HW . 56

Larche

http://larchegnormalisweird4.blogspot.com/

The information you researched about home burials was very helpful to me because recently it has became one of the alternatives I was thinking about doing for when I die. One quote that I found interesting was “There’s something about touching, watching, sitting with a body that lets you know the person is no longer there,”which explains just how intimate they are.I also liked how you explained more in detail of what a home burial is because most people probably don’t even know or heard one before.

Megumi

 http://meguminormalisweird.blogspot.com/

I like your essay and all of the research you did to find out more on home funerals in New York. I also found it interesting that New York is the only place were a funeral director is required which I didn’t know. I’m wondering now though why was it so hard for you to find more detailed info on home funerals in New York, why is it kept a secret? Personally I think its something that should be able to be accessed publically.  
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Stephanie:

Your pamphlet was amazing, not only the visuals, but the material inside. It was nice to read about the alternatives and not only have a price range for each alternative but also a number we could call for extra help/ resources. It would have been interesting to read why you chose to pick those alternative choices to talk about instead of the others that might be available but other then that I thought your project was amazing and really helpful for when I think about my further plans when planning the way I want to be handled after my death.

Michelle:

Kristen,

You had a brochure with overview of each type of funeral: sea burial, home funeral, cremation and memorial reef, and it was nice to just look at a brochure on it like the ones given to you in funeral homes. I valued that you taught us more about the sea burial and memorial reef something we didn't touch upon much during this unit and had never heard of before. Also visuals for a reader like your brochure filled with new knowledge but a quick read, allowing the reader to not lose interest. A reason why this project matters to me is because it lets me know there are more options than having a simple burial. So that when I make my decision i have all this prior knowledge to help me make my decision. Only thing could have done was talk more about each burial on your post besides the pictures but other than that great job!

COTD2

 I watched the movie Harold& Maud and observed how they deal with death. Harold and Maud are the only ones that don't seem to have a problem with death and are comfortable with the idea of death and funeral unlike the mother.

 Harold even takes the idea of death just being a joke. In the movie Harold tends to joke around and try out different ways of dying around his mother to scare a reaction out of her. Maud is also comfortable with death and more relaxed about it, I believe she sad  "its a big circle of life" which shows her view which is were born and we all die life is just a cycle from beginning to end. She also tends to go to funerals and attend them as if its an everyday thing and shes doing it just for fun.

 I think Harold wants to die but he doesn't have it in himself to take the courage to actually go along with it and I guess that one day one of his jokes will actually kill him. How your able to deal with death might be impacted by how you are as a person because Harold is anti social and likes to be by himself. There's a quote I've heard that states "Its dangerous when someone is alone because all they have are their thoughts" and I think this quote is significant to Harold is because when your alone your mind can just wonder to different places and can take you to wherever and Harold was probably alone so much when growing up that he started to think about death.

Maud seems to be the type of person who is trying to live their life to the fullest or the best they can before their die. She has made her own way of getting "high", she drives fast  and without a care that when she could easily get into a car crash and die on the spot, she also tend to do other things that you wouldn't find women doing at her age."they grow they die into something else I would like to grow into a sunflower" this is significant because Maud compares the plants she see to herself and how when you do you will come back as something else which what she would like to happen.

Harold's Mom doesn't feel comfortable with death and when she sees her son acting "dead" she just ignores it like its normal which shows how she deals with death by being in denial and not showing any emotions. I find it interesting that when before he put on his act of being dead he put a mat down on the ground so none of the blood will get on the carpet. She doesn't feel comfortable with death especially when its really gory and bloody. Harold likes to play around with death so much and so comfortable with it that if he was to actually kill his self nobody will take his death serious or believe him they'll just think its another one of his jokes.

Harold enjoys being dead and he's scared of living feels like right now he's dead. Rather be dead and even took the new car he received and turned into a Hurst since hes "dead". Harold doesn't care about all the material things that the Sargent is telling him he will receive by going into the army. The only thing he finds appealing is the gory stories that he tells him about the killings he will probably be able to do when he joins and he's so fascinated about being able to kill someone and have no care about it.

HW . 55a

HW . 55b

For my project I decided to make a brochere of some of the alternative burials that most people dont know about or are rarely used. In the pamphlet it explains what the burial is, the cost of it, specifications and also tips to how it compares to the "traditional burial" of being embalmed and burried.

Some of the Alternative ways i wrote about are sea burial, home funeral, cremation, and memorial reef. A sea burial is when your body is cremated and the ashes are then scattered over the ocean usually perferred byt the navy or marines or those who have a found love for water. The next one was a home funeral which gives you the chance to take care of your loved one all the way to the end. In the confines off your home you get to care for the dead and spend as much time as needed with them compared to the "traditional" you dont have 24 hr. access. Another alternative I chose was cremation, since its not commonly used; the body is cremated and the ashes are put in a urn to keep around. This alternative doesnt take up land space or cause damage like the "traditional" way does. The last alternative I chose was a memorial reef when the ashes are put into a concrete reef ball that will sank to the bottom of the ocean.

HW . 52

Beth had a home funeral for her daughter Alison, who died from an impact of a air bag. Alisons friends and family all came to her bedroom to see her and bring gifts. By having an home funeral everyone felt closer to Alison and where able to spend thier time with her and say their goodbyes. The organization Crossings is ffor those who would like to be a death care midwife and Beth started it two years after alisons death.

• "To the degree that death can be ameliorated by love"
• "For more than a century Americans cared for their own dead as a matter or course"
• "By the third day the deceased begins to look like an empty shell and its often at that point that a family may be ready to let go"
• "The bouquets brighten this place of final repose but also serve to perfuse the room with a fragrance that could later mask any odors of death"
• "Later that night she'll sit in this room on the chair she setss next to the bed. In the quiet of the night, alone with the woman she held such afffection for"

Compared to the other ways to go about caring for the dead to me a home funeral seems like it deals with the spiritual part of the dead while the others were just the dealing mainly with just body. Home funerals are also less stressful and easier for friends and families to say their goodbyes. While in a funeral home you only have a certain amount of time to spend with the deceased before they need to be taken away to be embalmed and also you dont know everything that goes on with the body. While with a home funeral your in charge and you get to decided what you want to do or happen to the body which I think is easier for families because then their not worrying about whats going on or they could of said one more thing.

HW. 51

Why waist thousands of dollarrs on a funeral and flowers and to burry someone in a casket you'll never see again after about two days compared to cremating them which on cost an average on 1,400. Americans choose cremation because it cost less money but also because it saves land. Now before the cremation the body has to be checked for anything that will harm the crematorium or us lie pace makers etc, or mercury in teeth that can make us sick when relaeased into the air, and not always but its good to wrap the body up in something either a shroud or a box.

• 56 "even if ashes are buried in a cemetary they may take up less space then the average 32 square feet for a single coffin"
• 59 " printed with ALices name and cremation number"
• 53 "Incinerating bodies containing radioactive "seeds" used in some cancer therapies invluding radium 226 may spew radiation into the atmosphere"

I find it interesting of all the things that go in our body that we never really question. But i see here as these things are suppose to help us when it comes to certain situations they can then turn out to be deadly. Like a pace maker or the filling in our teeth to keep it closed when being cremated these things which were "helpful at one point are now very deadly and unsafe, which we dont really think of when we first get them. What you do to your body matters all the way til the end even after your dead.

comments

Ally:I agree with what you saod about the book that its noring but also that you never realized all that actually goes into when having a funeral and I also feel that certain parts family are being scanned with most of the things they are buying but the funeral directors get away with it by making them feel bad or sad.
Brandon:I didnt realy think that much or consider the part about how people deal with it so much that they almost become like a robot and are doing it as if it's a chore now. I agree with you on also how ou cant get mad at them for not showing you comfort because they deal with it all the time.

From students:
Ally:I like how you started to explore this history of being "haunted" or "haunting" and compared your mother and fatheres traditions. The traditions were more family based than religion based which is an example of the social dominat practices. I also thought it was interesting that your father already has his place to be burried picked out. Do you find that odd or is that normal to you ?