Stiff Chunk 3

The third reading chunk of Mary Roach's Stiff discusses the history of cremation and Roach's personal beliefs and experiences with burial. According to Roach, cremation was banned by many religious churches, mainly Catholicism, who believed that a proper religious burial instead of burning the human flesh in the case of the death was the most respectful way for a person to die. Roach also discusses how her mother did not bury her father, and recieve alot of spiteful remarks from the Catholic church for not doing so. Additionally, Roach discusses human cannabalism in the case of medical donation. Cadavers are subject to multiple fates and many of them are contreversial. While Roach exposes both sides of the story, she also expresses her personal fear of having her body shipped away after death with donation where her husband would be unsettled. Medical cannabalism with donated bodies is another reason why Roach was hesitant to donate her body even though she had talked to many medical professionals. In the past, cadavers buttocks have been a favorite to eat first for medical cannabalists.

Application: If you were heavily relgious and your spouse requested a burial that went against your religious beliefs would you comply or go with your own personal religious beliefs?
Style: Does Roach's gruesome imagery take away from the fact and deep intuitive purpose of her writing? Does it enhance it? Give a personal opinion.

Soap Week 3

Clint Hoek stra 's " That Sucker Jesus Has Forgiven Me for Some Pretty Bad Sin's" discusses prayer and sinning. Clint discusses how many Christians have a difficult time believing that a God or other diety could forgive someone for all their sins. He also implies the hypocrisy of those who murder and turn to religion once they have gotten themselves in trouble; and all those who take advantage of Jesus's forgiveness. Clint discusses how many people sin with the notion that God will just instantly forgive them, and in that way they do not take their religion as seriously as they should. Repenting and sinning are topics discussed heavily in the Bible in which case, the act of sinning to repent later is frowned open. Clint was trying to open the eyes to people who sin for the sake that they will always have time to repent later.

Application: Honestly, when you are about to commit a sin do you consider religion? If you do, do you put off asking God for forgiveness later because you know he will? How come?

Soap Precis Week 2

"If I'm So Crazy, Then Why Do People Keep Having Sex With Me" by Gina Meyer exposes the satire behind being labeled crazy and still engaging actively in sexual intercourse. Meyer explains how she is constantly labeled with a personality disorder and yet men still ignore it and will still engage in sexual acts with her. Meyer further discusses that although she may cry or ask for abuse activity during sexual acts the men don't seem to mind, and this makes her question if she is really crazy or are men just ignorant to this fact. Meyer brings up the touchy subject of how crazy people aren't really crazy at all and that labels still do not prevent a person from living a normal life. Meyer also effectively addresses that men are completely ignorant to the personality of a woman who they engage in one night sexual encounters with, and are solely in it for the physical. Those with mental disorders are constantly ostracized when they are found out about, but when we are unaware of their condition they walk among us. The true crazy ones are the ones who label and do not seek to even understand a person at all.

Stiff Chunk 2

The second chunk of Stiff by Mary Roach again addresses the secret life of cadavers once they have been donated to science. Roach discusses impact tolerance testing on cadavers as well as what occurs to cadavers once they buried in the ground. Roach further draws comparisons between what is done if a cadaver is admitted in a regular burial service and how the wasted body parts could easily be used for scientific research instead of being "maggot food". Roach also discusses how cadavers are used in the development of armor and other protection for the army. Cadavers are again the source of research and help assist in the protection of the people who are still living after the cadaver has died. Cadavers have assisted the army for many decades in developing armor that protects the abdominal cavity and head from gases and other harmful impacts. Cadavers are also used to recreate accidents to explain how certain deaths occurs. In some cases cadavers are used to recreate their own deaths especially in the case of murders or mysterious killings. Cadavers give great insight on a number of scenarios and instead of maggot food, people could appreciate the person's spirit not the body and contribute to scientific advancements by donating the body of the cadaver.

Application Question: Imagine you are a cadaver that has been killed in a freak roller coaster accident. Would you want your death recreated with your body to explain the occurrence although it would damage your body for burial, or would you like for your body to just be left alone and simply left to burial purposes?

Style Question: Roach uses a combination of statistics and imagery to describe how cadavers are used for impact and accident recreation. Give examples of the imagery (example : simile, metaphor etc. refer to worksheet given to you by ms. guy)

SOAPS Precis : Week of December 21st

"Branded A Cheat" by James Surowiecki discusses both the history of the athlete endorsement industry as well as the effect that personal affairs can have on the damage of a athlete as a brand. Surowiecki discusses both the creating of athletes as an entire brand, especially that of Michael Jordan, and; more recently, Tiger Woods. Athletes are created first as a brand of the team, and the more widely recognized the athlete is the more big businesses would like them to represent their companies. Micheal Jordan's brand of Air Jordan sneakers and other endorsements including Gatorade and Hanes has reshaped the athletic endorsement industry. However, the controversy discussed by Surowiecki is between that of the athlete as a brand the athletes personal life. An athlete is seen as a brand, a widely recognized person who should both exhibit and practice in representation of the company who is using him/her to get their product out. So it is relative that when an athlete damages his reputation or brand with legal toils or marital scandals then the companies that they represent would want to remove them from their brand. Athletes such as Kobe Bryant lost endorsement deals because of his legal woes almost five years ago, and has since recovered but has not been able to obtain as many endorsement deals as he had accumulated five years ago. It goes without saying that when you are "branded a cheat" or declared the spoiled apple of company that you represent, you, as the brand, must be a perfect well represented individual or your money will become a lot less plentiful.

Stiff Chunk 1 Precis

Stiff by Mary Roach discusses the use of cadavers in the medical world once they have become deceased. The first chunk of reading discusses how cadavers are used in the medical world for cosmetology practice, surgical practice, also as crash test dummies. Roach further goes on to discuss how the cadavers are respected just as other human bodies are respected, and most medical institutes that use cadavers have a memorial service in honor of them. The biggest issue that Roach discusses in this paragraph is the lack of surgical practice in the medical world. The use of cadavers for medical practice is so controversial because many people choose when they die not donate their bodies to medical science when medicine really could use the bodies for studies and surgical practice among other things. If there were more cadavers donated for medical use then there would be less inexperienced surgeons preforming surgery on live humans because they would have had sufficient practice on dead humans. Additionally, cadavers are used for medical research on how much impact and force a body can take before it combusts. Though it may seem grotesque in nature it is actually beneficial for scientists to know so that they can deliver the information to automotive engineers among other things. If more cadavers were donated for such research about the strength of the body and its reaction to force then there could possibly be more survivors of car crashes and safer automobiles on the market. The use of the cadavers may seem very gross in nature, but it is actually for the future of the living human beings to use the cadavers for as much research as possible. Roach further argues that cadavers, though dead, are essentially the future of the world and because of that more people should consider donation.

Application: Some religions argue that preservation of the human body after death instead of donating it to science is the best choice. However, they fail to realize that cadaver studies can actually be beneficial to their lives. How could you effectively convince religious people that donatiing their body is a good option as well? What arguement would you use?

Style: In what ways does Mary Roach appeal to the emotion of the reader about the cadavers having no soul and how the students feel about the bodies? What rhetorical devices or phrasing does she use to get this message across?

Frederick Douglass Personal Response

My reading of the Narrative of Frederick Douglass has been the most insightful experience yet in syntactical structure. My favorite scene in the narrative of Frederick Douglass is when Frederick tells the story of how the slave meets his master on the road and is not aware that is this master. The slave tells the man that he is not completely satisfied with his master, and he is not aware its his master that he is talking about. Frederick later describes that the same slave that had the encounter with his master was sold off to Georgia slave traders. Frederick used this image to justify why all slaves would lie about the conditions in which they were kept in order to keep from getting sold. If I could read the narrative again I would probably pay more attention to detail because there were a lot of little puns that I did not realize until they were pointed out to me.