So, now we know who Sidney Farber is. And we've met Virchow and Bennett and Biermer and I hope I'm not leaving anyone out.
Golden Line: "He felt trapped, embalmed in his own glassy cabinet" (12). What I love about this sentence is that in the previous paragraph Mukherjee takes much trouble to describe the work of Farber. He mentions the jars and the embalming fluid and then one paragraph later he uses that imagery to describe how Farber feels about being a pathologist. That, my friends, is craftsmanship. The author has used the content, the nature of the content to describe a new idea in a way that is relevant to the work of Farber. I feel like I'm talking in circles here. But do you get the idea? Mukherjee does this kind of thing throughout the book. Watch for it and share it with the rest of us when you find what you think might be an example.
Here's an interesting idea: text structure. No, really. It is interesting. Remember the phial of aminopterin. Pay attention to when it comes up again...and again. and let me know if you can decide on an organizational structure for this book. Pay attention to when we return to Carla.
I loathe the word 'pus.' Disgusting.
I could write all day. What are your thoughts about this section and the "suppuration of blood"?
Did anyone notice the use of questions?
I also like to keep track of all the times that Mukherjee personifies Cancer. It is, after all, a biography and he told us why in his prologue. I think it is important to check for consistency on this point. One way that an author establishes ethos is to deliver on promises made.
Your turn.
As I look back at my notes around the "golden line", I can see that I noticed how the author used words like "impatient", "tired", "trapped", and "embalmed" to describe Farber's work. (I'm nervous to use a name that I can't actually pronounce, so I'm going to just keep saying "the author.") However, I admit that I didn't make the connection with the previous paragraph, with the formalin and the glass jars.
ReplyDeleteI made a note about how the aminopterin and the parcel kept coming up! It started the chapter out, and it finished the chapter. But deciding on an organizational structure for the whole book? Too intimidating for right now...
The only time I actually made note of the use of questions was at the top of page 14, where the author described Virchow's thought process regarding a case of leukemia. I probably missed a few more though...
There's another thing I missed. I actually thought that cancer was personified far less in this section than in the prologue. It seemed as if cancer took on more scientific and medical aspects than the shadowy, mysterious aspects portrayed in the prologue.
Here's hoping I can keep track of all these different scientists come test day!
The book just came in the mail today. I noticed throughout the first chapter the use of past vocabulary words. It's very interesting to see them being used in context, rather than multiple choice questions on a test. I agree with Victoria that their was personification in the first part. It has the feeling of a timeline, which makes it easier to follow the history of Cancer. I started sticky noting important dates... I should be out of sticky notes by the second week of July.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Emma. I love sticky notes. Make sure you keep track of people and events as well. I've listed some things in these posts that may come up on the test in the fall.
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