Shaw Prose Essay

Shaw Prose Essay
In Shaw’s prose piece, he describes the cremation of his mother’s remains. He describes the whole process which included going behind the scenes and seeing the furnaces and coffins. Shaw’s tone in the prompt is astonished because of the wonderful things he witnesses at the cremation place, and at the same time content. In the beginning he enters the cremation place. He goes behind the scenes to see more of what really goes on. He says, “I went behind the scenes and saw the real thing. People are afraid to see it; but it is wonderful.” Even though Shaw is there for the cremation of his mother, he is still intrigued by what goes on there. At the same time, going to see your mother cremated can be a very scary and emotional process, but Shaw’s tone is very content throughout the whole piece. His tone seems out of place in the piece because he is at a cremation place for the cremation of his own mother who must have recently died, and yet his tone gives the impression of like being at a museum. “When we returned, the end was wildly funny.” There is nothing funny about seeing the cremation process of your mother, so Shaw’s tone seems out of place.

The piece’s point of view is in first person. It focus on the narrator himself along with his personal opinions and emotions. Shaw is the one telling the story of the cremation of his own mother. He describes it through his own personal experience and allows the reader to gain insight to what he is thinking during the event. A first person point of view makes the piece connect with the reader, allowing them to imagine as if Shaw himself is personally talking to them. We learn valuable insight about Shaw’s character through a first person perspective. We learn that he has accepted his mothers death and is not bothered by the cremation of her remains.

Shaw uses sophisticated diction to create wonderful imagery that turns the cremation into art. One major place is when he sees the flames