What type of essay is Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain?
Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain is a descriptive essay. Descriptive essays revolve around an author describing something, whether that be an object place or in this case Jessica Mitford describing the routine of a funeral home concerning how they prepare and present a corpse.
What method(s) of developing an argument or organizational pattern(s) has Mitford used in the essay?
Jessica Mitford primarily uses the process organizational pattern to structure the essay, as the work revolves around the process of embalming and presenting a corpse. For example, Mitford starts her explanation of the process, with the laying out of the body, the removal of blood, and then pumped full of embalming …show more content…
In the first two paragraphs, the author switches from either dark humor, to dry exposition. The humor can be seen in the sarcastic joke “Alas, poor Yorick...Memory Picture”. In which the author both introduces the subject of the essay and comments on the changing times and practices of burials. The dry exposition can be seen in the second paragraphs as the writer discusses the process of embalming and it’s relationship with morticians.
Why do you think Mitford goes into so much grisly detail? How does it serve her purpose?
Mitford’s essay serves to persuade the reader against the unnatural processes we use to prepare and present the deceased. To do this she goes into the grisly details as a method of persuading the audience of her point of view and defaming the practices. When Mitford discusses the Suntones used of the body such as “Suntan, Special Cosmetic Tint… and Regular Cosmetic Tint” it sounds perverse and insulting. This results in us dismissing the practices.
What is the effect of calling the body Mr. Jones (or Master Jones)?
The effect of giving the body a name is to ensure the humanity is kept intact. It allows us to emphasize or feel for the corpse. The personification, of the body, ensure the audience remembers that all the ghastly things done to the corpse, may one day be done to
Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain is a descriptive essay. Descriptive essays revolve around an author describing something, whether that be an object place or in this case Jessica Mitford describing the routine of a funeral home concerning how they prepare and present a corpse.
What method(s) of developing an argument or organizational pattern(s) has Mitford used in the essay?
Jessica Mitford primarily uses the process organizational pattern to structure the essay, as the work revolves around the process of embalming and presenting a corpse. For example, Mitford starts her explanation of the process, with the laying out of the body, the removal of blood, and then pumped full of embalming …show more content…
In the first two paragraphs, the author switches from either dark humor, to dry exposition. The humor can be seen in the sarcastic joke “Alas, poor Yorick...Memory Picture”. In which the author both introduces the subject of the essay and comments on the changing times and practices of burials. The dry exposition can be seen in the second paragraphs as the writer discusses the process of embalming and it’s relationship with morticians.
Why do you think Mitford goes into so much grisly detail? How does it serve her purpose?
Mitford’s essay serves to persuade the reader against the unnatural processes we use to prepare and present the deceased. To do this she goes into the grisly details as a method of persuading the audience of her point of view and defaming the practices. When Mitford discusses the Suntones used of the body such as “Suntan, Special Cosmetic Tint… and Regular Cosmetic Tint” it sounds perverse and insulting. This results in us dismissing the practices.
What is the effect of calling the body Mr. Jones (or Master Jones)?
The effect of giving the body a name is to ensure the humanity is kept intact. It allows us to emphasize or feel for the corpse. The personification, of the body, ensure the audience remembers that all the ghastly things done to the corpse, may one day be done to