Stiff By Mary Roach

Alan Soderberg Dexter Gore English 1021 8 March 2024 Rough Draft In the early 2000’s and even now, human cadavers are seen as useless, and disgusting to most people, and the same can be said about donating one’s body to science. Some may not see the purpose and the many advancements that cadavers have had in science, medical research, forensics, etc. In Mary Roach’s book “Stiff” Roach argues the fact that people should donate their bodies to science to further develop research and technology in, but not limited to fields she has spoken on, such as forensics. She constantly conveys human cadavers as the key to advancing research; however, the overarching problem of human cadavers is the scarcity, and lack thereof.

In the book Stiff by Mary Roach, many different kinds of situations involving cadavers takes

In the story Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, there is multiple tones and moods throughout chapters 6 and 7. In these chapters both characters Freak and Max begin to have different tones and moods throughout the story. Max and Freak met in day care as babies and reunited in middle school. These characters start to gain complex feeling for each other and soon start to gain a relationship. In chapter 6, while Tony D and his gang stands in front of Max and Freak, Max has a strong mood of fear and a tone of intimidation.

Mary Roach’s book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers has helped me learn about the lives of cadavers even though they are dead. In the Introduction the book began by comparing being dead is like being on a cruise ship. (On page nine), in the first paragraph it says “The way I see it being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back. The brain has shut down. The flesh begins to soften. Nothing much new happens, and nothing is expected of you.” In this introduction we learn that death isn’t always a bad thing. Many people donate their organs or bodies for good purposes. Many people believe that anything besides bury or cremate to a dead body is highly disrespectful. Death isn’t boring at all, if you look at it the right way. We

Every single autopsy, dissection, test, and examination done to a cadaver has a purpose. That purpose is to increase knowledge now in order to save lives later. Mary Roach’s use of logos throughout the books shows that. One of the most impressive statistic used in “Stiff” would be when Roach wrote about studies that used cadavers in vehicle safety improvements. These studies saved around 8,500 lives each year since 1987 (92, Roach) Roach goes on to say that 147 people per year saved because of airbags, and 61 people saved per year thanks to seatbelts (92, Roach). All because of cadavers. Other forms that Roach touches is cost. In other experiment, cadavers were used to test equipment that could potentially save soldiers in warfare. When looking at the situation, explained the scientist who was running the experiment, if he could have used a

Mary Roach appears at a memorial service for the anonymous corpses of “UCSF Medical School class” of 2004. Though there was the typical funereal preparations, the mutilated bodies are noticeably gone. Even with the bodies absent the memorial service was still a somber occasion. Residents take turns reading and singing, Roach, is specifically affected by one student's genuine acknowledgement to a previous cadaver.

Since that time donation has been the only way to increase the current supply of transplantable organs. Some people are uncomfortable with the idea of organ donation due to misconceptions and lack of knowledge. In fact, organ transplant recipient Dr. Phil H. Berry, Jr. points out that there would be less deaths of people waiting for transplants, “if Americans would overcome their reluctance to become organ donors” (29). Organ donation whether it is upon your death or giving a part of a liver or one kidney while you are alive is a charitable gesture towards your fellow man and could give meaning to the end of your life. The mere act of donating could bring more peace to your loved ones at the time of your death and as a result, you could give

Selling one’s organs for money is not something that is typically talked about, and when it is everyone has an opinion. Organ selling is often viewed as a controversial subject like abortion and politics. Joanna MacKay’s article is superb. She effectively argues that organ sales should be legalized and that it is immoral to deny someone the opportunity to save a life. Organ sales would support the buyer and seller in numerous ways.

While the thought of a giant farm full of decaying bodies may seem gruesome and terrifying, everyday it helps us learn new things about forensics. Firstly, The Body Farm was made known to the public when famous crime novelist Patricia Cornwell published a book with the same name about the farm (“Dead” 2). This book gave The Body Farm the recognition in more of a public eye. Patricia even states in the foreword of The Body Farm of how she came to learn about the farm and Dr. Bass, and how it changed her life. The Body Farm is an outdoor classroom designed to teach forensic anthropology students, and professionals in the legal and medical field, how the body decays and how the world plays a role in it (Drinnen 1). This farm not only benefits one type of science, but many all combined together, which is what forensics is made of. Police also use this to test and find how a body died in order to solve a case. The background behind the Body Farm is vast and important to our knowledge of the human body, whether we realize it or

For the next 50 years, donating one’s body for scientific cadaver use would become more acceptable and commonplace. However, it wasn’t until 1882 that a medical institution, the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons, would offer a curriculum that incorporated cadaver dissection (Perry & Kuehn, 2006). It wouldn’t be until 1918 that an organization, The Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois, would manage the body donation program for medical research and educational institutions (The Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois, 2013).

The story “Way too cool” by Brenda Woods is an outlandish story because the main character Aston James changes twice. Before the change he was a teenage norm, trying to comprehend where he belongs and who he really is. The change occurs when he realizes that not being yourself is not cool but foolish. However in the end he changes back to Mr. Cool due to peer pressure and to maintain his stature. Through this last change the author helps me understand that peer pressure negatively affects one’s decision-making skills and self-esteem. This story also gives me an insight into why students give up or even commit suicide due to their peers.

The first argument for this position expands upon the statistics already mentioned. There is no question that many more organs are needed than are available. Indeed, it is not merely organs that can be transplanted. One's corneas and tissues can also be harvested to improve lives, if not to save them. Now it can be objected that there is already a process in place for organ donation. People can volunteer to be organ donors. This is of course true. In fact, in some cases organs-such as kidneys and lungs-can be transplanted even if the donor is not deceased. However, the gap between the organs available through voluntary donation and the need for life-saving

Organ donations not only save lives but also money and time. If organ donations became prevalent the organ recipient would no longer need dialysis. Since there is no need for dialysis the cost to use the machine would lessen; this means that the cost of equipment would decrease, saving the hospital and insurance company’s money. More lives would be saved as well as benefit from those that no longer need an organ. In the book titled “Elements of Bioethics” adult organ transplants are only that have medical insurance. If organs are taken from recently deceased the cost for those that has no medical coverage was lessen. The process of organ transplantation is life changing and time is crucial. With shorter waiting time it would put ease on the person’s heart to know that this lifesaving event would happen sooner rather than later. In addition, when the organ is taken from the recently deceased the risk would be eliminated from

“When you have the kind of disability that Aston has, there’s only one way to handle it.” In the beginning of the short story, “Way Too Cool,” by Brenda Woods, the main character Aston James is portrayed as a short-sighted, single-minded, and image-conscious asthmatic teen. Aston experiences two changes throughout this short story. The first change comes when he realizes there is more to life than being cool. But he immediately returns to his original state of mind of “being cool is everything,” when the second change occurs. At first I thought that he had changed for good and he would remake himself and his life. After the second change occurred, I realized that social stature and being cool meant way more to him then his health or anything else. His changes left me to think about the effects of negative peer pressure and acceptance.

Selling organs is a rising problem in the healthcare community, government and morality. Organ sales has become the topic of discussion for numerous reasons. Some of which being lowering the wait time on the organ transplant waitlist and taking advantage of the financially disadvantaged. This issue affects many people on many different levels, some people morally or legally but mostly importantly medically. What this basically comes down to is: “Who are we to judge what people do with their bodies?”. The answer to this question lays in many different sources. The simplified answer is no we can not tell people what they can and can not tell other people what they can and can ot do with their bodies.