HW 58 - Prom Interviews

The younger person I spoke to said "Personally, I think of 'em as pointless." She went on to say "I mean girls my age will just buy a damn dress YUCK), and pretty much wear it only once. It's pointless, plus, prom is something I've never been to, and never will. Just too...well, proms are like parties, and I like a good party as much as I would like a grave yard. "

Someone close to my age described them "as simple fun. " They said If you don't like to dance then you can just hang out and chat with friends. Most proms have a quieter area to do so.She said at her prom they even had Sixteen Candles playing in the background for their 80's Hollywood theme . "I believe they play movies every year, though I can't imagine why anyone couldn't handle at least slow dancing with their date!"

Another person close to my age that I spoke to said "At my first prom I bought a pretty yellow dress from a hand-me-down shop downtown. This year I'm getting a new one, but not something that's like, 300 bucks." She went on to explain how way too drastic that price was for just one night, no matter how "special." 

Older person I talked to said "I didn't go to prom. I wish I was able to experience it, but it just wasn't in the stars for me. " She talked about how it's a rite of passage for all seniors in HS, as like a farewell to life as a young person and a leap into adulthood, tho she stated "thats totally overrated, being adult has it's disadvantages, believe me" Prom she said is a place to hang out with your friends one last time as kids, care free and just enjoying that last moment.

The last person I spoke to said "I really hate dances and all that i wasn't going to go because it was way too much work to find a dress and get all dress up for it but I actually did end up going it was pretty awesome. I had a really good time with my friends. I even did the whole dress thing even though i really hate wearing them but i fell in love with mine as soon as i saw it, might of been because it was black with white designs and not all colorful but its true i only used it once. i think what made it the best night was that i spent it with my friends and we always have fun together. if you decide to go believe me you wont regret it. you should try it"

HW 57-Initial Thoughts On Prom

What is prom really? To be honest I have no idea what the positives or even negatives of prom are. Up until this week, prom was one of the last things on my priority list .But listening around school,its definitely the number one topic. Everyday I hear someone whisper under their breath, "Who're you going with?" Prom has been slapped onto numerous places; from flyers to broadcasting of facebook there's no were to hide from the prom bombardment . Everyday I've been reminded of something that so unsure about.

With such overexposure comes a certain amount of criticism's. I was taught growing up that prom was very over exaggerated and now doing it, it certainly seems that way and frankly, played out. The idea of prom we are given is a dance where girls dress up in fairytale-elegance, like a celebrity to have the fabled best night of their life with someone they love.But real life prom is all to different , prom is more like a dance that ignites jealousy and sabotage,who will be the best dress? who will be the best date? where should we get the best booze from? Prom in many ways me is very shallow and petty.

But in thinking about it more there has to be benefits towards prom, cause if not it wouldn't of hung around so long, right? If it was such a outdated tradition it probably would have been phased out of our society already, like 80's workout wardrobe. In many ways prom is prom. Of course it can get bad but it's a memory. And its one I'm sure I'll treasure even if it turns out to be a less than momentous occasion.

HW 56 - Culminating Project Comments

Comment Left On Sam Blog:

Sam really great project. I found it to be both clear and concise.A all around insightful post, and I liked out you went in depth from a cultural perspective . One thing that stuck out to me was the length the Jewish faith goes into to try to preserve the body naturally. I liked how they choose not to embalm. In feels overall like a less industrialized process. Great work.

http://cakeinyoface.blogspot.com/2011/05/hw-55-culminating-project-care-of-dead.html#comments

Comment Left On Rigel Blog:

RigeI I really enjoyed reading your post. You really analyzed what you were discussing and made some great personal insights . I enjoyed how you wrote alittle bit about how we are all connected and we're constant energy Also how you intwine technology and death was amazing. Next time I think you should stick with a main idea and run with it, so you project is clearer.

http://riggleisweird.blogspot.com/2011/05/hw-55-culminating-project-care-of-dead.html#comments

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Sam j said...

Upon reading your post i was posed with the conundrum, what do i view death as? I enjoyed your skepticism because i feel like it is the most refreshing thing to hear a person talk about, it leads to better conversation then from someone who has set beliefs and won't budge from their ideals. It works wonders on people's thought process to be presented with multiple outside sources of information. I think that the story of the women who experienced death and lived to talk about it is a story that people should hear more. I think that if you were able to come up with a story of an opposing view point then you would really be going there, but who doesn't have an interesting story from a near death experience that they had? Aside from a few grammatical and spelling errors, i think that you had a good flow of ideas, clean it up so we can all share in them with you. Good post brother man

Sam

JavonP said...

Your elevator speech was one of the view I enjoyed and defiantly lead me to reading your Blog. Throughout this whole Unit the question that was tattooed in my mind was; What is death? I enjoyed reading your post because it lead me to more questions and answered some I already had. The evidence you had was great such as the near death experience the woman experienced. Your post lacked a few things but overall was a great post similar to your elevator speech. Keep up the good work.

 

Rigel said...

You have that deep voice that gets peoples attentions during your speeches, and the topics you talk about, are interesting, which is another plus. I think the transition from you in the beginning questioning life and death, and you having your own ideas of life and death is what really matters in this unit, using what you learned and now know to achieve your own ideas, is the best thing anyone can do. Because like most peoples views, especially traditional ones such as ones that are made from their religion, we all have our own interpretation on everything, so i like that you have you're own say. You're blog had a lot of good facts, that i didn't now about before, and you used own personal idea to define what you believe. Good job, and i'm interested in reading your next to come.

COTD5

Season 1, Episode 1,3 June 2001
On Christmas Eve, 2000, funeral-director Nathaniel Samuel Fisher is involved in a hearse-accident with a bus and is killed. His family must all cope with his death.It its interesting how death makes every ones life stop.Death seems to bring upon such a ray of different emotions.

Season 1, Episode 2: The Will,10 June 2001
Chandler James Swanson has a car accident, he dives into a pool and drowns and leaves his family with a mountain of debt. Nathaniel's will gives Ruth all his money, Claire an unwanted trust fund, and David and Nate the funeral business.It weird how a death of love one seems to do nothing but leave a burden, weather that be finical or emotional. We always talk about the death in terms of the person experiencing it but we seem to forget all the people it touches.


Season 1, Episode 3: The Foot,17 June 2001
While cleaning a dough-mixer Thomas Alfredi Ramono gets caught in his aide accidentally activating it. Nate agrees to sell the funeral home, with Ruth's support but changes his mind when he hears another's view of Gilardi so is forced to reconsider if this easy choice is the best one. It was interesting the family dynamics between Dave and Nate. Both of them have different views on whats right.But it seems they both have secrets and internal "demons"

Six Feet Under is a collection of the relics of lives that no longer exist and their effect on the one around them. I think what these shows where trying to get at is that these relics are an important because they are the only means by which we really remember someone, by touching something they once wore, made or wrote.

I feel the show provides depth without always true insights, but then such things are left are true in life. But especially in death , I find that I think will all get some great insights from death but sometimes that's not true. And I think that's what this show explores that while death is a heavy thing life still goes on after it. Sometimes you don't all of a sudden get this new awakening. The show offers a different way of looking at death, and I have to say it feels more alive.

COTD2

Harold & Maude is both a celebration of death and life. .Watching this movie you find yourself laughing without thought, and you finish watching the movie with a appreciation for life .Throughout the movie Harold’s mother attempts to find her 20-year-old son a wife through a dating service,but Harold is more occupied with pretending to kill himself in clever new ways.

After an appointment with a psychiatrist, Harold meets Maude, a old woman with more spirit than anyone hes ever meant. The two thought the movie discover a similar interest in attending funerals, and develop a friendship, which eventually becomes a loving relationship. Although this movie in many respects is a comedy, I would classify it more as a dark comedy because there is an element of seriousness that underlies the entire movie.This underlining factor being "Death" ,as Maude tells Harold, is just a part of life that every person has to accept.

For Harold, that acceptance comes through Maude’s free-spirited lifestyle. “Try something new everyday.” Maude teaches Harold how life is little more fragile, a little more valuable then he ever thought before. He develops from a pessimistic young man to a compassionate adult.He learns to appreciate the beauty of life around us , even death, as it just another role to be played.

HW 55 - Culminating Project - Care of the Dead

In the begging I started this unit with a lot of questions like what is death? How do we experience death? What about life after death; do we survive? These are just a few of the big questions I started this unit surrounding death with. In many ways these are the questions people have asked and pondered over for centuries.

Death in some opinions is the end of journey, for others its the beginning of a great. adventure. So the question becomes what is the level of consciousness after death.After countless accounts of near-death experiences, dating as far back as ancient Greece, science has now been taking serious steps to explore this idea .

A Cardiologist Michael Sabom described a near-death experience of a patient of his a woman who was having an unusual surgical procedure . The unusual medical procedure consisted of making the woman experience hypothermic cardiac arrest, in order to insure that the aneurysm at the base of the brain would not rupture during her operation. Her body temperature was lowered to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, her heartbeat and breathing ceased, her brain waves flattened, and the blood was completely drained from her head.

She had no cerebral electrical activity . Ordinarily at regular body temperature the brain cannot function without its oxygen supply for more than a few minutes. So by lowering the body and brain temperature to 60 degrees F, the woman was practically brain dead. The patient later reported that, apparently while under these “brain death” conditions, she had a near-death experience in which she was able to observe and hear details of objects and happenings in the operating room with accuracy.

Near-death experiences like this are some of the most common experiences. Experiences like these leave us with the question is their life after death.Life, in many ways, is a series of deaths. We are always moving from one experience to another. The point is: we are always moving, constantly dying but where always living. In this context death in many respects becomes a very natural part of life. We simply when we die move from one room into another, a passing of consciousness after .

I believe depending upon on which side of the doorway of life where entering we label this transition either birth or death. Death and birth in all respects are one in the same from the cradle to the grave. are basically the same process. Both involve passing of consciousness. The only difference is the direction of movement.

HW 54 - Independent Research B

In Christianity burial seems to be the preferred way to care for the dead. A fundamental reason for burial in Christianity comes from Deuteronomy 32:43, “And he makes atonement for the land of his people,” this phrase suggest that burial not only honors the dead but is a sort of penance for the living.Another biblical source in which supports burial is when God pronounces to Adam in the Garden of Eden that he may enjoy life “till thou return unto the ground” ,Also when Abraham declares at his wife's,Sarah, interment , to “give me a possession of a burying –place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” (Iserson, Kenneth)

There are several more arguments to why Christians prefer burial as the predominant way to care for their dead. But one big reason is the fact that Jesus was not cremated. Christian's attitudes towards the disposal of a dead body also greatly relies on what type of Christians they are. Mormons, Orthodox and Roman Catholic all disapprove of cremation while the Episcopal Church and other Christian’s denominations like the Methodist and Unitarians allow it.

There are biblical passages infact that suggest cremation to be the right choice for Christians. “In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For dust you are and dust you shall return”. (Genesis 3:19). There are many references in the Bible that support both arguments. That is why Christians don’t have a strict death right like many other religions. Modern society has had a big impact on western Christians aswell . So for Christians, it is not only the religion that sets the standard for death rights but also the expectations, standards and rules of society.

Christians unlike many religions for better or worse support embalming in their death rituals. One of the main reasons why Christians have allowed and even embraced the practice of embalming is due to the Civil War and President Lincoln. Americans,mainly Christan's at the time, wanted their soldiers to be returned home after battle. After an officer and friend of President Lincolns were embalmed, the president allowed embalmers to embalm the soldiers after the battles. This gave American Christians time to prepare funeral services and gather family. After President Lincoln was embalmed and put on display across the nation, American Christians chose to embalm. They saw no religious conflict with body preservation. Embalming is just seen that it would just prolong the inevitable. Catholics have no problem embalming, tho the Vatican has gone back and forth on the topic.

Embalming has been referenced about several times in the bible. In Genesis “And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father” and “forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.” Infact many bible passages contain graphic descriptions of embalming.

It seems that the decision of how to care for the dead usually begins with what the person would have wanted and the religious affiliation of the person. Unfortunately as a society we have decide to start a trend where death is viewed as a "taboo" and the body is taken and removed of quickly.There is no doubt that being in the presence of a dead body can bring deep emotion and spirituality. Having to dispose of a body is the best reminder that it is our fate. It is the only thing we really have.



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HW 53 - Independent Research A

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/314353/diy_funeral_care_for_the_dead_on_your.html

This article is about how people are choosing to prepare the bodies of their loved ones for burial and hold their funeral services on their own.


http://www.iccfa.com/blogs/todd-van-beck/2010/01/07/good-intentions-aren%E2%80%99t-enough-when-faced-dead-body

This article argues how authors who write about the death industry have no real knowledge about the mode of death, or how people die.

http://www.essortment.com/history-care-dead-21141.html

This article is about the tangled history which is the care of the dead.

What I got form these articles is it appears that most religions the body as sacred.It seems that one’s family and spiritual background is how predominately the method of disposal for a dead body is taken care of. Once death has passed, what do we do with the remains? Death rituals like are preparations for the deceased’s journey. The two meager ways we dispose of a body in the United States is earth burial or cremation. Also many of the articles point out that in America, we have the choice to embalm our dead, which for some pushes the boundaries.