlor. Her word choice is strong, taking you visually, step by step, through that process. She uses vivid imagery, describing scenes in detail so you can picture it as if you were there.
Considering the topic of the essay, I find the author’s tone quite interesting. Throughout the essay her writing has an air of sarcasm. She is informing the reader of what goes on in a funeral parlor and the process a corpse goes through, but it is almost in a joking way. Her tone seems to indicate that she finds the whole procedure of making a dead person beautiful again then letting the family view them, somewhat ridiculous.
The use of the persuasive appeals is important when trying to effectively get your point across. However, Mitford only uses pathos, the appeal to emotion, and some logos, the appeal to reason. She doesn’t use any ethos, the persuasive appeal of one’s character. She never explains what background she has in this subject; in fact, if it weren’t for the couple of paragraphs before the essay, we would have no clue why she is writing about this topic at all. This essay is good writing but with some ethos it could be stronger than it is now, more powerful, and have a little bit more of an effect on the reader.
Mitford also uses many schemes and tropes to help her convey her point of view. One of the schemes she uses several time is asyndeton, and example of which is, “and is in short order sprayed, sliced, pierced, pickled, trussed, trimmed, creamed, waxed, painted, rouged and neatly dressed…” Anaphora is also uses by Mitford, such as when she writes, “before an autopsy may be performed, before the deceased may be cremated, before the body may be turned over to a medical school for research purposes.” She also uses an oxymoron, which is a trope, when she says “He has done everything in his power to make the funeral a real pleasure for everyone concerned.” The biggest rhetorical device used was the hyperbole, because the whole essay pretty much was one, using exaggerated terms and situations to draw more attention to the topic.
While the topics of death, embalming, and funerals are not the most pleasant topics to discuss. Mitford made them interesting and even a little entertaining. Her tone, word choice, and use of rhetorical devices make this a strong, easy to read piece of writing.
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7 comments:
Nicole,
I loved your post. When you talked about how the author sounded sarcastic, do you think it could be caused by her own fear of death? For example, some people laugh when they get scared, like myself. So maybe she wrote it in that tone to have it be entertaining, or maybe she herself is afraid? (Just a thought.)
Nicole,
I liked that you wrote about something other people didn't, death. The first couple of sentences you wrote made me feel like you were talking not just writing. I agree with what Rachelle said. Maybe the author is afraid of death herself so thats why she decided to write about it.I also read this essay and I thought her tone was a little odd.
When you were talking about the tone being almost opposite to what it should be, it reminded me of the essay Salvation. It was about the author as a young boy waiting to be "saved by Jesus" at his church's revival. The essay was humorous at times when talking about the serious topic of religion. Using humor while discussing serious or scary stories may be an easy or entertaining way to catch the reader's attention
I was the researcher for The American Way of Death Revisited, and lived with Ms. Mitford when she died. She had no fear of death, she was one brave and courageous lady. Her motto was "You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty." She was the Queen of the Muckrakers and her style was to use humor to expose the underlying irrational customs of human behaivor. She had lost two children, so she was quite familiar with loss. www.mitford.org
I just wanted to say that I picked up on the whole sarcasm and hyperbole idea, and I enjoyed the simplicity and ease of reading of your essay.
Having prior knowledge of my weak stomach, I chose not to read this essay, the title alone gave me shivers. I found it somewhat alarming that this piece of writing was simply describing process of which a corpse undergoes in a funeral parlor. It was relieving when you went on to explain the sarcastic tone used by the author. When writing about such a grim topic, the manner in which you write about it makes all the differece. Thanks for including this important detail.
Nicole,
After reading your essay, I more get in the inference the author wants to convey. Dead is the end, why people have to ask for embalming. It is really ridiculous because it is no need for the dead body. If a person die, but his soul is still alive, I think the most important he needs is safe, peace and no more fear. I just imagine one day I have to be treated like that, I'm so scared. Just make the natural rule of life become what it should be, don't do anything because at the end, the dead is still the dead even they are embalmed.
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