Activities
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Select two works of art
(sculpture or painting) and describe the painting in terms of: content of
death or dying theme; the expression of the dying ritual, and the cultural
meaning given to death in the art work.
Only one of the works you select could be from the Ancient Egyptian section.
The report should be no longer than two pages, double spaced type. You may include a post card or Zerox (taken from an art book) on your selections if they are available.
Select a cemetery nearby your homes that dates from the late 17th or 18th
centuries. Give a brief description of the cemetery (its location in
reference to the town, and its over style and size). Select three
tombstones and record the:
content of epitaphs
design of tombstone
artistic/decorative style
Take note of the age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, etc. listed on these tombstones.
How do they differ from cemeteries you visit today with your families. Three designs prevailed during 1720-1820 (the Death's Head as a symbol of orthodox Puritanism; the Cherub as a heresy icon for the orthodox; and the Urn and Willow as a more secular and liberal attitude toward death and dying).
Include in your analysis an introduction on the cultural meaning and social function of cemeteries during this period. (You may have to refer to the text or a library book for this information.)
Please have no more than two pages. You may include photographs and the complete epitaph as examples of your analysis.
Among the ironies of the modern age is this: most of us have much less
personal experience with death than did our grandparents, but most of us
have seen more "deaths" than our grandparents. How is this
possible? Television! The regular fare of TV includes murders, suicides,
and stories of fatal illnesses -- some fictionalized in TV dramas, others
covered in excruciating detail on the news. For most of us TV is where we
learn about death. But what do we learn?
In order to explore the world of TV death watch three hours of television. But not just any three hours. Watch 1 hour of news, 1 hour of drama, and one hour of cartoons. Because there is not time enough to do a complete survey of television programming, you must choose shows where it is likely that a death will occur. This will be no problem on news shows, but you must be selective on dramas and cartoons (i.e. avoid the "Care Bears").
Begin by documenting the deaths shown: explain how they occurred, how they were portrayed, the reactions of those around, etc. Next, contrast the portrayal of death in each medium -- news, drama, cartoon and move on to compare these with other, and with what you are learning about death, and (if possible) with your personal experience of death. Note: You must give equal space to the three types of media -- eg. do not spend more time analyzing cartoons!
Conclude by doing a little social analysis of TV death. Which channels show more death (networks, independents, PBS)? What types of programs (popular with which social classes) deal with death? Does treatment of death vary with targeted audience? Is there a relationship between sponsor and treatment of death? Do sport shows capitalize on the theme of death? Etc. (Taken from Short Projects)
We would like you to take advantage of the presence of many international
students on the St. Olaf campus. Interview three students on campus from
selected countries or subcultures different from your own regarding their
death customs. To insure that you are gathering compatible information,
you should probably construct an "interview schedule" (a list of
questions) to follow in talking to these students. Inquire about their
death customs and about their impressions and attitudes toward American
death customs. Use the topics in chapter 9 as guides in your questioning,
taking notes on their responses.
Begin your write up by describing the death customs you learned from your informants. Go on to analyze your data by looking for similarities and differences in death practices. Are these similarities and differences explained by location, religious background, political systems, economic systems? Do you find similarities in foreign views of American death practices? Are there any deep-seated similarities in the death practices of all people? (Taken from Short Projects)
In The Living and the Dead, Lloyd Warner says, "Just as cemeteries
reflect in miniature the past life and historic eras through which the
community has passed, so contemporary graveyards symbolically express the
present social structure." Warner claims that the basic elements of
social organization as well as conflicts within these elements, the status
of age, sex class, and ethnic groupings, the associational life of the
community, and the current status of the cemetery itself can all be
"read" from the clues provided in the cemetery. Go to a
cemetery. Take the point of view of an anthropologist, archeologist or
private detective. Your primary clues to the adjacent community or larger
social order are found in this place. READ the cemetery for these clues
(take notes, do not depend on memory). Using this gathered information
write as report on what you infer about the social structure, organization
and values of the surrounding community. The assignment will be more
enjoyable and useful if you pretend to be someone who knows NOTHING about
the society that created the cemetery. Cast your report in tentative terms
and realize that you will make a few mistakes. (Taken from Short
Projects)
Interview three persons about the details of the "feelings"
relative to some loss they have experienced. You want to know especially
how they felt at the time, although you may also be interested in changes
in these feelings through time as well as current reflections on past
feelings. PLEASE NOTE: The loss does not have to involve the death of a
human. There are many sorts of experiences which will be defined as
losses: death of a pet, breakup of a marriage dissolution of a love
affair, breakup of a friendship through conflict or geographical
separation, geographical separation from a beloved place, decline of
beauty or strength or vitality through accident, illness, or aging, etc.
INTERVIEW THESE PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT EVER THEY DEFINE AS A LOSS EXPERIENCE
AND ARE WILLING TO TALK ABOUT, EVEN IF YOU WOULD NOT DEFINE THE EXPERIENCE
AS INVOLVING LOSS.
Urge your informants to be as concrete as possible in their descriptions of how they felt. Do not, for example, be satisfied with such generalizations as, "I felt awful." Probe for the concrete details of what "feeling awful" was composed of. Explore also the various meanings of the lost object, person, place, whatever, had for them. LISTEN CAREFULLY. Take notes as they are speaking.
Using these materials and what you have gleaned thus far in the class write an essay on the loss experience. Try to collate your interviews to identify the generic experience of loss: What exactly is lost? What is the source of the pain of loss?
There are many avenues you might explore in this essay. Here are some suggestions. In light of your materials, consider whether it is justifiable to think of grief following the death of a well loved human as a phenomenon similar to grief experienced following the loss of a well loved home. Consider the experience of mass death and destruction in light of what you have learned from your informants about a single loss. Consider whether a scale could be constructed that would measure the intensity of a loss. (Taken from Short Projects)