Sydney McKissick
Mrs.Vermillion
AP Language and Composition
31 October 2017
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
On her exploration of the body after postmortem, Mary Roach begins the book by attending a medical seminar about the dissection of heads. At the seminar there are forty heads of people who have recently died, draped in white cloth, waiting on the arrival of surgeons. When the heads have been uncovered and the dissections have started, Roach describes the process of objectification. Objectification is taught during the first year of med school in “gross lab” Through this physicians and students learn to think that cadavers are not related to the people that they once were. As the seminar continues Roach begins to understand why the dissection of heads is a new chance for surgeons in all practices to benefit from the chance to practice new procedures and instruments on cadavers because there is not any blood, pain, or danger. This is seen as a great improvement over how doctors …show more content…
The study of ballistics was done on human corpses with the hopes of one day creating non lethal bullets and weapons. Even though it seemed unnecessary and brutal at first, Roach came to terms to that experimentation of ballistics has its humanitarian perks, as well. Roach goes into religion, talking about the inhuman practices by Shroud of Turin, who put the bodies of people on crosses to resemble Jesus Christ, were being used for religious propaganda.
In her next trip she travels to UCSF, to observe the study of a “beating heart cadaver”. H, as Roach calls her, is alive and well but her brain. Roach explains that H is going to give up her liver, kidneys, and heart for an organ harvest. Over the next for hours H’s organs are harvested and eventually. To Roach H was different, as a dead person H was able to make three sick people and well, while most people don’t manage this sort of thing while they are
Mrs.Vermillion
AP Language and Composition
31 October 2017
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
On her exploration of the body after postmortem, Mary Roach begins the book by attending a medical seminar about the dissection of heads. At the seminar there are forty heads of people who have recently died, draped in white cloth, waiting on the arrival of surgeons. When the heads have been uncovered and the dissections have started, Roach describes the process of objectification. Objectification is taught during the first year of med school in “gross lab” Through this physicians and students learn to think that cadavers are not related to the people that they once were. As the seminar continues Roach begins to understand why the dissection of heads is a new chance for surgeons in all practices to benefit from the chance to practice new procedures and instruments on cadavers because there is not any blood, pain, or danger. This is seen as a great improvement over how doctors …show more content…
The study of ballistics was done on human corpses with the hopes of one day creating non lethal bullets and weapons. Even though it seemed unnecessary and brutal at first, Roach came to terms to that experimentation of ballistics has its humanitarian perks, as well. Roach goes into religion, talking about the inhuman practices by Shroud of Turin, who put the bodies of people on crosses to resemble Jesus Christ, were being used for religious propaganda.
In her next trip she travels to UCSF, to observe the study of a “beating heart cadaver”. H, as Roach calls her, is alive and well but her brain. Roach explains that H is going to give up her liver, kidneys, and heart for an organ harvest. Over the next for hours H’s organs are harvested and eventually. To Roach H was different, as a dead person H was able to make three sick people and well, while most people don’t manage this sort of thing while they are