Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain

Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain, an excerpt by Jessica Mitford describes the process in which a body is embalmed. The embalming process happens every day to someone who has become deceased. The excerpt that Mitford describes about the embalming process goes into every little detail about how the corpus becomes embalmed. From the time a corpus should be embalmed for when a body becomes deceased, then onto the process of the fluids and other items to prepare the corpus, and lastly when the body is being placed in the coffin for the corpus to be view.

            When Mitford is describing the process where the body is getting prepared for the embalming stage, she lists all the tools that the embalmer is going to use in the morgue. Mitford mentions that a lot of the tools used are very similar to what a surgeon uses in a operating room. Mitford says that the first step in the embalming process is to drain the blood from the body. When she was describing this part of the process, I immediately thought of a vampire. I thought of a vampire draining the blood out of someone. Later on in the embalming process, Mitford describes how the mouth and eyes get sewed together. When this part was being described, a zombie popped in my head. Hocus Pocus, a Disney movie, does a great job at showing a zombie. When reading Mitford’s excerpt, I started think about different Halloween characters when she was describing the embalming process. But, when Mitford started talking about the corpus being put in a casket and people coming to view the body, I thought about my own experiences with going to funerals. I was think about those time when I had to say my finally good bye to the people I loved.    

The whole embalming process, in my opinion, is a gross and disturbing. How someone can do this to a body blows my mind. I know that I could not do this but I am glad that someone can. At least that someone can do this, so that family and friends can see their love ones. When the viewing is allowed, this is our time to say our last good bye to our love ones. If the embalming process was not around now, I do not think that we could have funerals. The embalming process is a very essential thing to have when someone becomes deceased.

By: Brittany B

The Beauty of Color

In Diane Ackerman article, " Why leaves Turn Color in the fall", (1990) She focused on the beauty of fall and what all in goes through. She gave me very descriptive examples that made a clear version of what exactly she was talking about such as; red- winged blackbird or goldfinch perching. Doing so made the words on the paper come to life in my mind. Ackerman's purpose is to explain the scientific process of leases changing colors in a poetic fashion, in order to teach others how this process happens.

            Overall I was confused with the concept of the paper. Ackerman format was very hard to understand from how she moved for one thought to another. It was written in a poetry type setting which made it even harder since I really don’t have a fond for poetry. I do love the Fall season. It’s my favorite season of the year because of how cool the weather is and the colorful leaves that fall on the ground. I always thought that this season was called fall because of the symbolic of the leaves falling on the floor but after reading this article I was informed that it originated from the Old English word feallan and it means to fall. The season Fall is beautiful and peaceful. 

        By: Marlene. B

Rolling Stones

‘That’s How I Roll” by Ginny Donaldson (2009) is a short look at some of the phrases and anecdotes that are used in language today, defining there origins. Donaldson backs up assertions made in the opening exchanges with facts about the phrase “That’s How I Roll”, and its growth from 50,000,000 links to 56,200,000 in just over one day. Donaldson then goes on to give more examples taken as quotes from the Internet, often using clever pieces of information from her own life to back up claims and strengthen points. The purpose of this piece would be to inform; it does not make conclusive findings about the origins of a phrase. But while it does not conclude definitively about the origins of such phrases, it does help the audience to understand their place in language today.

            My initial response to this essay was that of enjoyment. I enjoyed the quotes given to back up claims about slang or a certain phrase expanding in our language. The quote “we created our own language by altering the language we already know and called it slang” is one of the most important lines in the text from my perspective. Not only does it give an accurate representation of Donaldson’s main point, what is slang and what are its origins, but for me its sums up the paper as a whole in one line. Although the origins of “That’s How I Roll” as a phrase are not truly conclusive, Donaldson’s take on how we create and edit our language, shortening and simplifying where necessary, altering already existing phrases to make them ‘slang’, is a perfect summing up of how these phrases are brought into language today. Overall I agreed entirely with Donaldson’s interpretation of where these phrases in our language come from. I just wish she could have found the origin of the phrase!

I think the meaning of the text is not to find one specific example of a phrase and its origin, but to give an insight as to how our language has evolved and taken in these slang/language hybrids to become the language we have today. Donaldson makes a point using quotes from “Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Dan Heath. She raises the point that if all concepts either ‘stick’ or do not, then there must have been a time when slang itself ‘stuck’. This then leads on to the still unexplained phrase “That’s How I Roll” and how its origin, and that of slang, and that of the English Language can not be directly traced to just on specific input, but is the combination of all these things that give us what we have today.

Rhys Jukes

Marking a book

How to Mark a Book (1940) an excerpt written by Mortimer Adler defines what is means and the importance of marking a book. Adler goes into descriptive detail on what owning a book really means. He wants the reader to understand the importance of marking the pages you read in order to fully understand the book and truly have ownership of it.

After reading this excerpt, I reflected back on all these books I have read and the emotions I felt while reading them. I have never marked on any book unless it was for vocabulary but Alder made me wish I had. I would love to be able to re-read a book and look at my own notes and comments on certain events or conflicts. Maybe I would feel differently after reading the book a second time. I could really understand and truly have ownership of the book because it would become a part of me as Alder states. Alder gave a new meaning to owning a book for me.

Alder really defines what it means to own a book. He says that you must digest the information and make the book a part of you to own it. Some people who never mark their books, or never make notes on what they are reading, do not always own or completely understand the text. He mentions three type of book owners and says that only the one who marks or writes down what he is reading is the one that can truly comprehend and own his book. Alder redefines ownership and shows the importance of marking our books.

By: Rachel Nabors

Speaking Spanglish?

Spanglish (1988) is an essay written by a collaboration of authors: Janice Castro, Dan Cook, and Cristina Garcia. In Spanglish, the authors define the now free-form blend of Spanish/English used today in American culture. Within the first paragraph there is examples give of how this has become a routine part of life for most people. Like a billboard announcing “CERVEZA – SIX PACK!” Spanglish has become ‘as much a part of daily life as sunglasses’ (10). The authors continue to develop theses ideas throughout the essay, giving numerous examples to support this budding language phenomenon. I feel like the author’s purpose is not to argue for or against Spanglish, but more to inform. I see this essay as a light hearted look at society as is stands today, with a mass influx of Spanish speaking people in America resulting in the diverse culture and language we are all a part of. Also, being written for TIME magazine, I would guess at a wide audience, with any one from Average-Joe to Wall Street picking up their magazine.
            From my perspective I find this very interesting, as it is so reflective of my everyday life. Being an international student and playing Soccer at Clayton State, we naturally have many people of different nationalities, races, and of course languages. On a daily basis I will converse in Spanish, or Spanglish, English, French and Afrikaans. So my immediate thought about this essay is that I agree entirely, understanding not only where the authors are coming from, but experiencing it myself on a daily basis.

            Sub-consciously I feel the paper says more than just Spanglish. It is asking us to recognize the fact that todays America is a truly multi-cultural America, with Spanglish representative of not only Spanish speaking and English speaking cultures, but all cultures mixing and inter-mingling. ‘Spanglish is a sort of code for Latinos: the speakers know Spanish, but their hybrid language reflects the American culture in which they live’. This sums my point up perfectly, and I feel represents the essay well as a whole. It shows the heritage of a culture, but also the two-way acceptance of America/ Spansih and Spanish/American.

Rhys Jukes

We make sure we have enough :-)

In his observation essay, “A Man in the Woods” (2010), Andrew White focuses on the man that lives in a small town northwest of Atlanta known as Bankhead. This town is very poor in a lot of areas to the point where there are groups of men that camp out in hut in the woods all season long, Andrew and his sister Becca travel out to this town occasionally to supply the men with food and water. In order to have the readers get the feel of exactly how bad the group of men struggle living in the wood, Andrew painted the picture by asking many questions and describing the scenery, Enclosing his hut were massive piles of trash bags and boxes, old garbage he kept to burn when he ran out of wood. Andrew established a relationship with his audience by stating he never had to deal with a situation because heat given to a home by a furnace never sheltered them from the bitter cold they were entangled in.” (38)

Overall I enjoyed reading White’s observational essay of the man in the wood because it helped me focus and be grateful for the same things that are given to me in life such as; shelter, food, and water. It reminded me of the time when I drive through downtown Atlanta and would see many homeless scattered all through the city looking for vary places to lay their head. It enlighten me the James, unlike many over homeless who are grouchy homeless, seemed to smile even when he is shivering. He was always friendly regardless of what circumstances he was placed in and man the best out of the situation he was in. Reading this changed my view of homeless people and help me understand their point of view of life.

By: Marlene. B 

It's not over, until it's over

This Battle Will Not Be Lost, a narrative story by Sandi Millwood, exposes a young mother’s terrible experience that begins as an ordinary day. She woke up and proceeded to wake her daughter Aubrie up for breakfast but stopped in the door at the sight of her. Aubrie’s lips were blue as she gasped for air and her mother immediately called 911.

That morning, the long and stressful battle of pleura pulmonary blastoma began, a very rare cancer found in the lungs of children. At the hospital, Aubrie was hooked to oxygen and given what felt to her mother like millions of test that each took hours. They had found a tumor on her lung and advanced to surgery where they confirmed that the tumor was cancer.

Between the awful chemotherapy and sickness, Aubrie’s mom began to realize how fragile life was. How we should all treasure each moment that we are given with those we love. People die every day, and that morning she felt like she was going to lose Aubrie but they fought through. They won the battle after four years of constant fighting.

After reading The Battle Will Not Be Lost, I looked at my life and the people I have lost and realized I did not take advantage of the moments I had with them while they were on this earth. This story relayed across to me how important it is to be grateful and to love those around you still can, and no matter how bad the fight, it is not over until it is over.

            By Rachel Nabors

A Lasting Impression

A Lasting Impression, an essay written by Debra Anderton. Debra wrote this essay about the person who left the longest impression on her. That person would be her mother. When Debra’s mother was growing up, she had nine brothers and sisters. Debra’s mother dropped out of school, so that she could help her raise and provide for her siblings.

When her mother got older, she married and had four children, one of them being Debra. Her father passed away when she was younger and her mother became a single parent. Debra’s mother had to then take on two jobs to provide for her children but then had to rely on her own parents to help raise her children. Debra made up her mind when she was younger that she was going to start working at fifteen so she could help her mother out. At fifteen, her plan did not quite work out, her mother got married.

This is when both of their worlds got turn all around. Debra’s stepfather became abusive to her mother and became an alcoholic. Debra’s mother did nothing about it and just took the abuse. Through the years her mother couldn’t deal with it anymore and also became an alcoholic. Debra finally had to find the courage in her to tell her mother that she was an alcoholic and that she need help. The mother finally made the decision she was going to try an stop drink but she didn’t want anyone’s help. Her mother past away a few weeks later due to not getting any help.

Debra said “I vowed that I would do my very best to be the mother to my children that my mother was unable to be for me. It is, without a doubt, her amazing strength, generosity, and love that gives me the courage today to proceed forward in whatever life has in store for me. My mother will always be a lasting impression to me (Anderton 43-44).” This is a powerful statement that she said. It shows that she does not want to go down the same road that her mother went down. She wants to be a mother and give her kids a better childhood and life then what she had.

Alcoholism is very common today and most of the people who become an alcoholic don’t want to admit that they are. They don’t want to seem like they are weak and have to rely on alcohol to solve their problems. Only if they could just say they need help, it could save their lives. I believe that Debra’s intend audience is someone who has been affected by someone who has been an alcoholic or someone who was an alcoholic. Also, another intended audience she could have been focusing on is someone who was raised by a single parent.

By: Brittany B.