The Dead Book Review

I definitely wouldn't call myself an aspiring writer. This may come as a shock (I guess "shock is a little extreme, but there would at least be surprise) to many of those in my "Intro to Essay" class, seeing how it is a class designed for students who seem to be determined to do just that. To be honest, I'm not completely sure whether or not I want to stay in the major. I probably should have come into school as an exploratory. I just thought "writing" sounded like the safest description of the kind of area i wanted to study. Because it's true! I want to write things. That's why I think that, instead of an aspiring writer, I would rather call myself some some aspiring to write stuff. I like the way that sounds...it really rolls off the tongue.

Anyways, that being said, no matter where you may find yourself in the area of writing things, there are certain pieces of work that just apply to you, no matter what you're doing. "The Dead Book" did just that for me. In fact, "The Dead Book" probably would've done this for me had I not even been aspiring to write anything. Churchon's essay tells her narrative of the part of her job as a nurse where she has to pronounce deceased patients. Churchon gives a much different aspect to this practice than one might think. The procedures, the effects, the emotions, and the lessons learned that come with the responsibility that Churchon and many other nurses are faced with is one that i was, for the most part, very unaware of going into my reading of the piece.

The piece really made me think about when one day someone will be pronouncing me once I have passed and what the transition is like between my last breath and when I'm on the table being pronounced. But, jeez, enough of that. That's getting a little too emotional. Basically, I just recommend that you read this essay. Look it up somewhere. It has taken so many great strategies from many famous crafters of the essay and molds them into a piece on a subject that no one would really ever think would even be written about, let alone shown in the light of such emotion.

By the way, if you're still on the fence about reading it, it's only five pages...