It seems that girls actually do care much more about what they wear to prom then females do. Like Bianca I logged into Facebook and I saw one senior’s status talking about how one of his friends was going to wear the same thing that he was wearing. Girls on the other hand had many more status’s, people talking about how they didn’t have their dresses two days before prom and after the night of prom there were status’s of people talking about how much fun they were going to have. Constant status’s and comments on walls referencing how good someone looked and how they didn’t want to ruin their dress. From the men on the other hand there are wall post of people talking about the after prom and how they had fun got drunk and went home at six in the morning from their party. I think that the status’s also show a lot more of what my cousin was talking about compared to the things that we have been learning. Prom is some form of a party, and it is not some sort of rite of passage, with all of the things that I heard about the prom it was more about having fun and making a good experience from everything.
Nothing about the couples walking into the room and the princess of the prom having everyone look at her. I feel like that is more of what people are supposed to say but on the other hand it is more of the seniors last chance to have a good time. Seniors were also talking about missing each other and how that would really be one of the last times that they were all together. It was supposed to be a celebration and I think the media has turned it into something that seems like it is this epic moment in the participant’s life where they get a life changing experience.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
HW 58
Person who hasn’t been to Prom (Kammie) : I know prom is supposed to be special. It’s supposed to be a night where you get to have fun with everyone in your class for one of the last times. It’s going to be the night where a lot of people get drunk and have sex but I think the goal is to have fun. In the case of people dressing up as best as they can, I think that is because it is one of the last times that the people in your school will see you. It is going to be one of the last times you might be able to be with a boyfriend or girlfriend and I think that is the reason that people have sex and get drunk. It’s kind of like all fun that can possibly be had on that night and of course if you have a boyfriend you’re going to want to be with them. The part that I really think is supposed to be the fun part is the dancing. It is like one last night and it’s supposed to be something to remember. People do whatever they want to celebrate with those who helped them through high school life.
Person who has been to Prom (Alyssa M): Prom was the best. I wish I had done more than I did at prom. Like I dressed up and tried to look my best but that doesn’t even really matter except for the first 15 minutes because everyone takes off the heels that they walked in with. Everyone’s hair gets messed up pretty bad so the hair salon visit for 2 hours was worthless but the night was priceless. The best part for me was the after prom because at prom there are a few chaperones who actually don’t do anything. Then at the after prom there is still dancing and a lot of that stuff but it’s more like hanging out with the people you spent so much time with during school. This is where there’s a lot of the sex stuff and most of the drinking stuff, my after prom was in a hotel. Apart from all of the obvious stuff I just enjoyed telling jokes and being with these people. The night wasn’t any kind of rite of passage it was more like one of the best nights of my life.
Older person who went to Prom (Mom): My prom wasn’t the best because it is not the same as it is now. People now have an idea that prom is a big party but when I went to prom it was more like, a banquet. It eventually turned into some type of party because there was dancing but a lot of my prom there was teachers talking about the students and certain students talking. Everyone looked nice, everyone had a date, and everyone went. I would rather have the type of prom people have now though so it is more fun for us. There was a prom committee but they didn’t make it as fun as I wanted. There was prom in the school and I know now prom can be in a big space that alone is better than our prom. I would rather have a part in a huge space then in my school, the place that I hated and rarely wanted to be.
What I understand from the three different generations of prom goers and non goers is prom is supposed to be a fun moment. The two younger generations mentioned how it was going to be the last time that they were with the people in the school. I always thought dressing up was the most important part of prom because like I said in another post teenage girls look at prom dresses the same way that brides look at wedding dresses. I always thought that girls took it more serious than guys do and with the lack of getting interviews from males this could still be true, however with what Alyssa told me I feel that the main part of prom is the party. No one wants to go to a prom where they never have any fun, something like what my mom did. With looking at all the components of prom I feel like we left out the most important part which is the after party. We looked into the idea of sex and the drinking aspect of prom which I guess is considered partying. However the actual dancing and being able to be with friends made over the past 4 years for the last time is something that I think is more significant. Although Alyssa said it isn’t a rite of passage I disagree with that and maybe she didn’t notice that part of it but I think she makes a good point when she says prom isn’t what it appears to be its just fun.
Person who has been to Prom (Alyssa M): Prom was the best. I wish I had done more than I did at prom. Like I dressed up and tried to look my best but that doesn’t even really matter except for the first 15 minutes because everyone takes off the heels that they walked in with. Everyone’s hair gets messed up pretty bad so the hair salon visit for 2 hours was worthless but the night was priceless. The best part for me was the after prom because at prom there are a few chaperones who actually don’t do anything. Then at the after prom there is still dancing and a lot of that stuff but it’s more like hanging out with the people you spent so much time with during school. This is where there’s a lot of the sex stuff and most of the drinking stuff, my after prom was in a hotel. Apart from all of the obvious stuff I just enjoyed telling jokes and being with these people. The night wasn’t any kind of rite of passage it was more like one of the best nights of my life.
Older person who went to Prom (Mom): My prom wasn’t the best because it is not the same as it is now. People now have an idea that prom is a big party but when I went to prom it was more like, a banquet. It eventually turned into some type of party because there was dancing but a lot of my prom there was teachers talking about the students and certain students talking. Everyone looked nice, everyone had a date, and everyone went. I would rather have the type of prom people have now though so it is more fun for us. There was a prom committee but they didn’t make it as fun as I wanted. There was prom in the school and I know now prom can be in a big space that alone is better than our prom. I would rather have a part in a huge space then in my school, the place that I hated and rarely wanted to be.
What I understand from the three different generations of prom goers and non goers is prom is supposed to be a fun moment. The two younger generations mentioned how it was going to be the last time that they were with the people in the school. I always thought dressing up was the most important part of prom because like I said in another post teenage girls look at prom dresses the same way that brides look at wedding dresses. I always thought that girls took it more serious than guys do and with the lack of getting interviews from males this could still be true, however with what Alyssa told me I feel that the main part of prom is the party. No one wants to go to a prom where they never have any fun, something like what my mom did. With looking at all the components of prom I feel like we left out the most important part which is the after party. We looked into the idea of sex and the drinking aspect of prom which I guess is considered partying. However the actual dancing and being able to be with friends made over the past 4 years for the last time is something that I think is more significant. Although Alyssa said it isn’t a rite of passage I disagree with that and maybe she didn’t notice that part of it but I think she makes a good point when she says prom isn’t what it appears to be its just fun.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Initial Thoughts on Prom
Christopher R
The most interesting thing about prom is the idea that females can’t go with other females and males can’t go with other males. From a personal experience I overheard a conversation between two people one of them a lesbian talking about prom. They were talking about how it would be the first time that she had worn a dress since she was graduating in the 8th grade and she was going with a male but she said it was just as friends. Prom seems like a romantic thing that is supposed to be some sort of date with someone in school during your last days in high school. I would think if a person was romantically attracted to a person of the same sex then they should be able to go with that person. This conversation was also between two people who go to school of the future. School of the Future has more openly homosexual people than any other community I know. I would think at any place our school would be a place where students are allowed to have a homosexual date but the tradition of a man being with a woman has affected the idea of romance which I think puts a label on who is allowed to be considered a couple at prom.
Another thing that I find interesting about prom is the way people are supposed to dress. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it but knowing that prom is supposed to be a major step in life and that it symbolizes romance, is there any reason that it’s supposed to be a dress and suit. I also find it that girl’s try harder to be the best dressed then males do. A girl could be looking at prom dresses in the 9th grade or even earlier. This is the type of thing that I would expect from a person that is preparing for their wedding. The appearance of someone at their prom is equally as important as their appearance in their wedding? They seem rather similar, a very beautiful usually expensive dress and the male in a very nice suit dressed up to impress. What a person wears to prom seems to be the only thing more important than who you are taking as a date.
o Why is it so important to be dressed in elaborate clothing during prom?
o Are there any schools known for their openness to same sex couples during prom?
o Is prom the most important event in high school?
o Should a person be allowed to attend prom if they are failing their classes?
o In what ways are prom and weddings similar?
o Does the person you take to prom represent the type of person you would want to marry?
The most interesting thing about prom is the idea that females can’t go with other females and males can’t go with other males. From a personal experience I overheard a conversation between two people one of them a lesbian talking about prom. They were talking about how it would be the first time that she had worn a dress since she was graduating in the 8th grade and she was going with a male but she said it was just as friends. Prom seems like a romantic thing that is supposed to be some sort of date with someone in school during your last days in high school. I would think if a person was romantically attracted to a person of the same sex then they should be able to go with that person. This conversation was also between two people who go to school of the future. School of the Future has more openly homosexual people than any other community I know. I would think at any place our school would be a place where students are allowed to have a homosexual date but the tradition of a man being with a woman has affected the idea of romance which I think puts a label on who is allowed to be considered a couple at prom.
Another thing that I find interesting about prom is the way people are supposed to dress. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it but knowing that prom is supposed to be a major step in life and that it symbolizes romance, is there any reason that it’s supposed to be a dress and suit. I also find it that girl’s try harder to be the best dressed then males do. A girl could be looking at prom dresses in the 9th grade or even earlier. This is the type of thing that I would expect from a person that is preparing for their wedding. The appearance of someone at their prom is equally as important as their appearance in their wedding? They seem rather similar, a very beautiful usually expensive dress and the male in a very nice suit dressed up to impress. What a person wears to prom seems to be the only thing more important than who you are taking as a date.
o Why is it so important to be dressed in elaborate clothing during prom?
o Are there any schools known for their openness to same sex couples during prom?
o Is prom the most important event in high school?
o Should a person be allowed to attend prom if they are failing their classes?
o In what ways are prom and weddings similar?
o Does the person you take to prom represent the type of person you would want to marry?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Cemetery Visit Extra Credit
For this extra credit I went with Kevin and Jasper to both of the cemeteries near the trinity church. The thing that I found immediately most shocking was that it was a tourist spot. People are allowed to go in there as they please and although I am not sure about other cemeteries in other parts of the world I don’t think they should be a public place. For people who believe being buried in the ground is a final resting place and for the people who believe saying “rest in peace” has an actual effect on the dead making cemeteries public is some sort of invasion to this. I would imagine there would be a public cemetery and a private cemetery but for those who want to go to the cemetery and grieve, they should be allowed to do this without people like Jasper, Kevin and I going in. I only found the idea of being able to go to this cemetery okay because people who died here apparently died in the 18th century. All of the people who were close to this person at one point should most likely be dead and the tombstones were in very bad condition, so if this place was really a final resting place it should be kept better. At the same time if the people were alive I could imagine they definitely wouldn’t want me there. I was laughing at all of the tombstones which weren’t in the best condition. We walked on the grass at points, very immoral but the idea that they have been gone for so long, their bodies have rotted to the point where it would be unrecognizable. Dead over a certain amount of time lose their value.
So we walked to the cemetery and besides us there were only about 2 other groups of people there. The cemetery is right off a church along with the trinity church cemetery. The tombstones either had something written in another language or just had the name of the person who died and the amount of time they lived. The spacing of the tombstones was confusing. Some tombstones were two feet away from another tombstone. Others had a lot of room, this made me think whether or not now there is a certain amount of space most caskets take up meaning all tombstones would have the be a certain distance away. I also questioned the height of people in the 18th century when seeing that there was a tombstone being completely surrounded by others. Many of them were to the point where the name couldn’t be read anymore and the actual stone was cracked, with the other fraction lying right next to it. There was also a lot of casket like shapes made out of stone that had a top on them. Whether or not this was actually where the body was, I am not sure but these were also very close to falling over and breaking. It all made me think when a cemetery should be cleared of tombstones. People do not go here to grieve anymore they go to see what a part of New York history looks like. The tombstone couldn’t just be cracked in half. It was made of stone and near three to four inches thick. Unless someone came and broke it there was no way it could be in that condition.
Most of what I experienced in both of the cemeteries was not how I would actually experience in a cemetery that is more modern. I was the tombstone for Alexander Hamilton which had the largest most decorative headings and it was more than just a tombstone it was kind of a statue. At the same time even one of the past presidents was buried in this cemetery and the idea that the cemetery was for grieving was thrown out the window this was more for show. I think for me to have an actual experience at a cemetery. An experience where I think more critically about the bodies that are buried under my feet and the people that knew them I would have to go to a more updated cemetery. There would have to be more people who remembered this person who visited and made it a point not to forget. With a cemetery that is run down there isn’t any emotion there is just land.
So we walked to the cemetery and besides us there were only about 2 other groups of people there. The cemetery is right off a church along with the trinity church cemetery. The tombstones either had something written in another language or just had the name of the person who died and the amount of time they lived. The spacing of the tombstones was confusing. Some tombstones were two feet away from another tombstone. Others had a lot of room, this made me think whether or not now there is a certain amount of space most caskets take up meaning all tombstones would have the be a certain distance away. I also questioned the height of people in the 18th century when seeing that there was a tombstone being completely surrounded by others. Many of them were to the point where the name couldn’t be read anymore and the actual stone was cracked, with the other fraction lying right next to it. There was also a lot of casket like shapes made out of stone that had a top on them. Whether or not this was actually where the body was, I am not sure but these were also very close to falling over and breaking. It all made me think when a cemetery should be cleared of tombstones. People do not go here to grieve anymore they go to see what a part of New York history looks like. The tombstone couldn’t just be cracked in half. It was made of stone and near three to four inches thick. Unless someone came and broke it there was no way it could be in that condition.
Most of what I experienced in both of the cemeteries was not how I would actually experience in a cemetery that is more modern. I was the tombstone for Alexander Hamilton which had the largest most decorative headings and it was more than just a tombstone it was kind of a statue. At the same time even one of the past presidents was buried in this cemetery and the idea that the cemetery was for grieving was thrown out the window this was more for show. I think for me to have an actual experience at a cemetery. An experience where I think more critically about the bodies that are buried under my feet and the people that knew them I would have to go to a more updated cemetery. There would have to be more people who remembered this person who visited and made it a point not to forget. With a cemetery that is run down there isn’t any emotion there is just land.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Comments HW 56
TO RUBEN
http://rubenisthebest.blogspot.com/2011/05/hw-55-culminating-project-care-of-dead.html?showComment=1305691665979#c7015014601262645699
Ruben, I feel like your blog post covers the question that I had over the entire unit but in a different way then what I thought the answer would be. You made your blog about the planning of a funeral and I feel like you got a lot of evidence that helped to show the cost portion of funerals. I think there is a lot of information that you have here that you could have used in your elevator speech which could have made it better because you start to talk about funerals at the beginning then you transition to cremation and I feel like there could have been more talked about this in your speech. I think one thing you can work on is format.
Chris.
TO KEVIN
http://normalisweirdkevinw.blogspot.com/
YEAHH!!! EMBALMING. I think embalming was hyped up by Andy to be very gruesome and some sort of of miserable thing. Although it seems very violent how can you say this when the person is dead. Also it isn't always like the person doesn't know their dead body is going to be involved. It is not grave robbing and stripping the body for organs. Anyway back to this, I think you decided to right a very factual paper that gives clear alternatives and doesn't just complain about a problem. Its a paper but maybe in person you can tell me why you decided to write about this. I think this was actually pretty interesting and the best part in my opinion was the alternatives.
TO LUCAS
http://normalisweirdlucas.blogspot.com/
YEAH!!! This project didn't work out how you wanted it too as I can see through my favorite line of the post, "Denied. Ah such is fate. Despite calling ahead on Thursday around noon, and ensuring that my group could come in to view this (PUBLIC) funeral, we were stalled and filibustered into twiddling our thumbs in woeful silence in the waiting area of Mr. Benta's fine funerary facility." I think this gets a lot of emotion out without telling exactly how you felt in words. The words that you choose to use in the post creates a really fine image in my head of what you were thinking and it also gives a good image of the surroundings. I feel like this is more of a video then an actual video. I like this post.
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Comments From Protege:
Chrissss nice post maaaan. I like how we both have narratives of our experience but they are different. I thought it was interesting to see how you thought about the funeral home and how people were acting etc etc. I also like how you included dialogue because even if I wasn't there, I feel like it makes it very descriptive and easy to picture. Even though the project didn't go as planned and we didn't have a video, you did a good job writing about it..
Comments From Mentor:
Hi Chris, I guess I will first start out by talking about what I think could have been better about this post. What makes this post a bit weaker than it could be is the way you get the ideas of what you were thinking across. I feel like it is hard to distinguish what is actually happening and what you are thinking because it goes back and forth so much. But I do like the way you create the idea. The conversations that you include makes the story fun to read and I think a lot of the post is interesting but their are some things you can obviously improve on.
From Casey:Chris, I'm sorry that your project did not go very well. It was good of you to admit that it could have been more successful, and I enjoyed your detailed narrative of the various interactions at the funeral home. However, you could have analyzed the experiences you did have a bit more. For example, what do the magazine options in the home reveal about their expecations of who they will be serving? How did the behavior of the employees there compare to your expectations and what did the dialoge reveal about their goals in their daily work? The fact that the funeral director would not let you in to view the wake because it was an invasion of privacy was interesting to me; it was a unique idea that I had not before considered, yet it reveals that he was most concerned with the grieving family under his care.
From: Sophia: I liked that even though your original idea for the project didn't work out, you still got something out of the experience. Your descriptions of the funeral home were interesting, and although you didn't get to go to the wake, it still seems like you got something out of the experience.
My favorite line was: "We waited here for about fifteen minutes in that time everything was pure and clean. There was a sound of a water fall."
http://rubenisthebest.blogspot.com/2011/05/hw-55-culminating-project-care-of-dead.html?showComment=1305691665979#c7015014601262645699
Ruben, I feel like your blog post covers the question that I had over the entire unit but in a different way then what I thought the answer would be. You made your blog about the planning of a funeral and I feel like you got a lot of evidence that helped to show the cost portion of funerals. I think there is a lot of information that you have here that you could have used in your elevator speech which could have made it better because you start to talk about funerals at the beginning then you transition to cremation and I feel like there could have been more talked about this in your speech. I think one thing you can work on is format.
Chris.
TO KEVIN
http://normalisweirdkevinw.blogspot.com/
YEAHH!!! EMBALMING. I think embalming was hyped up by Andy to be very gruesome and some sort of of miserable thing. Although it seems very violent how can you say this when the person is dead. Also it isn't always like the person doesn't know their dead body is going to be involved. It is not grave robbing and stripping the body for organs. Anyway back to this, I think you decided to right a very factual paper that gives clear alternatives and doesn't just complain about a problem. Its a paper but maybe in person you can tell me why you decided to write about this. I think this was actually pretty interesting and the best part in my opinion was the alternatives.
TO LUCAS
http://normalisweirdlucas.blogspot.com/
YEAH!!! This project didn't work out how you wanted it too as I can see through my favorite line of the post, "Denied. Ah such is fate. Despite calling ahead on Thursday around noon, and ensuring that my group could come in to view this (PUBLIC) funeral, we were stalled and filibustered into twiddling our thumbs in woeful silence in the waiting area of Mr. Benta's fine funerary facility." I think this gets a lot of emotion out without telling exactly how you felt in words. The words that you choose to use in the post creates a really fine image in my head of what you were thinking and it also gives a good image of the surroundings. I feel like this is more of a video then an actual video. I like this post.
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Comments From Protege:
Chrissss nice post maaaan. I like how we both have narratives of our experience but they are different. I thought it was interesting to see how you thought about the funeral home and how people were acting etc etc. I also like how you included dialogue because even if I wasn't there, I feel like it makes it very descriptive and easy to picture. Even though the project didn't go as planned and we didn't have a video, you did a good job writing about it..
Comments From Mentor:
Hi Chris, I guess I will first start out by talking about what I think could have been better about this post. What makes this post a bit weaker than it could be is the way you get the ideas of what you were thinking across. I feel like it is hard to distinguish what is actually happening and what you are thinking because it goes back and forth so much. But I do like the way you create the idea. The conversations that you include makes the story fun to read and I think a lot of the post is interesting but their are some things you can obviously improve on.
From Casey:Chris, I'm sorry that your project did not go very well. It was good of you to admit that it could have been more successful, and I enjoyed your detailed narrative of the various interactions at the funeral home. However, you could have analyzed the experiences you did have a bit more. For example, what do the magazine options in the home reveal about their expecations of who they will be serving? How did the behavior of the employees there compare to your expectations and what did the dialoge reveal about their goals in their daily work? The fact that the funeral director would not let you in to view the wake because it was an invasion of privacy was interesting to me; it was a unique idea that I had not before considered, yet it reveals that he was most concerned with the grieving family under his care.
From: Sophia: I liked that even though your original idea for the project didn't work out, you still got something out of the experience. Your descriptions of the funeral home were interesting, and although you didn't get to go to the wake, it still seems like you got something out of the experience.
My favorite line was: "We waited here for about fifteen minutes in that time everything was pure and clean. There was a sound of a water fall."
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Care of The Dead Project
This might be another failed project attempt. Although we don't have any redeeming video we did have a complete experience and looking back on everything now I feel as if there were a lot of this that could be recorded and reported. Instead of uploading a video that might be very bad and get me a 7 on this project or lower I might as well write about everything leading up the the actual funeral and hope for a 8 or higher. Probably just an 8 because part of the assignment is to have a video or audio, but there were a few missed opportunities.
The project started with the idea to go visit a funeral because even though it was something that we all had done before it was probably the easiest thing to do. It seemed that way at least because I knew a Funeral Home that was close to my house and I know the president of the Funeral Home. At the same time I wasn't sure how far that would have gotten us considering that the president is not always their due to his Alzheimer's. This however did seem like the best idea because it was a place that I knew better than any other Funeral Home and all of the other ideas seemed less fun. We called Benta's Funeral Home at 12:20 pm during school on a Thursday. One of the members in our group, Lucas talked to a receptionist that transferred him to someone else who said it would be alright if we were to come to a wake on Saturday from 3-4pm and observed the way things were done. The project actually seemed to be going really easily compared to the Birth Unit project which was similar to this but involved no prior planning. It was done at the last minute compared to this which had been well thought out.
A piece of audio that probably should have been recorded at the moment but wasn't was the phone call between the person who picked up at Benta's Funeral Home and Lucas. It went something like this:
Lucas: "Hi my name is Christopher R, I was calling to talk to a staff member at the Funeral Home about me and a few friends coming in to view a wake for our school project. We had been learning about the care of the dead at our school and we had a project assigned on visiting a funeral or a wake and just sit in the back for a little while and view things."
Receptionist: "Well okay, Ill transfer you to someone to see what I can do, hold on one second"
THEN LUCAS HOLDS FOR MORE THAN A SECOND
Receptionist: "Hi, Alright there is going to be a public viewing on Saturday. Would you like to get a pencil to write this information down. Saturday from Three pm to Four pm, you and your friends can come between those times"
Now the thing that always messes up things for teenagers in this day and age is lateness. I live very close to the Funeral Home and for me getting to the funeral home would only take about 5 minutes walking. The other members of the group however lived many different places throughout the city and the plan to get to the funeral home 15 minutes early didn't work. In fact getting to the funeral home on time didn't work. Getting their 15 minutes late didn't work for that matter. The earliest person was Jasper and then Lucas 10 minutes later. 15 minutes before 4pm Kevin arrived. Before Lucas arrived though I spoke to the lady who was the current receptionist. That conversation should have been recorded as well and went something like this.
CHRIS: Hi my name is Chris and I was told through phone call on Thursday that me and a few of my friends would be allowed to come to the funeral home and see how care of the dead was done. I called ahead of time and they said Saturday between 3 and 4 would be a good time to come.
RECEPTIONIST: Hi, well. What school do you go to?
CHRIS: School of the Future.
RECEPTIONIST: And what are you trying to do?
CHRIS: Well I was told it would be okay if we were to just sit in the back for a few minutes and observe how a funeral was and the way people react and respond to different things during the funeral. I was just wondering if this was still true and whether we would still be allowed to do this.
RECEPTIONIST: Well I'm not sure about that because usually the answer would be no for a question like that but because you said someone did tell you this I will call the Funeral Director and we can see what he thinks about it.
So we went into a waiting room that had one woman sitting their reading a magazine. The magazine was only choices between Oprah and Essence. We waited here for about fifteen minutes in that time Kevin showed up and everything was pure and clean. Their was a sound of a water fall. Kids walking in and out of the doors, dressed up with their parents who were also dressed up. There were a few people who were dressed up in formal African dresses and everyone was in black except for one kid who seemed like he was around 3 years old who was dressed up in white. The place was very nice, the music was perfect and their was just peace. Nothing making to much noise everyone speaking in a low voice. One minute before the actual service started came the the Funeral Director.
FD: Hey, what was the problem?
CHRIS: Well we called a few days ago and we talked to someone who said it would be alright if we were to come into the funeral home and attend a wake, for our school project. They told us it would be okay if we were to come between 3-4.
FD: Well I don't think that would be possible now because this is close to the time when the service is suppose to start and that would kind of be an invasion of privacy if we let you go in there with no relation to anyone in the family. Any other day however the wake or viewing is open to anyone who wants to come in for a little while and pay some respects to the dead but the time now is close to the actual service so I'm not sure if you should actually come in. If you come back another day you can do your project with someone else.
The funeral director was more delayed then Kevin was in this whole process because we were all there close to 3:30 and it took the funeral director about 20 minutes to come down stairs with the service starting in one minute. He was actually really nice though, when he came in he patted me on the head. I'm not sure how I felt about that. He explained it to us really well and shook our hands as we left. The project like the one before it took some kind of turn for the worse but at the same time it was probably more successful.
Here is the crappy 2 minute video filmed by jasper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knI-nnK-Asg
The project started with the idea to go visit a funeral because even though it was something that we all had done before it was probably the easiest thing to do. It seemed that way at least because I knew a Funeral Home that was close to my house and I know the president of the Funeral Home. At the same time I wasn't sure how far that would have gotten us considering that the president is not always their due to his Alzheimer's. This however did seem like the best idea because it was a place that I knew better than any other Funeral Home and all of the other ideas seemed less fun. We called Benta's Funeral Home at 12:20 pm during school on a Thursday. One of the members in our group, Lucas talked to a receptionist that transferred him to someone else who said it would be alright if we were to come to a wake on Saturday from 3-4pm and observed the way things were done. The project actually seemed to be going really easily compared to the Birth Unit project which was similar to this but involved no prior planning. It was done at the last minute compared to this which had been well thought out.
A piece of audio that probably should have been recorded at the moment but wasn't was the phone call between the person who picked up at Benta's Funeral Home and Lucas. It went something like this:
Lucas: "Hi my name is Christopher R, I was calling to talk to a staff member at the Funeral Home about me and a few friends coming in to view a wake for our school project. We had been learning about the care of the dead at our school and we had a project assigned on visiting a funeral or a wake and just sit in the back for a little while and view things."
Receptionist: "Well okay, Ill transfer you to someone to see what I can do, hold on one second"
THEN LUCAS HOLDS FOR MORE THAN A SECOND
Receptionist: "Hi, Alright there is going to be a public viewing on Saturday. Would you like to get a pencil to write this information down. Saturday from Three pm to Four pm, you and your friends can come between those times"
Now the thing that always messes up things for teenagers in this day and age is lateness. I live very close to the Funeral Home and for me getting to the funeral home would only take about 5 minutes walking. The other members of the group however lived many different places throughout the city and the plan to get to the funeral home 15 minutes early didn't work. In fact getting to the funeral home on time didn't work. Getting their 15 minutes late didn't work for that matter. The earliest person was Jasper and then Lucas 10 minutes later. 15 minutes before 4pm Kevin arrived. Before Lucas arrived though I spoke to the lady who was the current receptionist. That conversation should have been recorded as well and went something like this.
CHRIS: Hi my name is Chris and I was told through phone call on Thursday that me and a few of my friends would be allowed to come to the funeral home and see how care of the dead was done. I called ahead of time and they said Saturday between 3 and 4 would be a good time to come.
RECEPTIONIST: Hi, well. What school do you go to?
CHRIS: School of the Future.
RECEPTIONIST: And what are you trying to do?
CHRIS: Well I was told it would be okay if we were to just sit in the back for a few minutes and observe how a funeral was and the way people react and respond to different things during the funeral. I was just wondering if this was still true and whether we would still be allowed to do this.
RECEPTIONIST: Well I'm not sure about that because usually the answer would be no for a question like that but because you said someone did tell you this I will call the Funeral Director and we can see what he thinks about it.
So we went into a waiting room that had one woman sitting their reading a magazine. The magazine was only choices between Oprah and Essence. We waited here for about fifteen minutes in that time Kevin showed up and everything was pure and clean. Their was a sound of a water fall. Kids walking in and out of the doors, dressed up with their parents who were also dressed up. There were a few people who were dressed up in formal African dresses and everyone was in black except for one kid who seemed like he was around 3 years old who was dressed up in white. The place was very nice, the music was perfect and their was just peace. Nothing making to much noise everyone speaking in a low voice. One minute before the actual service started came the the Funeral Director.
FD: Hey, what was the problem?
CHRIS: Well we called a few days ago and we talked to someone who said it would be alright if we were to come into the funeral home and attend a wake, for our school project. They told us it would be okay if we were to come between 3-4.
FD: Well I don't think that would be possible now because this is close to the time when the service is suppose to start and that would kind of be an invasion of privacy if we let you go in there with no relation to anyone in the family. Any other day however the wake or viewing is open to anyone who wants to come in for a little while and pay some respects to the dead but the time now is close to the actual service so I'm not sure if you should actually come in. If you come back another day you can do your project with someone else.
The funeral director was more delayed then Kevin was in this whole process because we were all there close to 3:30 and it took the funeral director about 20 minutes to come down stairs with the service starting in one minute. He was actually really nice though, when he came in he patted me on the head. I'm not sure how I felt about that. He explained it to us really well and shook our hands as we left. The project like the one before it took some kind of turn for the worse but at the same time it was probably more successful.
Here is the crappy 2 minute video filmed by jasper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knI-nnK-Asg
Extra Credit- COTD 5
Episode 1: Pilot
MLA: "Pilot." Six Feet Under. HBO: 03 FEB 2001. Television. 15 May 2011.
In the very first episode of the series, the founder of the funeral home director dies. He is the father of the main characters, leaves his wife widowed and his family confused on how to treat the body of their father in a way different from all other bodies that have been in the funeral home.
This episode sets up one of the most interesting shows that I have seen in months. The characters are so different and diverse that it is hard to imagine they come from the same family. You have a drug addicted daughter, a son who is not willing to open up to anyone in his family. Another son who would rather be in Seattle and a mother who should be in therapy. Dysfunctional family owning a funeral home makes Good times.
Episode 2: The Will
MLA: "The Will." Six Feet Under. HBO: 03 FEB 2001. Television. 15 May 2011.
The funeral home director has left the will for his family. Over half a million dollars to his wife, half of the company to both of his sons. Money to his daughter. The plot focuses on life after the death of the father and the decision whether or not to sell the business.
I had never seen how a reading of a will was done. Not in cartoons, not in movies or television shows. It seems pretty easy and regular. The person reads what the deceased wanted and everyone goes their own way (according to this show). The interesting part of this episode comes from the conflict between the brothers who have completely different personalities trying to make joint decisions.
Episode 3: The Foot
MLA: "The Foot." Six Feet Under. HBO: 03 FEB 2001. Television. 15 May 2011.
It becomes a lot more obvious that the business will be put out of business if they don't sell. However the funeral home named, 'Fischer and Sons" makes it hard for the "sons" to give away their fathers work. They find out a competitor sets up a plan to put them out of business.
A man gets chopped into 50 pieces by a dough mixer. Every episode starts out with a death that the show centralizes on. That is probably the more interesting of the three. The first being the death of Fischer and the second being the death of a con artist. They decide not to sell their business and have to face a competitor that cremates the body for dirt cheap.
I think this show is one of the more interesting shows that have I have seen in a long time. The show is about death and the care of the dead but the characters make the show so interesting. The best part of the show is they incorporate a lot of things from actual care of the dead that we have learned about in school and use it to make the show interesting. One of the major conflicts of the show is created by one of the sons being afraid of dead bodies after seeing his dad embalm a person. It shows the fluid being drained out of the body and the person being cut open. The show confirms a lot of the ideas that I had about the care of the dead industry. It shows it as being something that people are supposed to fear, as seen in episode one when the son speaks about a silcian family how literally pounded on the casket and let out loud yelps of pain opposed to the American idea of grief which is to sit quietly in all black. It also talks about the business side of the care of the dead business.
The son named Nathaniel, or Nate makes a deal with a widower in the second episode who can not pay for the casket she ordered. He offers to let her rent the casket and then give the casket to someone else for half price making it so that the profit becomes very minimal as the widower rented the $9,000 casket for next to nothing. What he doesn't know is only one person can have the casket because during a cremation the casket has to be burned as well. The intentions of this was to give the woman a proper funeral with the casket she wanted without having to embarrass her. It was done out kind intentions however selling the casket half off would bring only 300 dollars in profit. There was also a decision between selling the business to a bigger funeral home or keeping it in the name of their dad. Selling it would mean they would get a lot of money and keeping it could mean they get put out of business. I feel like putting another funeral place out of business is immoral because they are supposed to be their to help people grieve and make it ideal resting place for a loved one. Not a competition between who can make a better deal and therefore a more successful business.
MLA: "Pilot." Six Feet Under. HBO: 03 FEB 2001. Television. 15 May 2011.
In the very first episode of the series, the founder of the funeral home director dies. He is the father of the main characters, leaves his wife widowed and his family confused on how to treat the body of their father in a way different from all other bodies that have been in the funeral home.
This episode sets up one of the most interesting shows that I have seen in months. The characters are so different and diverse that it is hard to imagine they come from the same family. You have a drug addicted daughter, a son who is not willing to open up to anyone in his family. Another son who would rather be in Seattle and a mother who should be in therapy. Dysfunctional family owning a funeral home makes Good times.
Episode 2: The Will
MLA: "The Will." Six Feet Under. HBO: 03 FEB 2001. Television. 15 May 2011.
The funeral home director has left the will for his family. Over half a million dollars to his wife, half of the company to both of his sons. Money to his daughter. The plot focuses on life after the death of the father and the decision whether or not to sell the business.
I had never seen how a reading of a will was done. Not in cartoons, not in movies or television shows. It seems pretty easy and regular. The person reads what the deceased wanted and everyone goes their own way (according to this show). The interesting part of this episode comes from the conflict between the brothers who have completely different personalities trying to make joint decisions.
Episode 3: The Foot
MLA: "The Foot." Six Feet Under. HBO: 03 FEB 2001. Television. 15 May 2011.
It becomes a lot more obvious that the business will be put out of business if they don't sell. However the funeral home named, 'Fischer and Sons" makes it hard for the "sons" to give away their fathers work. They find out a competitor sets up a plan to put them out of business.
A man gets chopped into 50 pieces by a dough mixer. Every episode starts out with a death that the show centralizes on. That is probably the more interesting of the three. The first being the death of Fischer and the second being the death of a con artist. They decide not to sell their business and have to face a competitor that cremates the body for dirt cheap.
I think this show is one of the more interesting shows that have I have seen in a long time. The show is about death and the care of the dead but the characters make the show so interesting. The best part of the show is they incorporate a lot of things from actual care of the dead that we have learned about in school and use it to make the show interesting. One of the major conflicts of the show is created by one of the sons being afraid of dead bodies after seeing his dad embalm a person. It shows the fluid being drained out of the body and the person being cut open. The show confirms a lot of the ideas that I had about the care of the dead industry. It shows it as being something that people are supposed to fear, as seen in episode one when the son speaks about a silcian family how literally pounded on the casket and let out loud yelps of pain opposed to the American idea of grief which is to sit quietly in all black. It also talks about the business side of the care of the dead business.
The son named Nathaniel, or Nate makes a deal with a widower in the second episode who can not pay for the casket she ordered. He offers to let her rent the casket and then give the casket to someone else for half price making it so that the profit becomes very minimal as the widower rented the $9,000 casket for next to nothing. What he doesn't know is only one person can have the casket because during a cremation the casket has to be burned as well. The intentions of this was to give the woman a proper funeral with the casket she wanted without having to embarrass her. It was done out kind intentions however selling the casket half off would bring only 300 dollars in profit. There was also a decision between selling the business to a bigger funeral home or keeping it in the name of their dad. Selling it would mean they would get a lot of money and keeping it could mean they get put out of business. I feel like putting another funeral place out of business is immoral because they are supposed to be their to help people grieve and make it ideal resting place for a loved one. Not a competition between who can make a better deal and therefore a more successful business.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Independent Research HW 53--Part B
Christopher R
The religion that I grew up with was Christianity. It is something that I still believe although know mostly only the basics because I rarely practice the religion. This is not because I have any doubt in the religion but because it is something that I tend not to talk about in order to not affect other’s views or start any arguments. What I grew up thinking about death from this religion is when your physical body is dead then the soul that God gave you goes up to heaven to be with God. There are guidelines on how to get to heaven however; people who have committed sin and gone on the word against God would go to Hell with the devil. I was taught that Heaven is the place where the spirit of God stays and looks over everything that he has created. It has been a place that is illustrated as a white, place with angels that is somewhere in the clouds. People see Heaven as a place where your physical body gets eternal life you the person gets peace and wings. Personally I believe Heaven is a place where God is, not as in he is your neighbor and you can go visit him anytime for a cup of tea but in heaven you are able to have a physical relationship with him. To me Heaven is whatever you want it to be, there are people and places who you could want to visit and if they are in Heaven they can be with you. Heaven is not a white cloudy place; instead it is what the person wants it to be while they are in Heaven.
According to a majority of what I read in the link on the blog for bible passages from Matthew it takes a good life to get into Heaven. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Bible Gateway 5) These passages talk a lot about the Father who is God rewarding people. The reward is eternal life in Heaven and a lot of what these passages talk about is what has to be done in order to make sure God rewards people. The beginning of the article, where these passages were retrieved talks about righteousness. It mentions what a blessed person should do to get into Heaven. All of these things have to do with not using violence, cursing family and towards the end it talks about adultery. Those are some of the sins for the Christian religion. The words of God are supposed to be followed and the way a person lives there life should be according to what God feels his creations should do and failing to do this would result in no reward.
I spoke to the reverend that was at my local church and asked him what Heaven was and how it would be possible to get to Heaven. I also asked him about what Heaven would look like because the image that people have about Heaven vary. His response was very long but the most interesting part of what he said is what Heaven will look like. Reverend Thomas said this about how Heaven would look “I can’t really tell you what Heaven would look like. I am still here with you on this earth. Heaven is for people who deserve to go up to Heaven. I consider myself someone who has lived a life according to God and expect to go to Heaven when He calls me. Asking me what Heaven would look like is something like asking a vision impaired person what color they like the most. They could have a really well thought out idea and they could have great visions of what it would be. However the only way they can know for sure is when they experience it and get to the point where they get to be part of everything Heaven has to offer. This person couldn’t tell you 100 percent for sure what Heaven will look like just like a blind person couldn’t tell you what color they like the best” (Reverend Thomas). Getting to Heaven according to Reverend Thomas was easy as long as you follow the words of the bible. Not committing any sins and when sins were committed praying to God for forgiveness. He made it a point to say that God loves everyone he created and if they spoke to him enough and asked him for his forgiveness after committing sin then God would wipe their slate clean. Living according to what the bible said was the best way to get into Heaven, it is the written word of what God wanted of humans and following a lot of these teachings would establish a good connection with God. This connection would make it easier for you to stay away from sin and if sin was committed then it would that person who already had the connection established would be able to connect with God on a higher level.
What I took from this assignment is the care of the dead in my religion is based mostly on the afterlife. When reading different lines from Matthew there is nothing about the burial of the body or how the body should be treated. From what I understand the body is not as important as the soul is. Things can happen to the soul that may make it hard for it to get to Heaven but the actual body is not focused on. While talking to Reverend Thomas I did ask him what he wanted to happen to his body when he died and it was a very typical response. “I want to have a funeral because that is what happened to the dead in my family. Mostly though because I want my body to be blessed by another person of God.” I thought the end of that reasoning was a bit contradicting considering he said he was pretty sure because he followed the teaching sin the bible he would go to Heaven. At the same time I was able to think about this in another mind set because I believe the same as he does. The reason I feel priest, and religious people speak at funerals is to bless the soul as it goes to Heaven. To me it isn’t needed because the soul can go to Heaven without the blessing however I feel like blessing the soul is a respectful way to say goodbye to it as it goes to Heaven.
Afterlife is what makes many people believe in Christianity. The idea that following these guidelines that God wants people to live by and making it so that even when we mess up we can be forgiven gives people a lot of morals. There are some people who base everything they do off of the teachings of God so when they die they can go to Heaven and others because they agree with the morals. Either way it seems to have more of an effect on the questions about the afterlife. The way the body should be treated isn’t something I looked into because it isn’t something that I was taught about. All funerals I have gone to have had something to do with this religion and passing on to another, better place. The actual way that the body should be treated is not discussed as much. I had a prediction from some of the words that Reverend Thomas said lead me to think funerals might be popular because of Jesus. Jesus Christ is read to have been “buried”, “stored”, “placed” in a tomb. Then resurrected days later. The casket to me would represent the tomb and being buried away in the same way that Jesus was might also have connotations with a higher chance of being resurrected.
The religion that I grew up with was Christianity. It is something that I still believe although know mostly only the basics because I rarely practice the religion. This is not because I have any doubt in the religion but because it is something that I tend not to talk about in order to not affect other’s views or start any arguments. What I grew up thinking about death from this religion is when your physical body is dead then the soul that God gave you goes up to heaven to be with God. There are guidelines on how to get to heaven however; people who have committed sin and gone on the word against God would go to Hell with the devil. I was taught that Heaven is the place where the spirit of God stays and looks over everything that he has created. It has been a place that is illustrated as a white, place with angels that is somewhere in the clouds. People see Heaven as a place where your physical body gets eternal life you the person gets peace and wings. Personally I believe Heaven is a place where God is, not as in he is your neighbor and you can go visit him anytime for a cup of tea but in heaven you are able to have a physical relationship with him. To me Heaven is whatever you want it to be, there are people and places who you could want to visit and if they are in Heaven they can be with you. Heaven is not a white cloudy place; instead it is what the person wants it to be while they are in Heaven.
According to a majority of what I read in the link on the blog for bible passages from Matthew it takes a good life to get into Heaven. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Bible Gateway 5) These passages talk a lot about the Father who is God rewarding people. The reward is eternal life in Heaven and a lot of what these passages talk about is what has to be done in order to make sure God rewards people. The beginning of the article, where these passages were retrieved talks about righteousness. It mentions what a blessed person should do to get into Heaven. All of these things have to do with not using violence, cursing family and towards the end it talks about adultery. Those are some of the sins for the Christian religion. The words of God are supposed to be followed and the way a person lives there life should be according to what God feels his creations should do and failing to do this would result in no reward.
I spoke to the reverend that was at my local church and asked him what Heaven was and how it would be possible to get to Heaven. I also asked him about what Heaven would look like because the image that people have about Heaven vary. His response was very long but the most interesting part of what he said is what Heaven will look like. Reverend Thomas said this about how Heaven would look “I can’t really tell you what Heaven would look like. I am still here with you on this earth. Heaven is for people who deserve to go up to Heaven. I consider myself someone who has lived a life according to God and expect to go to Heaven when He calls me. Asking me what Heaven would look like is something like asking a vision impaired person what color they like the most. They could have a really well thought out idea and they could have great visions of what it would be. However the only way they can know for sure is when they experience it and get to the point where they get to be part of everything Heaven has to offer. This person couldn’t tell you 100 percent for sure what Heaven will look like just like a blind person couldn’t tell you what color they like the best” (Reverend Thomas). Getting to Heaven according to Reverend Thomas was easy as long as you follow the words of the bible. Not committing any sins and when sins were committed praying to God for forgiveness. He made it a point to say that God loves everyone he created and if they spoke to him enough and asked him for his forgiveness after committing sin then God would wipe their slate clean. Living according to what the bible said was the best way to get into Heaven, it is the written word of what God wanted of humans and following a lot of these teachings would establish a good connection with God. This connection would make it easier for you to stay away from sin and if sin was committed then it would that person who already had the connection established would be able to connect with God on a higher level.
What I took from this assignment is the care of the dead in my religion is based mostly on the afterlife. When reading different lines from Matthew there is nothing about the burial of the body or how the body should be treated. From what I understand the body is not as important as the soul is. Things can happen to the soul that may make it hard for it to get to Heaven but the actual body is not focused on. While talking to Reverend Thomas I did ask him what he wanted to happen to his body when he died and it was a very typical response. “I want to have a funeral because that is what happened to the dead in my family. Mostly though because I want my body to be blessed by another person of God.” I thought the end of that reasoning was a bit contradicting considering he said he was pretty sure because he followed the teaching sin the bible he would go to Heaven. At the same time I was able to think about this in another mind set because I believe the same as he does. The reason I feel priest, and religious people speak at funerals is to bless the soul as it goes to Heaven. To me it isn’t needed because the soul can go to Heaven without the blessing however I feel like blessing the soul is a respectful way to say goodbye to it as it goes to Heaven.
Afterlife is what makes many people believe in Christianity. The idea that following these guidelines that God wants people to live by and making it so that even when we mess up we can be forgiven gives people a lot of morals. There are some people who base everything they do off of the teachings of God so when they die they can go to Heaven and others because they agree with the morals. Either way it seems to have more of an effect on the questions about the afterlife. The way the body should be treated isn’t something I looked into because it isn’t something that I was taught about. All funerals I have gone to have had something to do with this religion and passing on to another, better place. The actual way that the body should be treated is not discussed as much. I had a prediction from some of the words that Reverend Thomas said lead me to think funerals might be popular because of Jesus. Jesus Christ is read to have been “buried”, “stored”, “placed” in a tomb. Then resurrected days later. The casket to me would represent the tomb and being buried away in the same way that Jesus was might also have connotations with a higher chance of being resurrected.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Independent Research HW 53
Chris R
Dance, Laugh, Drink. Save the Date: It’s a Ghanaian Funeral.
Précis: Death doesn’t have to be sad like Americans make it. Death in Ghanaian culture is literally a party. Going to a Ghanaian cultured funeral is the same thing as going to a party, there are people dancing, loud music, drinks and fun. It is very expensive to attend these parties. Spending near 100 dollars for entrance and spending money on things offered in the party in support of the family. Pictures of the lost loved one are hung up around the party as celebration.
In Her Childhood Dream, a Funeral Home Was the Destination
Précis: Funeral homes were not a place for women in the 1970’s. The ratio of men to women in education programs about funerals used to be close to 1:6. Recently women have become found a lot more in funeral homes. It highly doubted women could work in funeral homes because women were not commonly found with death. Years later the ratio of men to women in education programs about funerals is close 1:1.2 with women having the edge.
Osama bin Laden did not deserve an Islamic burial
Precis: Osama bin Laden was killed on May 1st 2011 and according to the President he was given proper Islamic treatment. This means his body was washed and he was wrapped. To make sure that his followers did not see him as a martyr the body was dropped in the ocean. Instead of giving him a proper treatment he should be judged by Allah in the same way that everyone is.
I wanted to look at these three different articles because they have nothing to do with each other and it shows the differences in different cultures. I find myself barely knowing about my own culture. The idea of cremation is like speaking another language, and when looking at the film ‘A Film Undertaking’ in class the idea of a home funeral never even crossed my mind. I was always taught that there was only one way to treat a body and this was with a funeral followed by burial. Every funeral I have ever attended was a funeral followed by burial. The thing that I found interesting is in the Islamic culture and American culture death is seen as a sad day. The bodies in both cultures are “wrapped” and “washed” as in cleaned. The body is then mourned like in American culture but the Ghanaian culture it is completely different. It is not just a celebration it is like a party with drinks, food, music and dancing. People even compete to have the best funeral. I feel like this is good but at the same time just having a picture of the person is not giving them enough memory. People are actually dancing in celebration but I don’t think while doing this people would be thinking about their loved one. This could just be me because I am accustomed to people always crying and listening to prayer. The Ghanaian culture however sounds like a better alternative to what we have in the United States. To them they are paying proper respects to the person who died and they also get to celebrate the life of the person in a fun way. The second article was also something that I never thought about. Being around the dead doesn’t seem like a masculine job so I don’t see why women wouldn’t be commonly found in funeral homes. This article wasn’t as interesting to me as the other articles. It was more about this one person who wanted to work in the funeral home to make the dead bodies look good in the casket. It revealed something I didn’t know though which helps my understanding of the care of the dead.
Q: Growing up with your grandfather owning a very ionic and successful funeral home in Harlem how are you views on care of the dead different from other Americans?
A: I wasn’t always around my grandfather. I wasn’t always around the funeral home but at the same time not everyone goes to a funeral home more than a handful of times a year. I definetly was there more than that and to me death and funerals stopped being a sad moment and became something that I was used to. I know there has to be a good amount of people in the country who are afraid of death, and after looking at all of the families who come through the doors for different reasons I realized it is going to happen. I also think that is something that I have experienced more than other people in this country, people always think they will die of disease because it is very common but there are so many different ways to die it becomes interesting how no matter what death will find you. In terms of views I do think funerals are the best way to go because to me it seems like the most memorial way to treat the body. You can have people you know there all in one room at one time just to play their last respects for your body. What criticism could there be.
Q: Do you know what you want to do for your death?
A: Not trying to sound cheesy or corny at all I want to have my funeral at my grandfather’s home. It’s not because he is my grandfather it is because he made this, ran it from the beginning and got it to where it is now. The thing that I like the most is that I feel at home here. I feel like everyone who has worked here that I have come to know are very interested and devoted to work. I said that I think funerals are the best way to take care of the dead body and if my body was here it would be like dying at home. As I said before I wasn’t here all of the time but my grandfather did pay my way through college and this place is a haven to me. It is the closest thing to heaven on earth. I would like to have my physical body here to when I die while my body is in spiritual heaven.
Q: How does your relationship with the funeral home affect how you feel about dead bodies?
A: Oops, I guess I kind of answered this question already before I was supposed to but, I think that with all of the bodies we have had it just makes death more real. People are afraid of death because they don’t know anything about it. It is the same reason people are afraid to try new things. The results could be very good (not death) but people are still usually afraid to try out of the ordinary things. I have been on the opposite of this. We don’t only get people that die from cancer we get people that have committed suicide, we have gotten people that have been shot and beaten. There is not only one way to die and being at the funeral home showed me this. I am no longer surprised by death.
Q: How do you feel about alternate ways of caring or the dead?
A: it is up to the person. I told you how I feel and there is nothing that will make me change my mind that I know of. Like I said I know a little more about regular people do and I have made a very educated guess of what I will want for the rest of my life. For people that want other things that is up to them. I won’t argue with tem because it is what they want. Anyone could want anything.
Q: What would you change about the way death is done if you could change anything?
A: I would make it so that people knew everything about death. If you are only taught what you are growing up knowing, which I guess is what you could say about me you only know one thing. I looked into different things on my own and decided I wanted a funeral. Not everyone does that. Everyone should be educated.
This was someone who I have met multiple times. He is in charge of Benta’s Funeral Home in Harlem and I also know Mr. Benta who was the founder of the funeral home. I have attended a few funerals there and on different days when you walk pass the funeral home there will be a group of people with all black on talking. It doesn’t always seem like a sad time and most of the time when I walk by people are smiling and laughing. One of the funerals that I have attended there was the funeral of a suicide victim who committed suicide in the 8th grade. There were a lot of middle school students. I feel like the colors and layout of the room made it so that the room had no dark connotations. It seemed like things were white and gold and there was a monitor with pictures of the girl. Everything seemed to be like it was trying to connote heaven or a happier afterlife. There were a few crosses in different places and there was a small waterfall which is what I noticed the most. All of these things remind me of peace and the perfect place to go for utter peace is heaven. The interview was not in the funeral home it was outside of it. I think the highlights of this interview were his first response because it was the one where his voice was the most passionate. This might have been from sincere passion or it could have sounded differently because throughout the interview maybe I got more boring. Either way it seemed like he liked talking about himself more than his grandfather. His grandfather has become increasing ill with Alzheimer’s and I think bringing his father up might have reminded him of this. He however had a lot of ideas about his own death though.
Going into this interview I didn’t really expect anything out of the ordinary. I wish that I would have watched the movie that we watched in class before I interviewed him because that would have made for some interesting conversation. He agrees with me for the most part though. I want to have a funeral because I feel like it is fitting for people to remember me if they want to remember me all at once and get it out the way. It was the way I was raised and funerals, though not very happy can be very nice and bring people to peace with the idea that the person is dead. He also said people should have the choice to what they want to do. The response makes me think about the home funerals from the movie “A Family Undertaking’. People in 5 out of 50 states are not allowed to have home funerals and care for their own dead one of those being New York. Probably making this a fitting place to have a Funeral Home that seems very welcoming and in a nice part of the neighborhood. When the government puts restrictions such as this it brings up questions.
• Why are people allowed to take care of their own dead in 45 states but not the other 5 states?
• How do funeral directors feel about the cost of the funeral? Does the price show they are not about the satisfaction of the people but size of the wallet?
• What do funeral directors thing about home funerals?
• How did cemeteries get a bad connotation (ex: ghost, fear)?
• What made funerals become more successful than other forms of care of the dead?
• How can I use Benta’s Funeral Home as a way to further understand care of the dead?
Dance, Laugh, Drink. Save the Date: It’s a Ghanaian Funeral.
Précis: Death doesn’t have to be sad like Americans make it. Death in Ghanaian culture is literally a party. Going to a Ghanaian cultured funeral is the same thing as going to a party, there are people dancing, loud music, drinks and fun. It is very expensive to attend these parties. Spending near 100 dollars for entrance and spending money on things offered in the party in support of the family. Pictures of the lost loved one are hung up around the party as celebration.
In Her Childhood Dream, a Funeral Home Was the Destination
Précis: Funeral homes were not a place for women in the 1970’s. The ratio of men to women in education programs about funerals used to be close to 1:6. Recently women have become found a lot more in funeral homes. It highly doubted women could work in funeral homes because women were not commonly found with death. Years later the ratio of men to women in education programs about funerals is close 1:1.2 with women having the edge.
Osama bin Laden did not deserve an Islamic burial
Precis: Osama bin Laden was killed on May 1st 2011 and according to the President he was given proper Islamic treatment. This means his body was washed and he was wrapped. To make sure that his followers did not see him as a martyr the body was dropped in the ocean. Instead of giving him a proper treatment he should be judged by Allah in the same way that everyone is.
I wanted to look at these three different articles because they have nothing to do with each other and it shows the differences in different cultures. I find myself barely knowing about my own culture. The idea of cremation is like speaking another language, and when looking at the film ‘A Film Undertaking’ in class the idea of a home funeral never even crossed my mind. I was always taught that there was only one way to treat a body and this was with a funeral followed by burial. Every funeral I have ever attended was a funeral followed by burial. The thing that I found interesting is in the Islamic culture and American culture death is seen as a sad day. The bodies in both cultures are “wrapped” and “washed” as in cleaned. The body is then mourned like in American culture but the Ghanaian culture it is completely different. It is not just a celebration it is like a party with drinks, food, music and dancing. People even compete to have the best funeral. I feel like this is good but at the same time just having a picture of the person is not giving them enough memory. People are actually dancing in celebration but I don’t think while doing this people would be thinking about their loved one. This could just be me because I am accustomed to people always crying and listening to prayer. The Ghanaian culture however sounds like a better alternative to what we have in the United States. To them they are paying proper respects to the person who died and they also get to celebrate the life of the person in a fun way. The second article was also something that I never thought about. Being around the dead doesn’t seem like a masculine job so I don’t see why women wouldn’t be commonly found in funeral homes. This article wasn’t as interesting to me as the other articles. It was more about this one person who wanted to work in the funeral home to make the dead bodies look good in the casket. It revealed something I didn’t know though which helps my understanding of the care of the dead.
Q: Growing up with your grandfather owning a very ionic and successful funeral home in Harlem how are you views on care of the dead different from other Americans?
A: I wasn’t always around my grandfather. I wasn’t always around the funeral home but at the same time not everyone goes to a funeral home more than a handful of times a year. I definetly was there more than that and to me death and funerals stopped being a sad moment and became something that I was used to. I know there has to be a good amount of people in the country who are afraid of death, and after looking at all of the families who come through the doors for different reasons I realized it is going to happen. I also think that is something that I have experienced more than other people in this country, people always think they will die of disease because it is very common but there are so many different ways to die it becomes interesting how no matter what death will find you. In terms of views I do think funerals are the best way to go because to me it seems like the most memorial way to treat the body. You can have people you know there all in one room at one time just to play their last respects for your body. What criticism could there be.
Q: Do you know what you want to do for your death?
A: Not trying to sound cheesy or corny at all I want to have my funeral at my grandfather’s home. It’s not because he is my grandfather it is because he made this, ran it from the beginning and got it to where it is now. The thing that I like the most is that I feel at home here. I feel like everyone who has worked here that I have come to know are very interested and devoted to work. I said that I think funerals are the best way to take care of the dead body and if my body was here it would be like dying at home. As I said before I wasn’t here all of the time but my grandfather did pay my way through college and this place is a haven to me. It is the closest thing to heaven on earth. I would like to have my physical body here to when I die while my body is in spiritual heaven.
Q: How does your relationship with the funeral home affect how you feel about dead bodies?
A: Oops, I guess I kind of answered this question already before I was supposed to but, I think that with all of the bodies we have had it just makes death more real. People are afraid of death because they don’t know anything about it. It is the same reason people are afraid to try new things. The results could be very good (not death) but people are still usually afraid to try out of the ordinary things. I have been on the opposite of this. We don’t only get people that die from cancer we get people that have committed suicide, we have gotten people that have been shot and beaten. There is not only one way to die and being at the funeral home showed me this. I am no longer surprised by death.
Q: How do you feel about alternate ways of caring or the dead?
A: it is up to the person. I told you how I feel and there is nothing that will make me change my mind that I know of. Like I said I know a little more about regular people do and I have made a very educated guess of what I will want for the rest of my life. For people that want other things that is up to them. I won’t argue with tem because it is what they want. Anyone could want anything.
Q: What would you change about the way death is done if you could change anything?
A: I would make it so that people knew everything about death. If you are only taught what you are growing up knowing, which I guess is what you could say about me you only know one thing. I looked into different things on my own and decided I wanted a funeral. Not everyone does that. Everyone should be educated.
This was someone who I have met multiple times. He is in charge of Benta’s Funeral Home in Harlem and I also know Mr. Benta who was the founder of the funeral home. I have attended a few funerals there and on different days when you walk pass the funeral home there will be a group of people with all black on talking. It doesn’t always seem like a sad time and most of the time when I walk by people are smiling and laughing. One of the funerals that I have attended there was the funeral of a suicide victim who committed suicide in the 8th grade. There were a lot of middle school students. I feel like the colors and layout of the room made it so that the room had no dark connotations. It seemed like things were white and gold and there was a monitor with pictures of the girl. Everything seemed to be like it was trying to connote heaven or a happier afterlife. There were a few crosses in different places and there was a small waterfall which is what I noticed the most. All of these things remind me of peace and the perfect place to go for utter peace is heaven. The interview was not in the funeral home it was outside of it. I think the highlights of this interview were his first response because it was the one where his voice was the most passionate. This might have been from sincere passion or it could have sounded differently because throughout the interview maybe I got more boring. Either way it seemed like he liked talking about himself more than his grandfather. His grandfather has become increasing ill with Alzheimer’s and I think bringing his father up might have reminded him of this. He however had a lot of ideas about his own death though.
Going into this interview I didn’t really expect anything out of the ordinary. I wish that I would have watched the movie that we watched in class before I interviewed him because that would have made for some interesting conversation. He agrees with me for the most part though. I want to have a funeral because I feel like it is fitting for people to remember me if they want to remember me all at once and get it out the way. It was the way I was raised and funerals, though not very happy can be very nice and bring people to peace with the idea that the person is dead. He also said people should have the choice to what they want to do. The response makes me think about the home funerals from the movie “A Family Undertaking’. People in 5 out of 50 states are not allowed to have home funerals and care for their own dead one of those being New York. Probably making this a fitting place to have a Funeral Home that seems very welcoming and in a nice part of the neighborhood. When the government puts restrictions such as this it brings up questions.
• Why are people allowed to take care of their own dead in 45 states but not the other 5 states?
• How do funeral directors feel about the cost of the funeral? Does the price show they are not about the satisfaction of the people but size of the wallet?
• What do funeral directors thing about home funerals?
• How did cemeteries get a bad connotation (ex: ghost, fear)?
• What made funerals become more successful than other forms of care of the dead?
• How can I use Benta’s Funeral Home as a way to further understand care of the dead?
Saturday, May 7, 2011
HW 52
Christopher R
PRECIS: During the last third of my book I wrote about some alternative ways for dead bodies to be treated. These ideas were probably the most unspoken of ways that bodies can be handled when people die. The end covers having your body used as compost, having your head decapitated and the functions after decapitations and being cooked into a dumpling. I end the book by talking about what I will do with my own body after I become the cavader that I write about.
QUOTES: “On May 21, Guthrie succeeded in grafting one dog’s head onto the side of another’s neck, creating the world’s first manmade two headed dog” (Roach 207)
“The donor’s head eagerly drank water or milk, and tugged as if it was trying to separate itself from the recipient’s body” (Roach 208)
“Diego River in his memoir ‘the eating of human flesh will be sanction. For then man will have thrown off all of his superstitions and irrational taboos” (Roach 236)
“I am told, cultures in Central America that actually ranched humans—kept enemy soldiers captive for a while to fatten them up—it was not practical to do so, because you had to give up more food to feed them than you’d gain in the end by eating them” (Roach 245)
“She returns to the clod. “Compost should not be ugly,” she is saying. “It should be lovley, it should be romantic” (Roach 263)
“For similary dumb narcissistic reasons, I also once wanted to spend my eternity at Harvard Once cemetery “ (Roach 294)
PARAGRAPH: I think the revelation of this book comes at the end when the author is talking about what she wants done with her body when she dies. She writes a 300 page book that offers completely different and ways that are rarely thought of and decided that what would be done with her body is whatever her husband wants. It seems like in the other books especially Omnivore’s Dilemma the author actually did more about the topic they were writing about. Michael Pollan decides to try to be a hunter gather at the end of his book using a lot of the topics and arguments that he brought up to try something else. The thesis seemed to be death doesn’t have to be boring and when the author talks about different things such as cannibalism, cremation, decay, donating the body to science are all things that are more interesting ways to use the body. Even a funeral can be more interesting than making a book which talks about alternatives and deciding to leave this to your husband. Before reading this book I did interviews with peers and thought that saying you want your spouse or family to choose is probably the wrong idea, assuming you don’t know what happens to your body when you die and your body doesn’t affect any sort of afterlife then I guess it would be okay. However no one ever actually knows so I would think a person’s last request would be what to do with their body. This should be respected in my opinon. Although Mary Roach can’t die and try to see differences in the is done with the body I think a well thought out plan and conclusion would have been a good ending to a 300 page book that offers many alternatives.
PRECIS: During the last third of my book I wrote about some alternative ways for dead bodies to be treated. These ideas were probably the most unspoken of ways that bodies can be handled when people die. The end covers having your body used as compost, having your head decapitated and the functions after decapitations and being cooked into a dumpling. I end the book by talking about what I will do with my own body after I become the cavader that I write about.
QUOTES: “On May 21, Guthrie succeeded in grafting one dog’s head onto the side of another’s neck, creating the world’s first manmade two headed dog” (Roach 207)
“The donor’s head eagerly drank water or milk, and tugged as if it was trying to separate itself from the recipient’s body” (Roach 208)
“Diego River in his memoir ‘the eating of human flesh will be sanction. For then man will have thrown off all of his superstitions and irrational taboos” (Roach 236)
“I am told, cultures in Central America that actually ranched humans—kept enemy soldiers captive for a while to fatten them up—it was not practical to do so, because you had to give up more food to feed them than you’d gain in the end by eating them” (Roach 245)
“She returns to the clod. “Compost should not be ugly,” she is saying. “It should be lovley, it should be romantic” (Roach 263)
“For similary dumb narcissistic reasons, I also once wanted to spend my eternity at Harvard Once cemetery “ (Roach 294)
PARAGRAPH: I think the revelation of this book comes at the end when the author is talking about what she wants done with her body when she dies. She writes a 300 page book that offers completely different and ways that are rarely thought of and decided that what would be done with her body is whatever her husband wants. It seems like in the other books especially Omnivore’s Dilemma the author actually did more about the topic they were writing about. Michael Pollan decides to try to be a hunter gather at the end of his book using a lot of the topics and arguments that he brought up to try something else. The thesis seemed to be death doesn’t have to be boring and when the author talks about different things such as cannibalism, cremation, decay, donating the body to science are all things that are more interesting ways to use the body. Even a funeral can be more interesting than making a book which talks about alternatives and deciding to leave this to your husband. Before reading this book I did interviews with peers and thought that saying you want your spouse or family to choose is probably the wrong idea, assuming you don’t know what happens to your body when you die and your body doesn’t affect any sort of afterlife then I guess it would be okay. However no one ever actually knows so I would think a person’s last request would be what to do with their body. This should be respected in my opinon. Although Mary Roach can’t die and try to see differences in the is done with the body I think a well thought out plan and conclusion would have been a good ending to a 300 page book that offers many alternatives.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
HW 51 - Second Third of COTD Book
PRECIS
The next part of my book focuses on the ways that cavaders are helping people to study. There are different researchers that use cavaders to figure out things about the human body that can be applied to the living. All parts of the body can be used for science, I recall a part where I search for penis's not looking to find any results, and instead found thousands of responses. I encountered a doctored who used bodies for crucification experiments. People who are able to tell what happened on plane crashes through the body recovered. Speaking to the idea that death doesn't have to be boring, in death you might be able to be a result in science.
QUOTES
"There were the urologist from Seattle investigating the distribution pattern of dorsal nerves along the penile shaft. There were the French anatomist injecting red liquid latex into penile arteries to study. (123)"
"Little is known about our Dr. Barbet, except that he became very devoted, possibly a little too devoted, to proving the authenticity of the Shroud. One day soon, he would find himself up in his lab pounding nails into the hands and feet of an elfin. (154)"
"This time he put one arm, nailed it 1/3 inch of the way in. Then put 100 pounds of weight attached to it (half of the body weight of someone about 6 feet (156)"
"The heart was the only organ left inside a mummified corpse. (168)"
"The trick to designing body armor is to make it thick and unyielding enough to stop bullets without making it so heavy and hot and uncomfortable that officers won't wear it. (144)"
PARAGRAPH
I think the part that was the most funny out of this third of the book was the part about penis' (pause). Not because it was about penis' but because this is one of the parts of the body that I wouldn't imagine there be any use for. A lot of the things that have to do with penis' in life are related to sex and many focuses of sex are ways to stop STD's. When reading this portion of the book and the author looks up cavader and penis' I would imagine that there would be limited responses, just because I would imagine there be limited uses for them. However the author comes up with this line, "There were the urologist from Seattle investigating the distribution pattern of dorsal nerves along the penile shaft. There were the French anatomist injecting red liquid latex into penile arteries to study". There were a few lines after this and these test also came with different numbers of house many penis' were needed. The funny part about this was I never thought about all the uses that a dead body could have but now this book teaches that not only is there uses for these bodies but even a part of the body that I would find the least useful on a dead person.
The next part of my book focuses on the ways that cavaders are helping people to study. There are different researchers that use cavaders to figure out things about the human body that can be applied to the living. All parts of the body can be used for science, I recall a part where I search for penis's not looking to find any results, and instead found thousands of responses. I encountered a doctored who used bodies for crucification experiments. People who are able to tell what happened on plane crashes through the body recovered. Speaking to the idea that death doesn't have to be boring, in death you might be able to be a result in science.
QUOTES
"There were the urologist from Seattle investigating the distribution pattern of dorsal nerves along the penile shaft. There were the French anatomist injecting red liquid latex into penile arteries to study. (123)"
"Little is known about our Dr. Barbet, except that he became very devoted, possibly a little too devoted, to proving the authenticity of the Shroud. One day soon, he would find himself up in his lab pounding nails into the hands and feet of an elfin. (154)"
"This time he put one arm, nailed it 1/3 inch of the way in. Then put 100 pounds of weight attached to it (half of the body weight of someone about 6 feet (156)"
"The heart was the only organ left inside a mummified corpse. (168)"
"The trick to designing body armor is to make it thick and unyielding enough to stop bullets without making it so heavy and hot and uncomfortable that officers won't wear it. (144)"
PARAGRAPH
I think the part that was the most funny out of this third of the book was the part about penis' (pause). Not because it was about penis' but because this is one of the parts of the body that I wouldn't imagine there be any use for. A lot of the things that have to do with penis' in life are related to sex and many focuses of sex are ways to stop STD's. When reading this portion of the book and the author looks up cavader and penis' I would imagine that there would be limited responses, just because I would imagine there be limited uses for them. However the author comes up with this line, "There were the urologist from Seattle investigating the distribution pattern of dorsal nerves along the penile shaft. There were the French anatomist injecting red liquid latex into penile arteries to study". There were a few lines after this and these test also came with different numbers of house many penis' were needed. The funny part about this was I never thought about all the uses that a dead body could have but now this book teaches that not only is there uses for these bodies but even a part of the body that I would find the least useful on a dead person.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Homework 49 - Comments on Break Homework
To JASPER
Hey Jasper,
I think that you have a good blog post. The different interviews do bring different points up, and it is clear that there are different ideas on the way "correct" care of the dead is to be done. I like that you talked about you're ideas though when analyzing this. I think something that some people could have miss understood (like myself) about this blog is only analyzing what people said. This is good but there needs to be what the blogger thinks about the topic incorporated as well. This is your blog of course. So I think that and the comparison between your view, the first person's view and the third persons view. The second person slacked
To AMHARA
I liked this blog post because you decided to use your grandparents instead of friends, cousins, parents or something like that. I feel like this is one of the more unique blog posts because it has the point of view of a grandparent who has obviously been alive longer then a parent, a cousin, or a friend. The only thing that that I would suggest for you to have done would have been list the questions. I kind of wanted to know what you asked them because you said "Perhaps the deaths that he held closest to him were the deaths of his parents. His father was a marine in WW2 and was given a veteran burial plot because of it". I just wanted to know where this came up in the conversation it is something that I wanted to know more about because "insight" is overused in this course. Interest is what I think everyone should go for, and i enjoyed reading this however I thought with a few minor things it could have been very interesting.
To SOPHIA
I think the most interesting part of your blog (because I think the idea of insight is to overused, why be insightful when we can be interesting). I have to agree with a lot of what your aunt "M" said in popular media it is seen as "death is scary and cold, full of ghouls, ghosts, and dread" and it is also something that has been taken and turned into something we don't learn or talk about. And I like the rest of your blog but as i type this I find out "Osama Bin Laden is dead" which I don't believe because I don't believe what these people say. However I find it interesting that everyone on Facebook even myself feel like this is something to update. The idea that your aunt talked about is very interesting and I feel like it is something that we should cover in class.
From JASPER (protege)
I liked your blog post because even though you didn't know much about the care of the dead you still found some topics to go into which I found to be very interesting.. I liked how you talked about how being around someone dead at a funeral brings up death which is often pushed off to the very back of everyones mind. This made me think: would it even be possible to live without having death pushed off to the back of your mind? I also like how you talk about the affect of death on other people because I think that's a very important thing when thinking about care of the dead. When you die you're gone, it's the people around you that are going to be affected and have to keep living.
FROM AMHARA
I like your honest approach to what you do and don't know. Somethings you can think about to go past your initial thoughts are what goes behind organizing a funeral and why are they organized the way they are? Considering every way a body is handled after it is dead as "care for the dead" is a good mindset to have because there are intentions for everything we choose to do and the body is involved in every situation. I think it was very important when you stated:"thinking about someone who has died makes you wonder about your own death." because it seems to be the general reaction of everyone. I wonder why that is usually the initial reaction after someone has died rather than thinking about the person as a whole.
FROM SOPHIA
I agree with Amhara - I liked that you were honest about not having much experience with the topic. I also liked that you still had ideas about it; this part was especially perceptive:
"Personally I have a fear of death because I always wonder how it would affect my mother if I died. It’s hard to face the fact that the people we have set up relationships with already in this world can go away instantly. In this sense it seems like the dead are treated terribly, once dead we burn and bury them never to be seen again. Not able to push them back in memory but able to push them physically off the earth."
You got at the idea that the way we care for the dead is actually sort of cruel; we shove them away and try not to think about them. This is something I hadn't previously considered
FROM ISABEL (upper person)
Hi Chris, I think this is a very good post but I don't think this is your best post! One of the other posts that I like was the interview post. I think that the best part of this post was that you do a good job at getting all of your ideas out their and make it so that you speak in a way that you want to learn. The only thing that I wanted for you to do in this post was talk about where some of these questions came from. This probably could have given you a higher grade. Good luck Chris.
Hey Jasper,
I think that you have a good blog post. The different interviews do bring different points up, and it is clear that there are different ideas on the way "correct" care of the dead is to be done. I like that you talked about you're ideas though when analyzing this. I think something that some people could have miss understood (like myself) about this blog is only analyzing what people said. This is good but there needs to be what the blogger thinks about the topic incorporated as well. This is your blog of course. So I think that and the comparison between your view, the first person's view and the third persons view. The second person slacked
To AMHARA
I liked this blog post because you decided to use your grandparents instead of friends, cousins, parents or something like that. I feel like this is one of the more unique blog posts because it has the point of view of a grandparent who has obviously been alive longer then a parent, a cousin, or a friend. The only thing that that I would suggest for you to have done would have been list the questions. I kind of wanted to know what you asked them because you said "Perhaps the deaths that he held closest to him were the deaths of his parents. His father was a marine in WW2 and was given a veteran burial plot because of it". I just wanted to know where this came up in the conversation it is something that I wanted to know more about because "insight" is overused in this course. Interest is what I think everyone should go for, and i enjoyed reading this however I thought with a few minor things it could have been very interesting.
To SOPHIA
I think the most interesting part of your blog (because I think the idea of insight is to overused, why be insightful when we can be interesting). I have to agree with a lot of what your aunt "M" said in popular media it is seen as "death is scary and cold, full of ghouls, ghosts, and dread" and it is also something that has been taken and turned into something we don't learn or talk about. And I like the rest of your blog but as i type this I find out "Osama Bin Laden is dead" which I don't believe because I don't believe what these people say. However I find it interesting that everyone on Facebook even myself feel like this is something to update. The idea that your aunt talked about is very interesting and I feel like it is something that we should cover in class.
From JASPER (protege)
I liked your blog post because even though you didn't know much about the care of the dead you still found some topics to go into which I found to be very interesting.. I liked how you talked about how being around someone dead at a funeral brings up death which is often pushed off to the very back of everyones mind. This made me think: would it even be possible to live without having death pushed off to the back of your mind? I also like how you talk about the affect of death on other people because I think that's a very important thing when thinking about care of the dead. When you die you're gone, it's the people around you that are going to be affected and have to keep living.
FROM AMHARA
I like your honest approach to what you do and don't know. Somethings you can think about to go past your initial thoughts are what goes behind organizing a funeral and why are they organized the way they are? Considering every way a body is handled after it is dead as "care for the dead" is a good mindset to have because there are intentions for everything we choose to do and the body is involved in every situation. I think it was very important when you stated:"thinking about someone who has died makes you wonder about your own death." because it seems to be the general reaction of everyone. I wonder why that is usually the initial reaction after someone has died rather than thinking about the person as a whole.
FROM SOPHIA
I agree with Amhara - I liked that you were honest about not having much experience with the topic. I also liked that you still had ideas about it; this part was especially perceptive:
"Personally I have a fear of death because I always wonder how it would affect my mother if I died. It’s hard to face the fact that the people we have set up relationships with already in this world can go away instantly. In this sense it seems like the dead are treated terribly, once dead we burn and bury them never to be seen again. Not able to push them back in memory but able to push them physically off the earth."
You got at the idea that the way we care for the dead is actually sort of cruel; we shove them away and try not to think about them. This is something I hadn't previously considered
FROM ISABEL (upper person)
Hi Chris, I think this is a very good post but I don't think this is your best post! One of the other posts that I like was the interview post. I think that the best part of this post was that you do a good job at getting all of your ideas out their and make it so that you speak in a way that you want to learn. The only thing that I wanted for you to do in this post was talk about where some of these questions came from. This probably could have given you a higher grade. Good luck Chris.
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