Glasnevin Cemetery

lies near her feet. The head was place near the feet because was accused of witchcraft during that time period. The stone with her resembles that in a low-status burial, but is the wrong color for either males or females. After I had examined the cemetery multiple times I had noticed the…

Departures is an award-winning Japanese film about a young man who returns to his small hometown and works as an undertaker after an orchestra in Tokyo he is a member is disbanded. The Japanese name of the film is Okuribito, which means "the one who sends off" and describes Daito 's career as someone who prepares bodies before they are placed in coffins to be cremated. Daito 's job involves cleaning, clothing, and making up the person to the family 's liking before they say their goodbyes.…

Los dos Plebes, bodies were buried in a cemetery, but in Leña de Pirul, burials were located under houses. I think that this change to having bodies buried under the floor of the house relates to ancestor worship. I think that people wanted to have their ancestors’ spirits as part of their everyday life. There is no further evidence of ancestor worship, but this is the only reason I can think of that people would change from burying their dead in a cemetery to burying them under the…

Durham, a city born by the exploitation of slave labor on tobacco plantations and matured through the age of civil disobedience, sends its dead to the rural Maplewood cemetery. In her memoir, Proud Shoes, Pauli Murray described her discomforting childhood living near the cemetery and the permeating effects race had on her identity (Murray 7). While archaeologists such as Larry Zimmerman claim bones do not have "race" and question the inherent racism of academia (Zimmerman 61), Murray 's reality…

Samuel Butler once said, “Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace.” This was similar to how Emily Dickinson viewed death, it was not something to be feared, but something to be embraced. Many of Emily Dickinson’s poems focus on this theme of death. Emily Dickinson’s early life and encounters with death led to the themes of…

try anything. Out of all his tormentors, the most profound was the grave digger, who had hated Russel ever since he learnt that Russel was too scared to consider even crossing the cemetery. This man never missed an opportunity to mock him. It was a cold winter evening, just like any other, when Russel stared at the cemetery, contemplating walking through it to save a precious many minutes, then dismissed the idea just as quickly, as he imagined what lurked under the countless graves. And…

“Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” and movie Simon Birch, this quote not only becomes relevant, but it continues to be a theme in the lives of everyday people. “The Scarlet Ibis” tells the story of Doodle, a young boy battling with a disability all his life, and his older brother, who is damaged by his own pride and a longing to be “normal.” On the other hand, Simon Birch is a film about a boy, also with disabilities, named…

When I was only ten years old, I told my mother I wanted to be a funeral director and/or embalmer when I got older. Thirteen years later, I am still saying that same phrase, but only this time it is hitting a little closer to home. I have been waiting 4,745 days to finally be able to say that I am only one year away from achieving that long term goal of mine and I could not be more excited. Although I knew exactly what I wanted to do at such young age, I did not apply to mortuary science…

I do not remember exactly the particular day but all I remember was that it was very humid and the sky was cloudy. It was just a few days before I joined first grade and I had just arrived home from my neighbors. I was utilizing my last few days of freedom and hence was tired and hungry. I had rushed home looking forward to my grandmother’s food and playing time. This had been my routine from kindergarten and it never bored me to say the least. I was however shocked as our house was full of…

Case Studies Case 1: During my visit to St. John 's Episcopal Cemetery in Valle Crucis, NC, I came across an interesting example of a laser etched image on Charles Dotson 's gravestone. Etched on Charles 's stone was an image of the USS San Diego along with the inscriptions "WWII," "Bronze Star Recipient," and "Brother Our Hero." Initially, I could figure that Charles was a member of the crew of the USS San Diego during his life, and that time was a defining factor of his personal identity.…