Literary, the death of human beings is usually described in sad wording with a darker perspective. However, the essay “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain”, written by Jessica Mitford, is a contrast of the way people usually describing death, and she gives an almost full presentation about the process “embalming” in an interesting perspective, she also wants to introduce “embalming” to the readers through her article. This essay will analyze the author’s rhetorical technique, literary elements that Mrs. Mitford uses to inform people about “embalming” and burial process. To begin with, the rhetorical mode that Mrs. Mitford uses to write the essay is description. The author basically describes the steps of embalming to the reader in plentiful details. …show more content…
Firstly, the language is an obviously noticeable element. Mrs. Mitford uses a sarcastic tone in her writing that makes her story interesting and fascinating. For example, “Jones is now ready for casketing (this is the present participle of the verb “to casket”)” presents her sense of humor by using sarcastic tone. She defines something that obviously does not need to be stated. With a witty tone, she not only placed a huge amount of sarcasms in the story, she also makes the reading more pleasurable for readers to read as for her to write it. To illustrate, “How true; once the blood is removed, chances of live burial are indeed remote” is an excellent example of her humor and naughtiness. That sentence is perfectly right, but the way she phrases it make a huge difference. This should be a common knowledge that if human body lacks of blood, it would not be able to function, live. However, Mrs. Mitford seems to have a little excitement while saying this like a new knowledge to the audience. She states something like a harmless joke, but her intended innocent helps her story to be more interesting for reader to keep paying attention and being involved in her story. Another example, “The casket is now transferred by a hydraulically operated device called Porto-Lift to a balloon-tired, Glide Easy casket carriage which will wheel it to yet another conveyance, the Cadillac Funeral Coach. This may be lavender, cream,