Semester Assignments and Due Dates

Writing Rubric

I reserve the right to edit these, eliminate or change assignments as our discussion progresses over the semester :)

Assignment #1

Death Narrative

Personal Experience with Death

Due 1/18

Death is a very dull, and dreary affair, and my advice to you is to

have nothing whatever to do with it.  W. SOMERST MAUGHAM

            Write a well-constructed personal narrative, describing one experience that you have had with death. or an experience that has shaped your views about death. Give as much detail as you can. You may want to consider the following: (two pages)

·      The sequence of events

·      Noteworthy words/events

·      Your feelings/beliefs

·      How would you like to be treated when you die? Why?

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Assignment #2

Funeral Societies/Alternatives to Burial
Due: 1/25

People always say “He died penniless,” as if it’s a terrible thing.

Sounds like good timing to me. –AL CLEATHEN

Contact one of the funeral societies in New Jersey. Think about the questions that you will want to ask BEFORE you call. Some of these societies may now also have web-sites. If they do, make sure to visit those sites and include any information contained in the site along with the web-address. What alternative options are there for "the end of life"? (these should include what you have found from the funeral society as well adoptions you could search on line).

-Write up a summary of the findings based on your interview and research. 
-Consider the cultural and religious views/implications of these societies and alternative options.
-Why do Americans do "death" the way we do?

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Assignment #3
Origins of Religion

Due: 2/15

      In the “preliminaries” chapter and the second chapter of the Metcalf and Huntington Book, Celebrations of Death, the development of anthropological analyses of death and funerary ritual are presented. Nigel Barley in his book, Grave Matters, states of the anthropological fascination with this “morbid realm” that:

      …Everywhere, death is part of a larger vision of life, so that what is supposed to be a window on eternity, becomes a mirror in which we see ourselves…notions of what it means to be dead are always part of a more general idea of what it means to be living in the first place and funerary behavior and beliefs around the world read like an extended discussion of the notion of the person.

      Think about Barley’s statements and the analyses by Huntington and Metcalf:

•      Discuss a ritual that you have experienced. See if you can dissect the ritual according to Van Gennep’s three stages of progression. This ritual can either be “religious” or “secular”. What function did this ritual serve? (Consider Durkheim-the role of society and Turner from class discussion)
• 
  
•      Why do you think, that one might claim that death ritual is the origin of all religion…possibly the origin of all culture? Illustrate your Points with examples. 

      Write an expository essay to support your opinions (think mi nimum 5 paragraphs here). You may want to consider the way that American and “other” death rituals comment on our culture.

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The Liminal Body
Assignment #4

Due: 3/1

The Liminal Body

            Considering the discussion of the “liminality” of the body discussed by Metcalf and Huntington. In our own culture, describe the many ways that the body has an ambiguous or dangerous quality, especially after death. Consider the following phenomenon.

1.     People’s attitudes toward organ donation

2.     The desire to have remains returned to the family

3.     The connection between body and personhood

4.     Images of dead bodies (I am thinking of the older traditions of ‘death portraiture’ that used to be common in our culture compared to today). Or even the images of death in the media.

5.     Notions of contaminating powers of  dead bodies in terms of how we handle them

6.     Is the body a resource? Stem cell therapy from fetal tissue?

Complete this assignment as an expository essay (give me at least 5 paragraphs, please).

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Living Will

Assignment #6
Due: 3/8

All of this reading of Mitford has allowed each of you to consider how YOU WOULD LIKE TO DIE. Of course, this takes into account many factors; religious belief, your familiarity with death, your relationship toward your family and friends, etc. Below is a sample of a common LIVING WILL.

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What is "Killing"?
Assignment #7

Due: 3/29

Can We Take A “Life”?

            Abortion, Capitol Punishment, Murder...many people find these actions to be “synonymous;” others make significant distinctions between them. How do one’s CULTURAL VALUES determine their position on these issues? How are these issues are viewed in other cultures. (Consider the xeroxed readings, Mims, “Citizen Ruth” (Film), etc.). What CORE BELIEFS seem to underlie a culture’s position relative to what constitutes “killing”?

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Euphemism: The Relationship between Language & Culture
Assignment #10

Due: 4/26

I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary 

notices I have read with pleasure. -CLARENCE DARROW

      Assignment should be written in a good expository essay form. Please include the actual obituaries with your analytical essay.

      After reading the poem Kaddish (and having read Mitford), 
(1) gather some obituaries from the newspaper and...
(2) talk about the way that euphemism is used in these obituaries, and
(3) in the "death"  industry in general. 
(4) What is the purpose of this euphemism? 
(5) Why is it that there are certain things we do and do not say about the deceased in our culture? 
(6) How does Alan Ginsburg's poem "Kaddish" violate these principles?