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Analyzing Mitford's To Bid The World Farewell

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Tierene J. Tunstall Comp I - MV400 T. Galbraith May 28, 2018 “To Bid the World Farewell” Questions On Content, Structure, And Style. Page 231-232 1) By studying the first three paragraphs, summarize both Mitford’s reason for explaining the embalming process and her attitude toward undertakers who wish to keep their patrons uninformed about this procedure. Mitford’s reason for explaining the embalming process explains the customs that are being fulfilled in the funeral business in the USA. According to the passage, many people do not have an understanding on what funeral home environments require, although they are compensating these services. Mitford states that the embalming process is a sophisticated process; after the entire process, …show more content…

The overall tone of the essay? Study Mitford’s choice of words and then identify the tone in each of the following passages. What other words and passages reveal Mitford’s attitude and tone? Mitford sounds substantial in her story about corpse embalming. Her opinion on the embalming procedure is that many individuals are not mindful of the practice. She is trying to express that this method is a startling process and is now believed to be secretive such that only the experts should be involved. She refers in the text that people don’t have the abdominal strength to observe the whole process since it is terrifying. The author defines the embalmed body as peaceful after enduring the entire procedure. The tone in the story is informative in the fact that an individual can know how a body is preserved. The author discusses the benefits that the process has on the corpse. On the other hand, Mitford sounds ironic despite the fact she defines the whole process the final portrait of the body. Mitford sounds hypercritical towards the preserving process; she indicates that if people knew what happens in the preparation area they would think twice (Mitford, 229) She further developed that the mortician’s restrained the family members from being present during the process. The author uses repetition of her opinion that reveals her attitude and tone toward the …show more content…

The author uses those words to show the reality of what the dead corpse goes through to effectively prepare the body for its burial. Mitford is trying to produce a morbid tone, the discussion of embalming and decapitating in paragraph 12 gives off a grim feeling to the selection. By using a series of questions such as (“Head Off?), the author is giving the reader the effect of questioning what all happens to the body and the statement “Head Off” uses curiosity to introduce a different way of handling the

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Mitford takes note that “not one in ten thousand has an idea of what actually takes place” (310) and there is so much more beneath the surface of things. Mitford also uses oxymorons such as, “he has done everything in his power to make the funeral a real pleasure for everybody” (314). It’s clear that a funeral isn’t a “pleasure”, it’s an incredibly sad experience (for most people) and it just goes to show the depth Mitford will go to portray her aggressive opinions. As Mitford continues to describe the shocking details about embalming she gets into a routine and systematically gives us disconcerting imagery every other paragraph, such as, a corpse “whose mouth had been sewn together” (312). Mitford’s style is informative and she doesn’t shy away from being brutally open by using unsettling imagery, which once again makes her case even

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