HW 59 - SOF Prom 2011 & DSPs

        I did not go to prom. Mostly because it was not my prom. Partly because it was a thursday night and I was tired. I certainly would have attended if it was my prom. From what I heard it was a lot of fun. My friend from another school mentioned that she had a terrible experience at her prom. And that teachers were having more fun than students. I think that her experience demonstrates the negative parts of prom. She spent lots of money on cloths and spent hours preparing for an event she thought was going to be for her and her friends. 

Someone who attended the SOF prom described the after party ware there were no speakers and everyone pitched in a few dollars and they were able to buy speakers. This demonstrated unity that I liked. To me the purpose of prom is to spend time with and bond with the people you have been working with for 4 plus years. I hope next year I have a similar experience.

I do look forward to prom. I can only expect that it will be a mixture of the bad and the good. From the experiences I have heard about I think I will show up in a dress I already have and try to have a good time with everyone I know.

HW 58 - Prom Interviews

I interviewed five people on the topic of prom. The questions I asked were extremely different for each person. I did this because I know all of the interviewees very well so I know what questions would get a better response from who. I interviewed three family members and two friends. The three family members included my father, my mother and my grandpa. Only my mother had attended a high school prom out of the family interviews so her interview is longer then my grandfathers and my fathers. My friends included a senior who had just attended a disaster of a prom and my friend Sigal who is a 10th grader who has yet to attend a prom.

Dad:

My dad had never been to his own prom. He recalls possibly going to a girlfriend prom but he is not positive. His lack of memory possibly reflects the popular practice of drinking until you cant remember anything. Because of his ether lack of experience or lack of memory on the topic, we mostly discussed his opinions on the ceremonies. He stated that he believes that prom is just a party. He said that in the movies people look at it as a way of making fun of people. He did say that he liked the idea of partying for the last time with your class mates but he does think it can be over done. 

Sigal (10th grade girl):

Sigal had not put much thought into the matter prior to the interview. When I asked weather she would go to prom she said that she would if she gets asked. I thought this represented the typical view from many girls. Why is it that women are afraid to ask out men? When I asked her if she would be willing to ask a boy, she would be willing to ask a boy to prom but it is not typical. From this answer I figured out that she has the same feelings as many other people with regards to prom and date finding. Personally I would be willing to ask a guy to prom. It seems that Sigal has conflicting feelings on the matter. We then discussed how she thinks the media has effected her perception of prom. She states, "the media has made prom into a fantasy instead of reality. It is not always a perfect night, for some it is just a overly expensive party."

Mom:
My mothers only prom experience was not with her own school. It was with a friend of her brothers and it was a blind date. She recalls awkwardness as her date expressed anger towards the fact that she had gotten her prom dress from a thrift store. She particularly enjoyed getting ready for the prom but the actual party was a disappointment for her. I think this was because proms are looked at as good by party's and she did not know anyone there and her date was annoying her. She said she enjoyed getting flowers and a wrist corsage but she regrets going on a blind date. When i asked her what she would change about the American ways of prom she said that she would like to see kids go with large groups of friends instead of just with a date. She points out that it can make people feel bad who don't have dates. 

Emi (senior from non sof high school)

Did you go to your prom?

Yes I did. I went to my prom took a 23 year-old named ben. We showed up an hour and a half late. It was not late enough. It felt really uncomfortable. Until an other hour went by an people started arriving. 

DId you go to any after parties?

Yes but i did not stay out too late it was so awkward I had to keep apologizing to My date.

What social norms did you observe?

My school tried its best to abandon all of the social norms involving good clean fun. All of my teachers were doing cocaine in the bathroom. the two gay, one male and one female teachers start making out. Even though this made prom interesting, people were a little bothered by the teachers taking the attention away from their prom. Also everyone, teachers and students alike, were smoking cigarettes.

My friend never highlighted any social norms and seemed to have a completely bad time. With this interview I decided to keep it as is and not summarize it because just about everything she said was interesting. The concept of teachers taking over prom is truly bothersome to me. All justifications I have heard about prom have been saying that prom is a chance for the kids to say good by to each other. This was not the case for my friend. The teachers stole the show. I would be pretty angry if teachers started behaving this way at prom. Maybe its a double standard but I would understand if students acted this way its their time to have fun.

HW 57 - Initial Thoughts on Prom

  I know that there are people who think prom is a nightmarish industrial atrocity. I don't know much about that opinion but I am curious to learn more about those opinions. At this point I look at prom as the last chance for a grade to say good by in a social setting where the social life of the school is reflected more than the academic part. I remember watching a commercial for an MTV special on prom ware a girl said, "Graduation is for our parents, Prom is for us." I have conflicting feelings about this statement. As I mentioned before, prom is looked at as a way to celebrate growing up with out adults (except there are chaperones). And I understand that desire to feel independent and celebrate getting out of high school. My only problem with this is that in the statement, "graduation is for our parents but prom is for us" the girl is saying that she doesn't value the academics represented in gradation. Wouldn't an adult version of us be more proud of our academic achievements demonstrated in our graduation ceremony then our social achievements demonstrated in prom? Perhaps there is something in-between. Maybe the right of passage is not into adulthood but somewhere in-between. A faze of life ware we are expected to be mature enough to get by but not love our academic achievements. For many teens, girls in particular, prom is a way of demonstrating there financial maturity, as they save up for their one lavish night.

  According to USA today prom can cost from $400 to $3,000. I have a friend who spent $2000 on shoes alone. So that runs the over all cost of her prom to probably $5000. I have heard countless stories of girls saving up for an entire year for a fancy dress and shoes and the ticket in alone. I am trying to not sound cliche but its because of the influences of the media. More specifically media triggered towards kids our age. That ended up being a cliche. Woops. Anyways, teens desires to feel and look like the celebrities portrayed in the media is completely understandable. We are surrounded with it so why would we not morph into. That is the only justification I can come up with surrounding the financial part of prom. As for me, I have a year until I need to deal with it. I must admit I like the idea of being treated like a celebrity and partying with my friends for an entire day. Who wouldn't? I am probably going to use cloths I already have simply out of stinginess not as an attempt of making some sort of statement. One other idea I have considered is taking advantage of this odd practice and applying for a scholarship ware you make a prom dress out of duct tape.

  When I was about 11 I was at summer camp discussing prom with some of the counselors who would have been my current age. One was saying how she wanted to have an anti-prom party and the other girl agreed with her reason but pointed out that she could make money off of the tradition they were both dreading blowing all of their money on by applying for a duct tape prom dress computation. I have done a little research on this and concluded that it is real. They pay girls to make prom dresses out of tape. At first I loved this idea. I thought duct tape could not cost that much. Its tape but I was wrong. My long time dreams of creating a dress of duct tape were crushed by the fact that duct tape coasts $5 a role so that puts the over all coast of the dress at $200 dollars. I think if someone is going to go to prom and spend tuns of money on a dress with the goal of being as unique as possible, they shooed do it in a way where there is a chance where it could make them money. 

Questions:

What ways are there to save money and still go to prom?

What physiologically drives parents and teachers to wish teens around them to follow in their foot steps even if they are not close to them? Particularly with prom.

What is the teacher and parent influence on the prom?

Why don't people just have their one party's and not charge up to $200?

sophia (protege) said...

from sophia age 12
i think the when i die i want to be creamated and my loved ones to save the ashes, i dont want to be in a funeral because that is to sad. thank you
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Johnny,

You wrote about how funeral workers tend to stretch the truth to convince people to do things there way. The lie you focussed on was that embalming can stop the spread of disease. Hearing this was a little infuriating.

"Funeral industry members like to "stretch the truth" in order to make there clients happy by giving the body the best funeral possible as well as giving the body the appearance that it is just sleeping instead of wasting away."


This reminded me of the way typical birthing wards went about telling women in labor that cesarian sections are the best thing for there baby's.

Great post!
http://johnnynormaliswierd.blogspot.com/2011/05/hw-55-culminating-project-care-of-dead.html

Extra Credit Opportunities - COTD

xc -COTD1 cemeteries

The cemeteries I looked at were both Episcopal and extremely old. Majority of the graves were dated in the seventeen hundreds. The only people who walked through the cemeteries were tourists or people having picnics. 

The first one was in the wall street aria. It surrounded a church and had lots of trees around it. I liked how it was preserved and well kept even though everyone buried there has been dead sense the seventeen hundreds. It did bring up the question to me of weather it is necessary to preserve the memory of people who no one who is currently alive has any connection to considering that there is not enough surface aria on the earth to have a grave stone over every body that has ever been buried.

The second one was in the east village, also surrounding a church. There were less grave stones and the few that were left laid flat on the ground. It seemed less preserved then the other one. They did try to leave the feeling that it was once a seminary. 

If i would have had the opportunity to see a newer cemetery  there would probably be a completely different feeling. There would not be tourists out to see the historic churches. There would be a sadder feeling. 

Poems:

POEM#1  After A Death

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16788

Tranströmer , Tomas. "After a Death." Poets.org. N.p., 2004. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16788>.

This poem uses metaphor to describe the feeling after someone you love dies. It also seems to describe the typical cycle of grieving. The first paragraph created a devastated feeling. The third paragraph  describes the act of getting over death. The last part describes a "shadow" represents the soul. 

Poem #2 A Death Song

Morris, William. "A Death Song." n. pag. Famous Poems. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.famous-poems.biz/William_Morris/A-Death-Song-poems-and-poetry-by-William-Morris.html>.

http://www.famous-poems.biz/Dylan_Thomas/All-That-I-Owe-The-Fellows-Of-The-Grave-by-Dylan-Thomas.html

This poem uses repetition at the end of every paragraph. It has the line "But one and all if they would dusk the day." By putting this at the end of every paragraph the author adds a feeling of darkness. The poem seems to just represent the end of bright things as a metaphor for the end of a human life.

Poem #3 Death, Is All

Ana, Božičević. "Death, Is All." Poets.org (2010): n. pag. poets.org. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21911>.

This poem reminds me of the stream of conciseness because it demonstrates the authors thought process. It shows her saying bold things about death and then saying she agrees or not. She says "fifty present of americans believe in angeles and why should they not?" I like this quote because it feels less formal than the other ones.

Poem #4 Abortion Poems

Anstey, Billy. "A Fathers Pain." Family Friend Poems n. pag. Family friend poems. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/death/poetry.asp?poem=36673>.

This poem is written from the perspective of a man who's potential baby's mother, got an abortion and did not tell him until forty years later. This really bothered him. He discusses how much he hates her for killing both him and the unborn baby. To me it seems unfair for a man to hate a woman for doing something that was best for her life. This poem got on my nerves a little but it provides an alternative perspective to my own on the morality of my own.

Poem #5 Death in the Afternoon

Gonzales, Angel . "Death in the Afternoon." Poets.org n. pag. poets.org. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16957>.

This poem also uses shadows to describe death and dead people. It starts out describing how some deaths bother the author more than others. It goes on using metaphor to describe finding stability even during  time of mourning. This poem can help understand the authors perspective of death simply in that he believes in hauntings. 

Poem #6 About Death and Other Things

Ristovic, Aleksandar. "About Death and Other Things." Poets.org (2010): n. pag. poets.org. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21594>.

This poem describes the authors relationship with death. It talks about how he first thought about death as a child. He also discusses how he wants to kill someone. It is difficult to tell weather he is talking about him killing someone or someone dyeing. Perhaps the blurring of the plot is the authors way of saying that death happens to everyone no matter what causes it.

Poem #7 Undead

ilovezackyvengeance, (un-published online poem with no author except some sort of user-name). "Undead." poem mibba n. pag. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://poem.mibba.com/242168/Undead>.

I can only assume from this poem that the author was contemplating suicide. It talks about how someone is in so much misery she may as well be dead. The reason I picked this poem is partly because it is anonymous. This means that the author may have been using poetry to discuss his or her own feelings. It is a honest demonstration of what someone thinks of death.

Poem #8 A Refusal to Mourn the Death, By Fire, in London

Thomas, Dylan. "A Refusal to Mourn The Death, by Fire, of a Child in London." Poets.org (1952): n. pag. poets.org. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15381>.

This poem discusses the authors feeling about a child's death. It is written in the point of view of someone who feels that they should not mourn because it would somehow shame or kill the child. This poem demonstrates the stage of denial of mourning. 

Poem #9 Dead Brother Supper Hero

Dickman, Michael. "Dead Brother Supper Hero ." Poets.org (2010): n. pag. poets.org. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21797>.

This is about a dead boy who is missed by the protagonist. The protagonist discusses how he feels like he is with him and how he still waits for his little brother to storm into his room in his supper hero cape. The poem also describes how his brother is looking at him through the clouds. This poem demonstrates how people rely on the concept of heaven to mourn. 

Poem #10 Dead Fires

Faust, Jessy. "Dead Fires." Poets.org n. pag. poets.org. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19689>.

This poem contemplates weather living in agony is better then death. It talks about how people can be put to emotional death through pain. This is a short poem but it does bring up a good point. 

Harold and Maude:

This movie is about a strange young man who has an obsession with death. He loves to pretend to kill himself. He does it numerous times through out the movie. It was shocking the first time you see Harold pretend but eventually it just becomes funny as it torments his mother. He also loves to go to funerals as a hobby. The happiness of the character seems dictated by two women. His mother and Maude.

His mother puts pressure on him to be what she believes to be normal while she her self is abnormal. She is constantly trying to fix her son who has nothing wrong with him. His only issue is his hatred for his mother. Which is not necessarily his issue. It is hers. I think that the mother is symbolic of what the directer thinks of the typical feelings toads death in our culture. She is bothered by her sons openness and interest in the topic. 

Harold meets Maude at a funeral. He is at first weirded out by her but eventually he falls in love with her. Maude could be representative of a rebel. Particularly toads our cultures views of death. She says many things relating to the circle of life. She looks at death as something to be celebrated as much as life. After Harold announces to his family that he will marry maude, His mother freaks out and sets him up on many blind dates. But maude imbrues death so much that she happily overdoses on sleeping pills and kills her self. Some how the director makes this the happiest part of the whole movie. Maude changed Harold into a happy person by being happy about death which was his fear.

HW 55 - Culminating Project - Care of the Dead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L3bBby-Vb8

For this project I interviewed people I know and tried to figure out how they want their loved ones to care for their bodies after death. All of the people I interviewed discussed cremation and all of the questions I asked were versions of questions asked in the typical brochure on planned death. The one that I chose to use as a model for inquiring this information was called Dignity. The link above shows what I believe to be the best of 3 of the four people I interviewed. The first person I interviewed was a girl my age who I did not have the option to record her voice for the video.

Interview with friend, A:

My friend, A, decided to be anonymous. She also did not want a video taken because she insecure about being in front of the camera. 

I asked:

Do you know what cemetery you want to be buried in? She responded, "No, I want to  be spread somewhere after being cremated"

I asked if she wanted some sort of ceremony, she said, "I would like to have a wake, or something but then i want a party for people to enjoy themselves. My life is not boring so why should my funeral?"

That was the only actual piece of information i got from her. I did this so I would have something to compare my older relatives responses. 

Interview with (B):

For this part I modeled the questions after at pamphlet I obtained from a memorial service institution run by our guest speaker from the company called Dignity. Many of the questions are very personal things such as social security number and phone number which I found it unnecessary to include in the project.

Question #1:

What memorial park/ cemetery do you prefer?

No

Question #2:

Do you what to be embalmed? No I would like to be cremated.

Question #3:

If you want to be cremated, What type of disposition? Burial niche scattering garden Cremation garden or any other?

I would like to be spread at sea. It sounds like it takes up less space and use less materials.

Question #4:

Would you like some sort of plaque? If so what would you want to say in it?

No.

Question #5

Would you like any specific items to be placed with the remains? 

No.

This interview was with one of my uncles who is relatively younger. He seemed to be really decisive about what he wants. He also was watching a movie while i was asking him these questions which lead him being less interested. When compared to my friend who is my age he gave way more concrete answers. This according to the guest speaker means that his family will have less to deal with and an easier time mourning. This part of the funeral home typical practices I enjoy. If people care about there funerals and what happens after they die it takes that little stress off of their family's when they die. For B, he did not have a specific location picked out but he gave a general idea.
Interview with C:

               C also indicated that she thinks cremation will be best option for her.

Question #1:

It doesn't matter.

Question #2:

Would you like to be cremated or buried?

Cremated because I don't want to be trapped underground.

Question #3:

If cremated what type of disposition? Burial, Scattering?

I would like to be spread in a forest some ware near the town I grew up in. 

Question #4:

Would you like some sort of plaque? If so what would you want to say in it?

No.

Question #5:

Would you like some sort of things placed with your remains?

no.

It is surprise  to me how the people in the interview including C all said that they did not want any sort of plaque to be remembured by. What is the reason for this? Plaques are not particularly harm full, compared to other things.
Interview with D: 
Do you know the location you would like to be buried or placed?
Not particularly

Question #2
Would you like to be cremated or buried?
I would like to be cremated.

Question #3
If cremated how would you like to go about disposition?
I would like to be spread out in random places across Sicily. I think that would be a great experience for me and for who ever does spreading. I suppose I should start saving up for this. (jokingly)
Question #4
Would you like to have some sort of plaque?
No I am a pretty simple person. I don't need anything special. I don't want any memorials. (says the girl who wants to be spread around Sicily.)

Over All Analysis:


I also spoke to two other relatives, one said

HW 53 - Independent Research A

presses and analysis of nyt articles

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/in-funeral-industry-womens-presence-grows.html?scp=4&sq=embalming&st=cse

Lisa dozier first saw a dead person at her uncles funeral. She notes that she felt he looked peaceful and she wanted to assist other dead people in looking peaceful. Mis Dozier made a carrier of this desire and made her own funeral service. Her story is reflective of the shift in the formerly predominantly male industry. This industry has shifted seance the 1970s when a women named Dottie Hector began her training and started an organization called 100 Black Women of Funeral Service. Only approximately 15% of funeral school students in the USA were women in 1976 and now there are are slightly more women than men in funeral school. This surge in the education does not match the amount  of current funeral home owners. as of January of this year 14% of funeral home owners are women. This is because many families have been with the same funeral service for generations. It is a challenge for women to overcome this but Lisa Dozier has overcome this challenge.

Analysis:

 The article discusses a woman's attraction to the funeral industry. It discusses how she wants to fix the dead. This part seemed extremely odd to me. She talks about how she knows how to put makeup on dead people so she was an acceptable person for the job. This reflects our obsession with concealing the dead. For some reason it annoys me how she states, “A man would not know that you don’t put red lipstick on a 90-year-old woman,” Ms. Dozier said. “A man would not necessarily know that the tag of a wig goes in the back.” Not only did this point out a pretty disgusting aspect of our cultures ways of dealing with the dead but the woman is saying she thinks women are better at this strange part. 


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HW 52 - Third Third of the COTD Book

Precies:

As means of progressing into a greener world it may be helpful to look back in to some practices a eighty eight year old man recalls doing in the early parts of the last century. He reminisces about using a plain pine box as a casket for his grandmothers funeral. This practice of using a simple pine box is far more eco-friendly than the modern traditions of using inbalming fluids and processed wood for caskets. 

Quotes:

"it doesn't take me two minuets to walk down from the house to the little private cemetery where Sharyn is buried. But her body is inert matter; it's not her. But her memory is there, my memory for her is there, and that is the last place we saw each other. For me, it's a comfort to have her close by."

(harris, 243)

HW 51 - Second Third of COTD Book

Harris, Mark. Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial. New York, NY: Scribner, 2008. 70-123. Print.

Précis:

Many residence along costal regents of the United States chose to spread cremation ashes at sea. This costs thousands of dollars less then typical burials. It costs around $140 after cremation fees (around $1,000) to do a sea burial unless it is done independently. Another way of doing a sea burial is pouring remains into a statement mold and creating a synthetic reef. This causes up to $1,000 but is still considerably less then the typical funeral. Besides cremation there are other means of naturally caring for dead bodies. Some modern families chose to care for dead loved ones the same way Americans did it 100 years a go by doing at home. Traditionally, a corps would be kept out on display for up to 5 days in the mourning families house. This continued until the 19^th century when the funeral industry was born. Now it is illegal in some states (including New York) for people to conduct the traditional home funeral.

Quotes:

            Page 103: “from the chest down she had been covered with a home made quilt and a sprinkling of rose petals. In her hands, crossed at the chest, there lays a single pink rose”

            Page 72: directly after someone buries their father, “I was overcome with this huge, profound feeling of release.”

            Page 118: “The end is certainly sad, but my feeling was also that Mary was freed at last from the body that had been weighing her down and causing her pain for so long”

            Page 118: “Like that bird my daughters painted on the coffin, Mary could now soar away to a better place.”

Analysis:   

The middle section of the book was certainly based on what the writer thought was the more natural and holistic. In the first part of the book he discusses the negative industrial aspects. The tone of his writing switches when he talks about the natural care for dead people. Then in the second third of the book it switches. All the sudden he makes care of the dead seem glamorous and beautiful. He describes the emotional event that families go through when they are left in charge of their dead family member. Although he uses statistical evidence, historical evidence, and personal interviews as means of proving his point, the author still manages to distort the readers emotional reaction to the facts with his ways of describing the work.

I think what happens to the body should be left to the living to select because it can determine how people get over the death of a loved one. The family’s described in these few chapters demonstrate more compassion and approval of the way that their dead loved ones are cared for. The woman mentioned above from page 103 seems to be content and happy. But really she appeases the people who are viewing her. The idea of home funerals seems great because it gives families freedom to morn the way they want to. One thing that really bothered me was that home funerals are illegal in New York State. So many New Yorkers are deprived of the ability to morn in the way that they want to for there loved ones. I have decided to do further research on this law for my final death project.

HW 49 - Comments on Best of Your Break HW

For Johnny,
You interviewed two family members with different religious views and analyzed how religion effected their views on death. You also did a great job discussing ho I enjoyed reading about what your grandmother said. You mentioned, "The first thing i noticed about both my interviews is when I asked them what was the first thing that came to there mind they both replied by saying that it is a sad part in everyones life."
I also found it strange that she had an almost identical response to the question, What do you think of when you hear the word death? You would think that an older person would have had a different view on the topic.
To improve this project you could further discuss how religion effects the choice of how to care for the dead. What about the bible makes people chose to not become cremated? What about being underground do you think scares people?
Your work was insightful and I enjoyed reading it.


For Christian,

I like how you chose to ask general questions like "What are some basic views of the Care of The Dead that come to mind? 

This permitted your interviewee to respond in a verity of ways. This proves beneficial because they can answer in any way they chose. But because the interviews were brief i did not get a good understanding of why the interviewee felt that respect for the soul is important or why care for the body is an essential. 

I would recommend making finding the balance between personal questions and general questions. 

For Abdullah,
I enjoyed hearing about your families different beliefs on the matter of death. the question you asked was, What to do with bodies after there is a massive death tole?
You notated that you thought it was suppressing that one of your family members answered with:
“People should look at resolving the crisis instead of looking at moral beliefs and religious beliefs. If you do not have time or the man-power to figure out what everyone that died believed in, you don’t have to do it. Mass burials or even mass cremations should be executed.”
What aspect of that response suppressed you?
Over all your writing and analysis was thoroughly written.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From mentor (mom)

Sarah, Your blog raises some very interesting concepts about why people may develop different views and possible resentments toward religion in response to rituals for caring for the dead. I would like to know further details from each person you interviewed about their personal beliefs about afterlife. 
I’m curious why your friend was uncomfortable with the topic of caring for the dead and I can’t but wonder if it could possibly be an individuals way of dealing with death in their lives. Some people may have deep emotions about the topic. I had several friends die at a very young age and I was not comfortable talking about death until my mid 40’s.
Your question of “Why do people respect some people more after they die?” is great. It would be valuable to know each persons individual stories on the topic



Sarah,

From Christian,

I thought your post came across important points of view that are developed through a range of variaties, one in particular being the cultural differences in religion and its relation to caring for the dead. From the story and views of your father contrasting with your mothers is a interesting point of view, showing both sides of a "party" and how differently it is dealt with. I also thought your question "...why do people respect people more after they die?" is a interesting norm that I also wish to understand, from this I would like to hear your thoughts on maybe why?

From protege


i thought that your blog raised very thoughtful point is changed the way i felt about death usually i think that you come back to earth as a goast after your are done with heaven.

thank you great post
sophia

HW 50 - First Third of Care of the Dead Book Post

Harris, Mark. Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial. New York, NY: Scribner, 2008. 1-40. Print.

Precies:

Jenny johnson was a 18 year old girl who died. Her parents spent numerous fees on her embalming and funeral.There are a lot of environmental issues with embalming someone. After she is embalmed she is placed in a vault for burial The vault is a typical practice done to prevent the land from caving in after a person is buried. Beneath this vault is aBeneath casket. One of Two million that are sold every year. Large industries like this one create a lot of hazardist waste. Casket companies are at the top of the EPAs list of companies who are the most hazardous wasters. Some people chose to go with a more simplistic approach to caring for dead bodies, cremation. Alice Jenson died in a Philadelphia hospital and was taken to the Philadelphia Crematories Incorporation(PCI). PCI processed her body at a fraction of the price of Jenny Johnson's.

Quotes by chapter:

QUOTE #1

"Ushering the couple into the parlor's Hushed receiving room--- harp music surrounding the background, Votive candles burning on a pair of side tables--- Felding doesn't try to console or comfort his new clients."(p.7)

Quote #2

Felding "said die doesn't offer refrigeration because it won't make jenny look 'nearly as good as she could be' in the casket."

(p.9)

Quote #3

"Looking down at Jenny, Felding is satisfied. Under his careful hand, The young girl now looks at rest" 

(9.10)

Quote #4

"By the time Felding closes out the Johnson account, the sewage treatment plant in town had processed the one hundred twenty gallons of untreated 'funeral waste' the mortician sent directly down his sink during Jenny's ninety-minute enabling."

(p.33)

Quote #5

"I needed to know that it was clean and the staff would handle my moms remains with care"

(p.50)

Analysis:

The detachment noted between the funeral manager and his clients. He mentions that he does not try to comfort his clients. When you think about the carrier of being a Funeral manager, the only possible joy in the job would need to be making families feel better about loosing their loved ones or causing them to help shine light on the life of the dead. 

HW 48 - Family Perspectives on the Care of the Dead(This One!!)

I interviewed three adults: My mom, my dad and a friend. They all had various answers to the questions. My dad admitted that he thought there is no after life and how he was raised Catholic. "Being raised Catholic I developed a strong cynicism for it. The more and more it was pushed on me the more I felt it was a joke. All christians are supposed to 'turn the other cheek' yet the christians in charge of the government are wageing war! Also the concept of confession bothered me. I did not like how people were not accountable for their actions." It seems that his despise of catholicism did not enforce his beliefs of the afterlife but guided his views. This demonstrated an opposition to the way one of the piers I interviewed. She has been raised with christian values yet she has less resentment towards the way the bible deals with death. This could be because she is a young teenager and has not yet developed despise. It could also be because she has not had the same bad experiences with the christian religion.

         Both my mother and my father had attended the same funeral. It was a russian orthodox funeral about 16 years ago. The dead was my dads longtime best friend. My dad said that he did not get to enjoy it. He was devastated. He spent the whole time in a mourning, sad mood. My mother was also morning but was able to observe the cultural difference of the funeral. She said that she liked the beauty of the ceremony. Even though she did not understand a word of russian she found an "ancient charm" in the practices she observed. Comparing the ritual she described to a funeral I attended in california, I realized that the traditions were not preserved as much as it sounds the orthodox religion was. I can only assume that the funeral I witnessed was typical of american funerals.

        When I interviewed my friend he just seemed completely uncomfortable with the topic of care of the dead. He minimally answered all questions except, "have you ever been to a funeral"? Which he answered with, "Yes. A girl my senior year of high school died. I found it so strange how we all pretended to know her well and went to her funeral and mourned." This raises the question of, why does everyone respect people more when they die? Through analyzing his answer I came up with a few ideas on why. First off, It could be our cultures way of trying to get the dead spirit to not haunt us. It could also be trying to avoid offending the people who may have loved the dead. This idea is also proven by the death of Michel Jackson. He was commonly made fun of. All of a sudden when he dies the world is filled with, R.I.P Michel the king of music and my hero.

HW 47 - Peer Perspectives on the Care of the Dead

For this project I interviewed C A and M. All girls my age. Two of which are my cousins. I chose to keep them all anonymous.

C

1) What issues have you thought about involving the care of the dead?

I don't really know much about it. I know that there are a lot if fossil fuels waisted. I know that if you bury someone you have to buy a casket and dig a hole in the ground and it costs a lot of money.

2) Would you rather be cremated or buried?

I would rather my body be donated to science for research but I don't really care

3) Would you like to be an organ donor?

Yea, I guess.

4) Does your religion effect your beliefs on how you should be treated after death?

I don't think my religion dictates my beliefs on the matter. I don't think it would want me to worship the bodies in a wired way.

5) Have you ever been to a funeral?

Yes I have been to many. The most resent was my grandmas funeral.

6) What was the over all mood of the funeral?

it was sad when people were mourning. Every one was crying and I was the only one not crying. I felt pressure to look happy because i think people like seeing happy young people.

A

1) What issues have you thought about involving the care of the dead? 

I don't know. I think it is weird for people to spend so much money on coffins and stuff. It is a waste of money.

2) Would you rather be cremated or buried?

Cremated. I don't want to be under the ground.

3) Would you like to be an organ donor?

Yes. Because I will not using them any more.

3) Does your religion effect your beliefs on how you should be treated after death?

Nope.

5) Have you ever been to a funeral?

Yes. 

6) What was the over all mood of the funeral?

Sad, a lot of people crying. Somber and dark. It was more mourning over a death then a celebration of life.

7) How do you think the religion of the people effected the mood at the funeral?

They were trying to use the bible to make it happier.

M 

1) What issues have you thought about involving the care of the dead? 

Not much. What did my sister say? I like how we all get together when we die but I don't like the way we celebrate it.

2) Would you rather be cremated or buried?

Cremated.

3) Would you like to be an organ donor

Yes.

4) Does your religion effect your beliefs on how you should be treated after death?

It doesn't.

5) Have you ever been to a funeral?

Yes.

6) What was the over all mood of the funeral?

Depressing but everyone was trying to be happy. I was crying.

8) How do you think the religion of the people effected the mood at the funeral?

It was very religious and kept mentioning god and how they have moved on to a better place. But it was sad that they were not there any more.

Conclusion

Similarities:

All of the kids my age have not thought about the issues with the way we go about caring for the dead that much. All in deferent levels though. One anonymous girl who was taking this course actually admitted that she knew very little about the topic. The outer girls were more uncomfortable about it. One girl said, "what did my sister say?" But they all had one thing in common they had not spent large amounts of time thinking about the topic. 

Differences:

A and M are sisters who live in Florida. I can only assume that they have had similar experiences regarding family funerals and exposure to the topic of care of the dead. C is a girl who is taking normal is weird. When asked wether their religious beliefs alter the way they think about care of the dead M and A both said that it did not. C said that her religion would probably not approve of strange worshiping of the dead body.

HW 46 - Initial Thoughts on the Care of the Dead

Religion and Fear of death

 It starts as a child. Shortly after we are told that we will die, we start wondering what will happen after we die. We learn what could happen to our bodies but we are often told that our soul will do something different. Understandably, children believe the first answer they hear. I first asked this question to my grandmother who told me that I would go to heaven. I believed that for years. I also was haunted by hearing about the idea of hell. But then I began to question this and told my self the more comforting story, that we all go to heaven. As I  got older this story seemed less and less appealing. If we all go to heaven then I would be stuck in the same place for all eternity as bad people so both stories seem unsettling. The most unsettling aspect of the after life is not knowing. It would have been easier for my grandma to just initially tell me that she does not know what happens after death.

 I got into a discussion with a friend about weather it would be better to pretend to believe in god just incase in the after life he exists and will be angry. My argument agents this idea is that there is too many religions for someone to cover all ground just incase. Say that the ancient Egyptian gods are the real, Wouldn't the god's prefer that you are agnostic or atheist then christian? This question remained remains. I would like to learn more about how different religions believe god/the gods will treat non-believers in the after life.

 Through my 17 years of life I have never heard of a culture ware no one believes in some sort of after life. Why do all cultures come up with an answer to what will happen after we die? It connects back to children. We all try to believe a story that we will live for ever. It is part of being human. With the intelligence that makes us human, comes the curiosity and fear of what will happen after we die. I would like to learn more about the physiological effects of religion on someone. I have heard that believing that there is an after life can cause someone to be happier even if what there believing is probably not true.

Burials

 The only experience I have had pertaining to burials is my grate grandpas funeral. It was a catholic funeral ware we met at a church and the body was carried down the isle in a casket by 6 men. One man was waring a military uniform to the funeral. I wondered why he would want to draw attention to himself at his stepfathers funeral. Wouldn't you want to get people to be grateful for the deceits not for your military work? Everyone but the military man was in black and everyone was serous. I did not like how everyone was there to remember the deceits but everyone was sad. If you remember a dead person don't you want to remember the good memories?

Cremation

I have had almost no experience with cremations. When I went to Hawaii with my grandma we were walking on the beach and there was a funeral going on ware we encountered a memorial serves. The man who had died was having his ashes spread in the ocean. My grandmother and I gave our condolences and left. It seemed like a happier ceremony then my grate grandfathers funeral. I don't think one is better then the other but I don't want to throw a party just so i can weep for my loved ones. I want to throw a party like the hawaiian one and celebrate my dead loved ones. I don't know if it has anything to do with the cremation. Perhaps the fact that the body is not there helps them get over the death which makes it easier to think about the happy parts of the persons life. 

Questions

What present of Americans are cremated?

How does religion effect the care of the dead?

How does religion effect attitude towards the after life?

How has care of the dead changed?

Do all doctors dissect corpses during training?

What are the laws pertaining to medical corps dissecting?

Why do people object to being organ donors?

Why do people chose to be organ donors?

Who decides weather an unidentified corps is?

What is the standard practice of a family who can not afford a barrel or cremation? 

When does the police decide that an unidentified body is appropriate to ether cremate or berry?

Where are cremations done?

When did cremations start?

How long have cremations always been normal in the USA?

How are cremations done?

Whats the most eco-friendly way of caring for a dead body?

HW 45 - Reply to Other Peoples' Comments

For Abdullah,
thank you for commenting. I appreciate the critique and will keep it in mind for my next project.

For martha (mom),
Thank you for commenting. If you want more statistics on general birth I recommend looking at the book Birth by tina Cassidy. Or just the appendix of it. It has tuns of statistics that you may find interesting.

For amanda,
After receiving your comment i decided it would be good to try to find a mom who had had multiple cesarians. I found a blog about a women who had attempted a VBAC and a story in a book about a woman who had gone through a VBAC. It would have made my project stronger to include these in my project


Thank you all for the advice!!

HW 44 - Comments on Other People's Projects

Leticia,

Your project gave an extremely emotional personal narrative. You showed a parallel between your experience with the United States medical care and the standard prenatal storeys. 

You used your personal voice which made it entertaining. You balanced the use of informal language and formal language to create a persuasive argument.

"(What!...he just a dam intern, I thought Dr. Tanner is my doctor. I was mad)."

This was later used as a connection to how the system goes about prenatal care. You used this project not only to critique the standard practices of birth care in our countries but to critique the standard practises of health care in general.

Although your personal narrative was persuasive and apt, it leaves me curious about finding personal narratives from pregnant women receiving prenatal care. 

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Abdullah,
You conducted a throw interview with a social worker for PATH.

It is evident that you actively inferred things while interviewing. This can prove to be a struggle when interviewing someone. you show this when you say, "(I wanted to tell him that taking a mother to a hospital when her water breaks is not the best thing to do but I digressed)"

One thing that may have added to your work would be referring to the pamphlets that Mr.C gave you.


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Amanda,
You artfully use statistical evidence to demonstrate the deferent needs they have. You discuss the available programs and assistance they can obtain.

This could at some point relate to any girl that I know. It is a serious issue that you address well.

although your writing was very informative, It would have been nice to hear a personal narrative from a pregnant teenager. Yet understand that is extremely difficult to find.

HW 42 - Pregnancy & birth culminating project

The facts of VBAC:
The C-Section Risks:


Cesarean sections are in general unnecessary. They themselves are risks so one thing I wanted to evaluate was the risks of vaginal birth after c-section compaired the risk of c-sections in general. "Cesarean section is a modest risk factor for ectopic pregnancy and an important risk factor for placental problems." (Hemminki) Ectopic pregnancy is when an embryo grows in the wrong area most often resulting in death of embryo. Placental problems include placenta prevue, and abrupt placentae. The risks continue to increase with more cesarian sections. So if all of these symptoms are possible then the argument that VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarian) is a risk to the health of the mother is out ruled. This is because these symptoms sound more dangerous then cesarian sections.
"The overall maternal intra-operativecomplication rate was 14.8%." (Ham)

VBAC RISKS:

           The ratio of fulfilled VBAC plans compared to the uterine tare risk demonstrates that doctors must be putting unnecessary pressure on women to have another cesarean section. 60% of women who plan on having a VBAC deliver vaginally. The risk of complication is .9% respectively. This complication is uterine taring. What about the other 40.1%? So 40.1% of women in our country are denied the right to have a natural birth. 

IN CONCLUSION:
         There are negative results from both abstaining from VBAC and doing them. As demonstrated above, the risks are about even. I by no means am saying that VBACs are the only safe post cesarean section birth, but I am saying that doctors should inform their patients of the benefits of vaginal birth and the risks of cesarean sections. Doctors, understandably, simplify the situation for women. Before the 1980's it was once a C-section always a C-section. There are doctors who recommend vaginal birth after a csarian. But there is nothing in between. There are no doctors who point out the pros and cons of both options. I remember the younger midwife guest speaker saying that people should only tell pregnant women positive birth stories. By putting a sharp divide between the Homeopathic and holistic makes defending an opinion more valuable to medical professionals then the mother and baby's health.

Work cited:

Rubin, Rita. "Study backs natural birth after C-section." USA TODAY 6/29/2006, Print

"VBAC with Uterine Rupture - Our Story." sitearts (2000): n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.sitearts.com/rupture/>.

"Vaginal birth after Cesarean (VBAC) rate." Northwastern Memorial Hospital (1010): n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.nmh.org/nm/quality+vaginal+birth+after+cesarean+rate>. 

Evans, Joel. The whole pregnancy hand book. New York, NY: Gotham books, 2005. 484. Print.

Hemminki, Elina. "Long-term effects of cesarean sections: Ectopic pregnancies and placental problems." American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (1995): n. pag. Web. 8 Apr 2011. <http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(96)70608-7/abstract>.

"baby." google. Web. 8 Apr 2011. <http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liz7p8LlbM1qengdjo1_400.jpg>.