Biography of Joseph Merrick (the elaphant man)
- Date: May 22, 2004
- Level: Junior High, 9th grade
- Grade: A+
- Length: 3 pages (676 words)
- Essay rating:
- Keywords:
joseph merrick, elephant man, concocted, three years later, menial capacity, american civil war, ...freak shows, apparently, frederick treves, workhouse, first signs, christened, sideshow, leicestershire, promoters, initiation
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Subject > Humanities Essays > Health & Medicine > Diseases
Mr. Joseph Merrick, aka the Elephant Man, was born on August 5th 1862, one year after the initiation of the American Civil War, in Leicestershire, Great Britain.
His mother was slightly crippled but one brother, was normal. Apparently Joseph Merrick's development was also normal until about the age of two when small growths began to be noticed on his face, the first signs of a frightful disorder which would transform him into the "Elephant Man".
By the age of seventeen Joseph Merrick, aka the Elephant Man, joined the British labor force working in a menial capacity at a workhouse and left it at twenty-one for greater opportunity with freak shows in 1883. It was here that show promoters christened him the "Elephant ...
... blocked sewage vessels in the body - lymphatics - that leads to tissue swelling, but this is not currently in favor. Neurofibromatosis had been a very strong contender for a number of decades until 1976 when a very rare condition called Proteus syndrome was forwarded. Proteus is so rare that less than one hundred cases to date have ever been documented, but it agrees with the 'fossil' evidence left by Mr. Joseph Merrick. It describes overgrowth of soft tissues and bone, sometimes only on one side of the body (hemihypertrophy). Classical neurofibromatosis on the other hand, is a tumorous growth of nerve schwann sheaths (insulated covering like that around copper wiring), and does not readily
essay continues for another 100 words
23 May, 2004 22:06:23
...with pocketlint. The frequent reference to "Joseph Merrick - aka the Elephant Man' was incredibly distracting and really spoiled what was otherwise an interesting essay.
22 May, 2004 20:20:25
Isnt it true tho that now they know what disease he had?
I thought the figured it out... ehh well u had good info, so good job
23 May, 2004 06:34:56
You continually refer to Merick as 'Joseph Merrick - aka the Elephant Man'.. You only do it once and then you can refer to him as Merick OR the Elephant Man, you needn't use both. This ruins the flow of the essay for me, and I found it difficult to read despite the fact that your information was interesting and, generally, well written.
