STIFF pg. 61-153

Mary Roach's non-fiction "STIFF" examines the reasons why more people should donate cadavers to science because it can save lives and/or improve the way of living. She first acknoledges (in chapter 3) how detectives can study the stages of decay in different types of forms (weather, in a trunk, roled up in plastic, etc) to analyze how long a person has been dead by stating past issues. Oh yeah and they mentioned how maggots feed on skin and sound like Rice Crispies with milk that made me loose my apitite that day and I'm not going to eat that cereal again :(. She then argues (in chapter 4) how scientists should be let to use cadavers as test dummies because scientists would analyze the damage a crash can do(brain, shoulder, brain, etc.) in order car companies to build better cars to save peoples' lives in car accidents. I was surprised people would use cadavers as test dummies but Ms. Roach convinced me that it would end up saving lives, it might even end up saving mine in the future (She also uses statistics how one cadaver can save an amount of peoples' live in accidents). And to conclude she states how people use cadavers to shoot guns and bombs to improve in making it for the army. I wasn't really astonished with the fact they were shooting at the bodies and then I would have never thought that the army doesn't want to kill the enemy but to hurt them as much for them to fall, but not kill them. Ms Roach gets all this information from experts like real people one on one and from articles. Her purpose is to enlighten our minds about making the future better for others and not wasting our time not doing anything on these situations (accidents, murders, life saving, etc)




Why do you think Ms. Roach enjoys doing what she is doing?


Do you believe we should use cadavers to improve (fix) the future or is it being cruel to the body? Explain. (Accidents, Murder Cases, etc)

STIFF pg. 9-57

Mary Roach's non-fiction "STIFF" explores that the lives and history of cadavers are intriguing in many ways. Ms. Roach first informs the reader (me :D) in chapter one that surgeons practice on the dead to try out some new endoscopic technique or benefit by teaching the interns (apprenticeships) on how to do a surgery. She then informs the reader how back in the days people that were having surgery could feel every cut, stitch, and probing finger before anesthesia was invented (ouch!!). And to conclude in chapter two she explores how many surgeons committed crimes in order to get fresh cadavers to perform new techniques that can save peoples' lives in the future, the surgeons would pay people to dig them up from their graves, then Mary uses an anecdote to tell the reader about a garbage scavenger named Oscar Rafael Hernandez that was almost killed in order to sell his corpse to a local medical school as an anatomy lab ( :O Watch your back guys you never know if it can happen to you). Her purpose is to make the reader enjoy the fascinating life of cadavers in order for us to have a different perspective of looking at dead bodies like surgeons that are investigating this frontier. She seems to have a in mind everyone in general that want to laugh because she uses descriptive words to compare the cadavers, for example " The human head is of the same approximate size and wieght as a roaster chicken".

How does Mary Roach appeal to you with her way of writing?

How does modern society see these surgeons working on cadavers for new techniques for the future?