The field I am going into requires a person to be strong physically, mentally, and emotionally. The funeral industry field is where you will deal with nothing but death and sadness but the one thing that lights up the dark aroma is the thought of you helping that family that just lost their family in a tragic accident. Whether that’s with helping to prepare the body or writing the obituary and obituaries are not the most important in the funeral industry but definitely in the top 3. I feel as if obituaries are vital to someone passing. In my own definition, obituaries are something to highlight the deceased loved one’s life, there are almost like a tribute to the one that has passed, writing down their achievements, who they were as a person, and how they have impacted the world and the ones around them. Writing obituaries is important for me and others to understand because it is a tradition that has been around for a long time, they are important in my discourse community because we are helping lighten up a sad moment by bringing back great memories in the obituary.
Going into the funeral industry you should already have a thought in the back of your head about writing obituaries. This type of writing can be used when one has passed away and family comes in for a funeral service to be held for that deceased loved one. During the time of getting the loved one ready for the funeral service, the family or staff of the funeral home along with the family of the loved one sits down to gather information and contemplate what will be included in the obituary, there are various types of obituaries but no rules when writing them they just have to follow the typical framework. The different types include short, long, and funny obituaries but that choice falls into the hands of the family. I want readers to learn how important obituaries are in the funeral industry, this analysis will show how this genre of writing obituaries impacts the industry as a whole and also makes a difference for the people in the time of bereavement.
I can say that obituaries almost don’t have a form of rhetorical patterns, but you can suggest description, as we are giving details to create a picture of who the deceased was as a person and how their character was. The setting of this genre is a funeral home and obituaries are written after death occurs when someone is getting ready for a funeral service, it was given to everyone that attends that funeral service and they are allowed to keep the obituary for remembrance. When people use this genre, they are interacting about the topic of life and death of their recently passed family member, making decisions about how what they want to be included in the obituary and how the service will go because some people include their service in chronological order how it will go from people walking into people walking out in the obituaries.
There aren’t many people that can write obituaries but if are in the funeral industry with all of your qualifications and license you can write them and there can be multiple people writing the obituary, and it can conclude of the family and the staff at the funeral home they are receiving services from. Writers write obituaries because it helps the family, and the family reads them because it gives them a good memory of their loved ones. And no one is excluded when it comes to having an obituary written. The characteristics that one must possess to write obituaries are qualities such as great listening and communication skills so you can fully understand and execute what the family is asking of you, during this time everything can seem hard for someone who has lost someone and is making arrangements for the funeral service, us as workers in the funeral industry value the skills because the last thing needed is a messed up way of sending off your loved one.
Obituaries are typically typed up into a document on the computer and printed onto a piece of paper and when they are given to the family they get to interact with a paper that holds their loved ones’ last look at life. Talking about typing up an obituary brings me back to the time I was sitting down with my family to type up my uncle’s obituary, which was the saddest moment of course but I got a sense of happiness when I saw his whole life written down on this small paper with picture memories. when it comes to the readers of this genre, people read obituaries at the wake or funeral service of their loved one and they can possess any characteristics but the one that would be the most obvious during his time of bereavement would be of course, sad. Maybe even mad depending on the circumstance of the cause of death. People that read obituaries come in many different shapes, sizes, and looks, obituaries are open to everyone and most people appreciate them because they are given at a time, they are saying their goodbyes so hopefully, they can take the obituary as a way to remember whom they love and lost.
I will be analyzing samples of fake obituaries out of respect for anyone’s loved one out there, the fake obituaries have the sample format types but with random information written on them, so we are not disclosing anyone’s personal business and I chose to analyze obituaries because they are both typical and important to my discourse community as they serve a purpose to celebrate one’s life. In the samples, the difference between the obituary for Douglass G Cook and Ms. Anne Ruth Brown is the text excerpts, on hers they have a long summary and written lyrics of a song but on Mr. Cooks, you can see they have kept the obituary to a minimum of 2-3 sentences. There are many examples are recurrent features such as how they all three have information about the people that will be conducting the funeral, the location of the funeral service, the birth and death date, and the surviving loved ones. For evidence on the obituary, it is taken from personal testimony and facts from people in their life.
I don’t feel there were any rhetorical appeals used in obituaries, but you can say it has something to do with description, with the family giving details about the deceased for the obituary. The texts are structured under columns with chronological headings that include information about the deceased, and some include information pertaining to the funeral service. Obituaries are written in any desired format the family wants, the layout can vary but the headings are almost always the same including things such as a picture, full name, age at the time of death, city, and state of most current residence, the family left behind, and some have summaries or in other words legacy. A typical text in an obituary can be 1-2 sentences to 1 paragraph when writing the summary, they use straightforward passive sentences, and they can be varied.
Obituaries tend to shy more towards words of emotion, words that you can imply that something bad has happened using terms such as tragically, it is with great sadness, and he/she will be remembered as.. Speaking in the past tense when talking about the deceased and using no jargon. If the family was to want jargon or slang to be added to their funeral service it can be but funerals are usually kept formal. You can describe the writer’s voice as soft and soothing to the ears as the ceremonies are quiet and it is to be known that using a soothing voice at a time when someone is hurting to soothe than can help. Out of all three of my samples, I can say that the obituary with Douglass G. Cook is the most effective because it was short and straight to the point, I didn’t have to read in-depth about his life to see how appreciated he was and the obituary with Mrs. Annie ruth Brown is the least effective because it had multiple entries of texts and it just looked like a book in the end.
I feel for people to understand obituaries they need to know that even though it is just a piece of paper, obituaries show appreciation for the person and their life who was just once living among us. Writing and reading obituaries should encourage both writer and reader because it is made for the family of the loved one and working in the funeral industry. It’s their job to help and empathize with the family, there are no rules when it comes to obituaries anyone is able to obtain an obituary and no one is excluded whether money or religion factors in. What is being revealed through the patterns of obituaries is to give tribute to the deceased through the format of details from their family. The subject of the genre is treated in a serious manner, this document is about someone’s life, and what is considered most important when it comes to obituaries is the basic information about the loved one such as name birth, and death date along with what the family has suggested being put on the obituary. The topic of death is ignored in obituaries, it would be insensitive toward the family while they are grieving the loss of their loved one.
This genre makes it difficult when it comes to the family having to go through the process of planning a funeral service and them having to give information about their loved one along with seeing pictures of them in that obituary, but it does help show and express love and appreciation for that lost loved one. The attitude towards readers is to sympathize with everyone around the funeral and as for the world if the death was questionable and inexcusable then the family will speak up about it. Writing an obituary allows you to take into consideration how your loved one matters to you and how much of a great impact they made in your life, allowing you to think back on the memories you’ve created with that person and to be the person that can help execute that goal I am honored. I’ve learned how strong you have to be willing to go into this field and the writing of this discourse community is something that the people that go to any funeral home will remember.
Works Cited
Annie
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Douglass