REQUIRED POST
TONE
Guiding questions:
- What is the author’s attitude toward the subject? What emotional sense do you take from it?
- How does diction (choice of words) point to tone?
- How does imagery (vivid descriptions that appeal to the senses) point to tone?
- How does syntax (sentence construction) point to tone?
The author's attitude is almost sarcastic in a way, but I can tell she takes a large interest to the subject. The author's diction points to the tone by creating a perfectly brought together description and explanation of the subject and it's different details. Mary Roach does a very good job of providing imagery in this book in the way that the way she describes what she sees or has experienced is so greatly detailed that it's as if I am there myself following along in the cadaver lab or the hospital morgue and it projects the tone because of the way she describes it, in fascination almost. The book's syntax points to the tone of the book because of the structure of the words and the way they are read/played out by the reader.
ReplyDeleteThe sarcastic attitude of the author is exactly what makes this book fun to read, but I agree with you that the author knows exactly what she is talking about, even making jokes about it.
DeleteI agree the author's sarcastic attitude is very relatable to me thats why i was able to stay interested. Plus the author also made jokes.
DeleteI agree that the author has a scarcastic attiude and is very relatable. I also agree that roach does a great job of using imagery.
DeleteI agree with you she does take a large interest in what she is telling us in the story. It seems as if she has passion and a pleasure in what she does. I completely agree with you! While I was reading the book it felt as if I was there with her traveling and seeing the cadavers being used, smelling them, seeing them, and feeling the ambiance in the rooms where the cadavers were being used.
DeleteI agree that the tone is sarcastic but it can also be serious at the same time. I agree as well that she made great use of imaginary.
DeleteI agree that the author does a great job of explaining the subject, while also using sarcasm to describe the tone which provides the reader with an attitude that keeps them more interested in the book
DeleteI agree, she seems to be very fascinated with life after death. Its almost as she sees that every cadaver has story to tell. She seems to be very comfortable talking about the subject because there are times in the book where she begins to say jokes and uses sarcasm when talking about cadavers. The fact that she is comfortable with this subject makes the text interesting because she explain everything in full detail and everything said is vivid. On the other hand, someone else might write this book and feel as if they are being disrespectful because they are making jokes about the dead. Mary Roach is not ashamed of what she explained in this book.
DeleteYeah even though she frequently makes jokes i can tell that she is very devoted and interested in her subject. She also did a pretty well job of giving you a good description of what she was talking about.
DeleteI agree that the author attitude is sarcastic and that she really did show a great deal of imagery in this book. Also that her experience in the field is greatly detailed.
DeleteI dont think that the author’s attitude is sarcastic. She does make sarcastic jokes every now and then but I think her attitude is realistic and practical without the “squirmishness”. I do agree that Mary Roach provides great imagery in the book when she describes everything in such detail that it feels almost as if we were there. This in turn allows my fascination to grow just as hers is.
DeleteI agree with your statement on how she is very humorous sarcastic when it came to writing this novel. The book is very gruesome in certain parts, and i think she is just trying to lighten the mood.
DeleteMary Roach approached this book with humor and sarcasm, but its also obvious that shes very ecstatic to share her experience in the book. Her choice of words shows that she always took an interest in what she was doing, since she provided many details and put in many of her thoughts. The author did put in many details, which was pointed out before, which says that she didn't want to leave anything out as she wanted us to experience what she did. If I ever felt that the descriptions were too intense, she seemed to put history about what she was learning right where I wouldve put the book down. She made me want to keep on reading the book.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on how Mary Roach approached the book with humor in the perfect spots and also some sarcasm. I think it seemed to lighten the mood so that the reading continued to be enjoyable.
DeleteI agree, the author approached this book with humor and sarcasm. I believe Mary Roach wanted the book to be enjoyable. She wanted to make cadavers sound not boring and disrespectful but fun and useful.
DeleteI entirely agree with you. At sudden points where I thought the book was getting to intense with all the gruesome details. Mary seemed to add a piece of history in it, making me more comfortable. Then on top of all that to make the book even better, there was sarcasum throughout the whole tthing.
DeleteI also agree with you, the author knew when to include sarcasm, jokes, etc. This definitely relived what I believe is a bit disturbing… and helped the reader become more comfortable with the text. Additionally, I do believe the author left out no details at all. I also felt as if I wanted to read on throughout the book, and not put the book down until I finished.
DeleteExactly, Mary Roach approached the sometimes repulsive subjects open-mindedly and was able to keep readers interested with her sarcastic humor. At the same time she was able to provide information and keep us interested.
DeleteThough out this book the author uses jokes.The purpose of the humor in the book is to lighten the mood the book is after all about dead people.The author also uses sarcasm along with the jokes.Besides these thing the tone is serious.She does not change any thing to try to make it more appealing.She states out right what she saw and relates it to other things like how a head is around the same size and weight of a roasted chicken to make it easier to visualize .She also has made the book easy to read there are not a lot of technical terms.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book the author does use a lot of jokes to lighten the mood. She was doing the same thing as the other people who studied with cadavers, or use them in their career: lightening the mood to avoid thinking about the fact that the cadavers being used have families and friends. She does however believe strongly in the use of cadavers for the benefit of science.
DeleteThe purpose of the author using jokes is to distract from the morbidity of the subject of human cadavers, as well as the gory research and topics surrounding them. I agree that the tone remains serious, despite her sarcasm and jokes. Mary Roach is respectful to the cadavers and remains so throughout the story. The book is very easy to understand, especially with the many footnotes she created to further elaborate on some references made and I found that very helpful as well.
DeleteThroughout the whole book the author seemed very excited to inform the reader about all she knows and to tell the reader her stories. Because of this you can really tell that she enjoys what she is talking about and that she knows a great deal about it as well. The author also places a joke in perfect spots all throughout the book in order to lighten the mood of actually reading about dead bodies being dissected. The way the author writes in such detail points to how she is really trying to get the reader to be right there by her side as interested as she is. The way the author also included different mini history lessons about the certain thin that she was taking about really kept me interested in the book. Nothing seemed too overwhelming in the book either, the author wrote with a perfect balance of vivid descriptions, detail, and she successfully added history without boring the reader.
ReplyDeleteI agree this book was never a boring.She has perfectly written the book that informs and make you laugh at the same time.
DeleteI agree the whole book showed excitement. She wrote the book to show fun and interesting things about cadavers. She gives the facts but she gives them making them sound fun and interesting.
DeleteI agree, Stiff always showed excitement. She added a sarcastic tone, making me not want to put the book down. Instead of pointing out long and boring facts, she added a funny, sarcastic tone when she spoke about facts.
DeleteI agree tha the book was never boring or lacking dullness. Roach always knows where to put a perfect joke.
DeleteI agree with you. I think she was genuinely interested in what she was writing which made us interested too. I agree that her use of imagery and descriptions were the perfect amount to keep us into the book.
DeleteI agree, Mary Roach has shows excitement when she wrote the book. She does show lots of interest in this particular subject and found an interesting way to inform the readers so that they too can learn about cadavers and what they do.
DeleteHer book was a mix of humor and serious facts; she blended them together fairly well. She is very vivid with every description of a body; she describes everything from the lack of eyes to the bubbling liquid of the former brain in the cadaver's throat. She wanted to show the reader that the use of cadavers in education is much more used now, and people should open up to the idea of giving their body for the benefit of science so that cadavers can continue to be used in education and experimentation.
ReplyDeleteI 125% agree with you good sir. Ms./Mrs. Mary Roach did a good job of mixing this book with humor and serious facts. While reading this book I was able to get to know human cadavers and their uses. But I also was able to smile (I really didn't think the book was really funny to me; no offense to Ms./Mrs. Mary Roach) once or twice in each chapter (more or less).
DeleteI agree with you Mary Roach did keep my interest in the book by blending humor and serious facts. While was reading the text I learn more bout human cadavers then I new before. She really made me more comfortable with the subject of human cadavers.
DeleteI believe that throughout the whole book the author makes the story sounds interesting. Remember at the introduction, she wrote that some people thought that using cadavers for experiments was boring and disrespectful. But in the stories she makes everything sound fun and interesting. her humorous words in the story lighten the mood of people who thought there was nothing good about cadavers. she gives you the facts but she put it in the fun and interesting parts. This is the kind if things that makes people want to read a book the fun and interesting parts. I never thought I would read a book about cadavers that is fun and interesting. But Mary Roach showed me that book.
ReplyDeleteI think it's completely true that her humor lightens up the overall tone and mood. She makes it sound as if working with human cadavers are fun and interesting while making jokes about them. She even gives some cadavers some personification in some instances which makes you believe that some would have reactions to what they are doing to them.
DeleteUsually, death isn't a topic someone would want to laugh and talk about but the way Mary Roach writes takes away the depressing part away and adds a little comedy which makes the book easier to read. Roach seems quite curious about what happens to the cadavers and dead bodies. The author uses imagery very well when describing the cadavers. She described being dead as "unsightly and stinky and embarrassing" then she goes on to say "there's not a damn thing to be done about it", her choice of words here shows how she sees death: Absurd and "the silliest situation you'll find yourself in."
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that the author tries do distract the attention from the main topic, cadavers, by using jokes and sarcasm.
DeleteI completely side with what you're saying. Just as Roach was curious and interested in what she was researching, I was as well, it was contagious. She tried to stay away from sounding like the books that just drag on with excessive information.
Deletei agree with you in that Mary Roach adds comedy (and a bit of sarcasm) to her book to make it less depressing, and more of an interesting read. I also agree with you about her choice of words, basically saying that death is just a "silly situation", and not scary.
DeleteI agree completely. Instead of writing something depressing and something that will bore you, she added some type of spark to it (including sarcasm), making you more excited about the book.
DeleteI agree with you completely. Death itself is never a fun topic to talk about, but Mary Roach and her writing skills allows the book to be fun and interesting where it does make it easier for the reader to enjoy and learn about it.
DeleteThe author attitude about the subject is to research and learn from it. At the beginning of the book I was feeling a bit sad but after some time reading the book it just turned a normal or neutral subject, cadavers. I think the selection of the words dictates the mood of the book, in this case she tried to use jokes to distract the reader from the real topic which is death and cadavers. The vivid descriptions make the sense of the book more realistic. In this case the sentence construction dictates if the book is going to be boring or not, I think the writer made a really good job by trying to maintaining a same size sentence on all of the paragraphs.
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DeleteI didn't really think of the book in that way until reading your response. For example, I was reading the beginning of chapter 9 and I was like "WTF?!?!?!?!?!", but after reading further into the chapter I felt as if it was something normal like I was reading a newspaper.
DeleteI agree with you the author’s does use jokes to distract us from the fact that the book is all about corpses. Overall I think that because she did this it makes the book more likeable and less disturbing to read.
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ReplyDeleteThe author’s attitude varies from serious to funny. Roach uses a very heavy and unpopular subject and makes it a light and interesting topic to read. The diction points to the tone, she uses silly everyday words as well as scientific words. Roach uses vivid words to describe the horrific scenes in the book to the point that it made me sick to the stomach. The syntax points to the tone because it is easy to read and understand her writing pointing back to her light and sometimes comical tone.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach's attitude about death is surprisingly not depressing. She approaches the topic with a lot of interest, and never allows the book to be boring, and if it becomes to gory or unpleasant, she quickly finds a way to liven it up, be it jokes, or a slight bit of sarcasm. Throughout the book I am sad at some parts, but mostly interested, and neutral. Mary Roach's diction points to tone by using words that show that she is interested in her topic. Her imagery points to her tone by detailing what she sees, and in very vivid detail, explains everything as it happens. Her syntax points to tone when she separates important events in sentences, and makes it so that the book never becomes boring, the author keeps the book interesting and fun to read, it never becomes too hard to read, and shows here interesting and slightly sarcastic tone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you the author’s tone of the book is really surprising because it was not depressing. It was actually unusual in a way that makes you want to read more and a little funny too. Overall I think that the way that the author presented the book was very interesting.
DeleteThe attitude isn't as depressing as I thought. The way her tone was made me interested in reading more and funny too. The author made this book something I would like to read more about.
DeleteI somewhat agree with you, I was very surprised by the fact that this book was not at all depressing but in fact very interesting at that. I actually did find that some parts of the book were difficult to read and understand so disagree with you on that.
DeleteI also somewhat agree with you, the book was not depressing as I thought it would be. Mary Roach did shows lots of interest about the subject of human cadavers. But also like Estrella I found some parts of the book were hard to read.
DeleteThe author’s tone towards the subject is fond of sarcasm because, the author writes in a way that almost seems sarcastic. As a result of this use of tone, the author makes the book appear as a good-humored and interesting to read. Additionally, we can find out that the author uses sarcasm by her choice of words. Furthermore, we can also discover that the author uses sarcasm by reading the author’s vivid descriptions. As well, as by reading the way the syntax is written we can find out that the use of sarcasm is also used because of the structural elements in the phrases the author uses points to sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteThough she does have the repetitive use of sarcasm, I find it most interesting how her sarcasm is not really used to shame cadavers, but more like to create a lively atmosphere for the reader since death is such a gloomy and dark topic.
DeleteThe author's attitude about the human cadavers is not depressing, instead: humorous, informative and sarcastic. the tone made me rather interested than sad, the subject was rather normal to me since many of my companions are going into or are in the medical field. The selection of her words creates a presentable brought out description and explanation about cadavers and adds her humor and sarcasm to interest the readers. The vivid descriptions make the story realistic (and some may get lost in thought). The author did not overwhelm the readers with the various descriptions and explanations, she wrote in a proportional balance of vivid description, humorous and sarcastic remarks, and added interesting history.
ReplyDeleteThe authors attitude about a human cadaver is conversational, it makes the reader feel as if they are directly talking to one another about human cadavers.The emotional sense I was able to take from this novel was the fact that I got to see cadaver's in a different way. The choice of words she uses are often words you'll use to describe a friend or even a "hero". She ironical describes a cadaver as someone would describe a person who is alive. Imagery plays a big role throughout the novel, especially when she's discussing her personal experiences. The text has a nice flow to it and is very clear and vivid. Reader's are able to connect with the novel, because of the humor and sarcasm Mary shares throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteDeatth is no laughing matter, but the way Mary approacches it she makes readers feel commfortable to be reading it not only havinng a humourous attitude throughout the book. But also having respect for the subject makinng the topipc intresting. The choice of words creates a presentable description on cadavers, and uses humor to make it intresting to continue reading. The vivid descriptions made the book more believable or realistic. Not over dramatic. Sentence construction was well pput together, making readers actually want to continue on.
ReplyDeleteThat is incredibly true, Mary Roach has a unique way of writing that she manages to somehow make such a controversial subject, seem understandable, almost even acceptable and without ever depriving it of its respect.
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DeleteCouldn't have said it better myself, Roach's is an incredible author to even be able mange writing about such a strong topic (death) and even be able to incorporate humor into. I feel she deserve a round of applause.For writing such a well-thought out book.
DeleteMary Roach, her attitude in this book is somewhat funny and sarcastic but it is more informative and detailed. This book is interesting in my opinion. The diction points to the tone by the author using a good amount of amount of vocabulary but it is also understandable. The imagery in this book points to the tone by her vivid descriptions and her accurate detail; which makes you feel like you are with Ms. Mary Roach on her travels. The way the author constructs her sentences were limited but she was still able to inform us about the important facts about the human cadaver.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the way she writes is entertaining. Her sarcastic yet funny tone eases the mind from the cadavers and let's you focus on the information. She makes it seem so interesting and it just makes it an easy read in my opinion.
DeleteThe book does make for an easy-but-still-informative read. Mary Roach writes in a calm and collected voice that won't stress the reader out as they read about the nice and gooey parts of a human's body that escape from their insides after they've been dismembered.
DeleteRoach's attitude in Stiff, is somewhat sarcastic (which makes the book more fun to read) but at the same time she seems really interested in the subject. Roach's choice of words point out that she is very interested about this subject, and she provided a well thought out explanation for everything using vivid details. Roach did amazing at providing imagery, as i read the book i imagined everything due to her amazing description. Everything was well thought out.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach in "Stiff" adds sarcasm and humor yet it still shows she is fascinated by the subject of human cadavers. Her choice of words shows, as I said above, her sarcasm in the story. Roach writes very vividly in "Stiff". When she writes about where she is and what she doing and what she's looking at its like your there with her experiencing everything she's doing. The syntax points to the tone because the story is not difficult to read or understand instead the tone makes you want to keep the reading and makes you want to learn more about the subject.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, her tone and choice of words shows her fascination and great interest towards the topic. I also often felt like I was right there with her through her many experiences as I was reading.
DeleteThe author has a very serious yet playful tone during the whole book. She must be serious because she is talking about cadavers and that can be a touchy subject but at the same time she tries to keep the mood light by using her sarcastic tone throughout the book. I think that her end notes that she uses once in a while really brings out her more humorous side because it tends to be more uplifting while the context of the book is a little dryer. Her diction also points to her more serious side because her vocabulary is very hard to decipher sometimes but it is appropriate for the subject and text. When she writes she is extremely descriptive. Sometimes a little to descriptive that it gets kind of gruesome. But she uses imagery very often and she uses it well which really helps understand the book more.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach’s attitude towards the subject could be considered forthright, since she doesn't hesitate with her thoughts, and opinions regarding the subject of cadavers and goes straight to the point. Though she is blunt with her words and spices up her writing with humor, she still has a constant attitude of reverence, due to never bringing down cadavers in a negative manner.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, especially in the fact that Mary Roach is forthright and blunt with her writing, which is a rarity especially when writing about topics like cadavers.
DeleteI agree. It feels as if she just wrote and wrote and didn't really stop to think about what she was writing because of how interesting the topi is to her. She always talks about cadavers as a good thing, never badly.
DeleteMary Roach’s attitude in the book was humorous at times. It’s a good thing to be a bit humorous due to the fact that it deals with people who are dead. Since she puts a bit of humor it allows people to not feel so sad in a way. Her diction is very well thought out as and it points to tone because it describes the subject of the book well. Imagery helps point out to tone because it has you picturing that you yourself are involved in watching the cadavers as they are being researched and it’s interesting. The syntax points out to tone because there was never a moment where it was just sad because once again you’re dealing with a dead person. She jokes around and puts them exactly where they should be put on top of that she used historical facts that also helped.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes, and yes. I agree that humor is definitely needed when discussing a topic that involves dead people, as it enlightens the mood and keeps the book entertaining. Humor is in all the right places in the book, to provide a comic relief to ease the mood of a dead guy getting nailed to a cross.
DeleteThe author is interested and curious yet blunt and humorous about the subject. She doesn't sugar code the experiences or the stories told in the book, considering some may be viewed as unpleasant or disgusting. She uses direct diction to make imagery of what is occurring, for instance in the chapter, 'How to Know If You are Dead' such detail is used that the reader can feel as if they are along side the author witnessing the fresh cadaver having its organs taken out by the doctor. Despite her directness she uses her sarcastic humor to entertain the reader and keep the experiences relatable, by expressing her inner feelings of the procedure she witnesses, the people she meets, and even sharing rather embarrassing moments with the readers that most authors might not share.
ReplyDeleteThe author (Mary Roach) certainly approached the topic with a relatable tone. Her humor and metaphors to everyday things helps readers understand where she is coming from. The diction in the book always seem to be as if she is speaking to you rather than just reading a written story. She uses plenty of imagery to portray her experiences usually through sights and smells. One of the ways she appealed to the sense of smell is when she was at the University of Tennessee's Anthropological Research Facility and the person she was with describes the sense of smell of a certain phase of decomposition as "chicken soup". The syntax is in such a way that flows and makes it easy to read.
ReplyDeleteThe author's attitude toward the subject is curious, serious, informative, and humorous. She jokes a lot throughout the book to entertain the reader, while informing. The emotional sense that I take from it is unpleasant, yet hysterical. Mary takes advantage of diction to change the readers aspect of the story and provide as much detail as possible to make them feel as if they had first hand experience with the cadavers as she did. The imagery that the author implements in the story causes the reader to feel as if they are actually there and seeing what she is doing in there mind. It makes the reader pause for a second just to comprehend what they have just read. The author's syntax is easy to comprehend, it allows the reader to continuously read without having to stop, which coordinates with the tone. The tone also causes the reader to keep on reading and not stopping.
ReplyDeleteI agree, she definitely jokes a lot in the book. It is even one of the most highlighted thing about the book. This is good, because it helps keep a good mood when discussing cadavers.
DeleteI also agree with this, I didn't know it was possible to make a novel about cadavers without boring you to death. Roach made it possible by adding humor and sarcasm to the novel.
DeleteMary Roach really does joke around a lot in the book, but I feel like it is to keep the mood light and not have it all be about cadavers and dead people. Plus she probably added humor to keep readers entertained.
DeleteThe author's tone in this book is serious, informative. but also at times humorous. Her choice of words while detailed are not filled with medical term making it readable to the average person. This helps keeps the tone light on a very serious subject. Her very vivid description of the human head in chapter one is a great example of this, "The heads have been put in roasting pans-which are of the disposable aluminum variety-for the same reason chickens are put in roasting pans: to catch the drippings." This shows how she takes a solemn subject and by describing it in detail keeps the tone light by comparing to how we handle chickens for baking. By keeping the sentences short and easy to read it kept the tone light and makes for a very quick, easy read.
ReplyDeleteThe author makes the subject fascinating and humorous for the readers, she is very enthusiastic about performing all this research on cadavers, as she voluntarily goes and sees how most things are experimented with, as well as describes it in great detail. Her diction makes her interested and wanting to learn more about how cadavers are used as military test dummies, or how bodies rot over time. Her imagery also very much describes how she did not mind most of the stuff that I, personally, would find eerie and maybe a little gross. She constructs her sentences in a way that puts important information first, and usually little humor in the end.
ReplyDeleteThe author’s tone is very positive and determined. Roach maintains an unusual attitude throughout the book. She shows her fascination towards the topic through her vivid choice of words and descriptions. She eases into the topic at the beginning of each chapter to more or less tell you a little bit of history related to the research. She puts her thoughts into the text as is mentioned above. She tries to include all the information and makes sure not even the slightest detail is left out. Her vivid descriptions provide readers with almost perfect images of what she sees and shows her desire for you to “step into her shoes“ as she continues to discover. She uses jokes and sarcasm throughout the text to keep the readers interested and entertained. She is usually straight and to the point, often providing additional key information to make sure that the reader has fully understood her writing. Her passion towards the topic is fascinating and continued to always make me want to read on.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book “Stiff” the author is extremely engaged into her writing. She seems to be very interested on the topic and is able to keep a positive message throughout the book. She almost makes you feel as if you were there with her by providing radiant descriptions, which help you picture what she is seeing (imagery). Throughout the book, the author fascinates you with the history and facts while at the same time throws in occasional jokes and sarcasm. This was mostly to keep the readers as engaged into the subject as she is, and only makes you want to read on. Roach is very good with providing readers with all her knowledge to show her large interest in what she is writing. Mary roach wants readers to understand human cadavers, major discoveries and the contribution to society. With the book “Stiff”, she kept the readers very interested and entertained with knowledge and fascinating pieces of history. I definitely feel she got her point across right on point through this spectacular book.
ReplyDeleteI think that Mary Roach takes this subject very seriously. Even though she may joke around from time to time, she still gets her point across about cadavers. Her diction also contributes in helping the reader understand what she is trying to say. Also the details throughout the book give the reader a better understanding of what she is experiencing (imagery). Along with that, her syntax made the book more simplistic with the way it was detailed and constructed
ReplyDeleteThe author's diction is somewhat comical, but you can still tell she is interested in the subject. It seems as if she wants to entertain you, while keeping you well knowledgeable about cadavers and their help in science. She might go as far as comparing ordinary objects with human parts like the heads being made out of wax, this helps her imagery seem more vivid and gross. She also tries to wedge her opinions -like this- into her book. She tries to keep your attention with interesting facts, but it also seems as if she's not that scared of the cadavers, and she can focus at the task at hand.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach writes in a humor tone to help readers relax about the subject. However, she keeps the book interesting by giving hard facts about the human cadavers. Her diction is helpful in ways that explains the science of human cadavers in entertaining way for her readers to understand and stay interested in the book. The imagery of the book gave Mary time to bring back the serious side of the text by giving detailed or elaborate descriptions of what happen to the human cadavers. The syntax made most of the chapters in the book easy to read.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach's attitude towards the subject of human cadavers and the research done upon them, and with them, is joking and sarcastic, yet she remains respectful. The emotional sense that I took from this novel and felt was as if I was listening to stand up comedy; I was thoroughly entertained during the entire novel but I also felt that I was really informed about the nature of cadaver research. Her diction is simple and easy to understand, as she does not use any incredibly difficult to understand words; it points to the tone with her choice of jokes and side remarks, yet remains a clear example of her knowledge of the subject of cadavers and is informative to the readers. The imagery is very vivid and gives you a clear image of her personal experience with cadavers and those researching them; she provides often humorous descriptions of the bodies in order to keep the tone light. Her syntax was also simple and easy to understand and whenever referencing anything that the reader may not understand she always made sure to later explain, or provide a helpful footnote that further explained the concept.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach was humorous and made the book more interesting and understandable. I like the fact that she didn’t seem uptight about it. She’s straight to the point and she uses words that make the topic more comprehensible. She described everything as she saw it because she wanted us to experience it the way she did. She added jokes, but nothing too harsh or insulting. Her sarcasm was very slight and I really like the fact that she included history in the text. The history compares and contrasts the past with the present.
ReplyDeleteThe authors attitude especially in the ending, is emotion but she still jokes around. In the entire book though, you can really see that she loves to talk about the subject of cadavers. If not first off she would have never written the book and second she wouldn't have spent so much time researching facts. The imagery comes into play here because it really is used to captivate the reader and help you want to keep on reading the book. The sentence construction made it easy to read the book because it wasn't super long sentences with no pauses or small little sentences. It points to tone because normally the middle long sentences are just calm writing.
ReplyDeleteI agree, she seems really devoted about researching the cadavers and sharing her opinion on the matter. I especially liked the sentence construction throughout the book because it didn't seem formulated (like textbooks), but natural and interesting.
DeleteThe way the author narrates the story is the big cherry on top on the ice cream sundae. Roach is witty, sarcastic, humorous, and yet all while being respectful while speaking about the cadavers. Her choice of words when speaking about the cadavers with the scientists made it seem like she had respect towards everybody - even the cadavers (as seen in Dead Man Driving when she felt it was rude to leave UM 006 alone in the room when her and the others went for lunch). The author definitely used her experience to her advantage and created a very vivid image when reading. Sometimes I would feel the need to stop reading for a few minutes to compose myself and started to feel nauseated since it felt like I was in her shoes at the time. The vivid imagery is amazing yet disturbing, but it definitely made the book more interesting. The syntax used when writing the novel was very realistic. She included her opinion and used footnotes when she felt the need to, which really helped me understand the concept better. She usually gets to the point quickly and could be blunt about it at times, but her way of writing seemed natural and not formulated.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach attitude toward cadavers is respectfulness in a humorous dignified way. This makes the reader fell that she really shows respect to each cadaver and to each person she meets. Her description of the scene made it feel like i was there with her and each image that she made help the reader understand the story more. Her sentence construction made the reader laugh and really went well with the tone of each chapter she also used footnotes when she wanted the reader to learn something. She made her opinions humorous and dignifying to the cadavers.
ReplyDeleteThe author wrote this book with vivid descriptions at some points of the book she also described what she felt and that brought the story to life life if we where there.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach’s attitude toward the subject of dead bodies is straightforward and practical but has touch of sympathy in order not to drive readers away. Her tone expresses sympathy, humor, and practicality, which is what makes the book enjoyable. Most of the imagery and descriptions are of corpses and and decomposition. Like when she compared the worms feeding on the body to “Rice Krispies”. Again it has some humor but it is mostly to describe the unsightly postmortem body. Many times throughout the book Roach switches between the past and her present. She switches to inform the readers on why she may be in that place or to inform them about the science and history behind it.
ReplyDelete-Meyling Yi
I would say that the author takes the subject of this book fairly seriously and no fear of giving to much information. You can relate this to a YouTube series call “The Vault” it’s about one person and their secret to be able to solve what puzzle they need to solve, he needs to know what his secret is. You can take a very discrete sense of anticipation almost that the author lies out throughout the text. The choice of words in this book is really simple yet almost over whelming because you understand the text but it is very challenging to put the puzzle together, almost like foreshadowing. I definably think this text has a bunch of imagery that tells the gory story behind research in the earlier days. It’s almost laid out in a way in which a scientist would put it, first they start out just studying dead heads, then they move on to live people, which sets a tone of progression throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteThe author takes the book very seriously but also is very sarcastic at some points and has an I don't care attitude. She speaks her mind and talks about people in her head. And when she asks people why they chose this job, why are they interested in it, or why are they taking this course she is never quiet satisfied with there answers. She also makes this book kind of humorous at some points.
ReplyDeleteWhat emotional sense do you take from it? Mary has a bit of a sarcastic attitude towards the topic. There is some hints of saddened tones, but of course she covered most of it with humor. Like I mentioned, this is a generally funny book about sad things. Though at the same time she keeps the book solely on the stories, not so much about of her opinion. (Though it was still there, of course.) She keeps the stories serious, out of respect. Her words are punctual and informed, providing some sense in how knowledgable she is. She keeps the wording interesting, but not to the point where you need to be looking up every definition for every word. The imagery in the story stays pretty in tone with the general tone of the book. Most imagery is pretty gruesome and chilling, but it is still kept serious non the less. There are still some pretty humorous sceneries in the book, but the majority just gives you the chills. (Technically that is kept in tone? I mean, this isn't a very "happy" book. It is intensionally gloomy, with the occasional dark humor here and there. So really the imagery is in tone with the story.)
ReplyDeleteThe author’s attitude toward the subject is humor and sarcasm. She’s very enthusiastic about telling her experience and explaining us how cadavers works. She gives her opinion throughout the book to keep the readers attention. She’s very vivid with description and doesn’t leave any information out. Her selection of words depends on the mood. When she’s talking about death she adds a bit humor to it. She successfully wrote the book without boring the readers. She has a perfect balance of history, information about cadavers, vivid descriptions, and a few interesting facts.
ReplyDeleteThe author's attitude toward the subject of human cadavers is serious in the fact that she is very observant, but she also adds a sense of humor as well with the disgusting/grotesque, and even ridiculous experiences that she had. She views the cadavers more as objects not as a body of a person who was "perviously alive". However she still has respect because it is still a human body and she takes consideration for what that person would have wanted their body treated like after they died. In this way the emotional sense is numb in a sense as she doesn't treat the body like an actual person, but it is still respectful. As far as diction, she uses more meaningful/emotional word choices when she is describing the actual living humans that the bodies used to be. However, when she is talking about the cadavers she adds a sense of dark humor and strays away from the emotional effect. Throughout the book the author uses alot of imagery to describe how some of the bodies where grotesque, and she describes the dissections to give information on anatomy. For example, she describes a student poking a gushy "yolk-colored" blob of fat from the cheek which she later mentioned is the "malar fat pad" (the youthful padding on the cheekbone), that surgeons try to reposition in facelifts. So overall the tone is not serious, its humorous, and gross, but still observant. In the book, the writer's syntax does not include many run-ons or complex sentences, which strays away from the ordinary "informational book on anatomy". She is delivering her message in a way that is less serious and more easy to understand, but still very useful.
ReplyDeleteHer attitude in this book towards the information is somewhat funny and sarcastic but it is more informative and detailed. This book is interesting in my opinion. The vocabulary used in the book is vast but understandable. The imagery in this book points to the tone by her vivid descriptions and her accurate detail; which makes you feel like you are with her on the travel. The way the author constructs her sentences were limited but she was still able to inform us about the important facts about the human cadaver.
ReplyDeleteMary Roach seeks to share a humorous but respective tone towards carcasses, at all times avoiding the otherwise inevitable connotation of melancholy that death and the dead may evoke. With diction on her side, she uses seemingly easy-to-understand words, yet not so much as to strip the novel of its artistry. She structures sentences in an active voice, as opposed to a passive one, generating an almost indifferent tone. She unquestionably makes the most of imagery, not hesitating to describe the “series of decomposing bodies in the charnel ground, starting with a body ‘swollen and blue and festering,’ progressing to one ‘being eaten by… different kinds of worms,’ and moving on to a skeleton, ‘without flesh and blood, held together by the tendons’” (Roach 69).
ReplyDeleteI think the author uses humor and sarcasm to lighten the mood of the carcasses. The choice of words are put together nicely made by the description and different details. The imagery makes it so that we see as if we are in the book observing the cadavers in the lab. Syntax points to the tone because of the way the words are structured.
ReplyDeleteThe author’s attitude toward the subject of anatomy and cadavers is that she was trying to have humor with this topic because her readers could easily be sickened by the topic, and she wanted to approach it with humor and sarcasm to lighten the mood. I take that the author probably felt sick looking at dead bodies, but wanted to have a sense of humor or try to uplift herself so she doesn’t have to demonstrate her being sick. She did state that a couple times in the novel that she didn’t want to leave details out, so that we could experience exactly what she did. There were a couple moments where the story got a little too gruesome for my taste, and I had to skip a page or two so I didn’t feel ill.
ReplyDeleteThe author, Mary Roach, was taking a humorous approach towards getting her point across. It was a delicate topic as well as a gross one. Her main goal was to not completely gross the readers out and have them actually comprehend the topic. The author shared her opinions as well as insight about her mother's death and how she would feel if her mother was the cadaver. She also went into the topic of remembering that the cadavers were previously living people. She uses a large amount of imagery when describing her surroundings and the work of the science students.
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