“Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros was written in 1983. Sandra Cisneros grew up in Chicago in a poor neighborhood. You have to read her other book named “House of Mango Street” to know that. The book “Eleven” is about when she turned eleven and she describes the different feelings she gets it and seems very overwhelming to her. She goes into great detail about this sweater her mean old teacher forced her to wear on her birthday and it made her cry in front of the whole classroom until finally someone claimed the ugly sweater. “Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one.” Sandra uses this simile in comparison
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People in our world today are more sensitive than they were back then about death because back then death happened so much. Everyone got used to how they felt when someone died. The average life expectancy back in the 1800’s was 30 years in every country, it has now risen to 70 years old over the past century. It was very rare for someone to survive a cold, now you don’t even need medicine to get over a cold. Our world has become so advanced, there are machines that can keep people 's hearts and lungs beating for them. “We noticed that before the death of my father you and your representative used the words “loved one” to refer to him. That was comfortable for us, even if the ways in which we loved him were complicated.” This a quote from the fourth paragraph in “Letter to a Funeral Parlor.” The family was not used to hearing the world “cremains” come out of someone 's mouth referring to a loved dead person. To me personally, I would feel very disrespected. Just think about it, this family is grieving. Lydia Davis is having a hard time accepting her father 's death and then this representative who looked “respectful and friendly” turned out not so respectful and friendly, how would you react? The author compared the word “cremains” to “porta potti” and “pooper-scooper” because those words have “jovial rings” to them but cremains doesn’t have a cheerful ring to it. It’s just a plain word. She complains to the funeral parlor that her father would not appreciate the word at all because he was a english professor and he would consider it a “portmanteau word.” I honestly would suggest him using the word ashes as well because it is more common. I agree with the author, cremains sounds more like something invented as a milk substitute for coffee. I wouldn’t have written a letter to the funeral parlor personally but I would let his boss know how he is approaching grieving
People in our world today are more sensitive than they were back then about death because back then death happened so much. Everyone got used to how they felt when someone died. The average life expectancy back in the 1800’s was 30 years in every country, it has now risen to 70 years old over the past century. It was very rare for someone to survive a cold, now you don’t even need medicine to get over a cold. Our world has become so advanced, there are machines that can keep people 's hearts and lungs beating for them. “We noticed that before the death of my father you and your representative used the words “loved one” to refer to him. That was comfortable for us, even if the ways in which we loved him were complicated.” This a quote from the fourth paragraph in “Letter to a Funeral Parlor.” The family was not used to hearing the world “cremains” come out of someone 's mouth referring to a loved dead person. To me personally, I would feel very disrespected. Just think about it, this family is grieving. Lydia Davis is having a hard time accepting her father 's death and then this representative who looked “respectful and friendly” turned out not so respectful and friendly, how would you react? The author compared the word “cremains” to “porta potti” and “pooper-scooper” because those words have “jovial rings” to them but cremains doesn’t have a cheerful ring to it. It’s just a plain word. She complains to the funeral parlor that her father would not appreciate the word at all because he was a english professor and he would consider it a “portmanteau word.” I honestly would suggest him using the word ashes as well because it is more common. I agree with the author, cremains sounds more like something invented as a milk substitute for coffee. I wouldn’t have written a letter to the funeral parlor personally but I would let his boss know how he is approaching grieving