HW 33

Comments I made:
Sophia: 

I think that you definitely came away from this unit with some strong insight.
Your best part was applying what you had learned to your own understanding, "I came to the conclusion that when people think about the fact that they are going to die someday, they want to do more and live more". I think it showed great growth from the beginning of the unit where you would respond to the text much more personally than general.
For example I went back to your first Tuesdays With Morrie Homework, and I found this in your response, "I couldn't imagine waking up and reading the paper and drinking coffee like normal if I knew I was going to die". Your analysis has grown and I'm actually realizing that my Homework 32 may not have grown out of a superficial nature compared to my earlier homework assignments.

That was a LOT of praise right there, but there's that cliche saying, "there's always room for improvement". For this post, I felt that you could have gotten a little more personal with the reader of your blog. Bold titles and sectioning work is great for projects or thorough research. Because you had a lot to say, but few words to say it in, I feel as though the bold titles removed the reader from exactly what you were trying to say and gave TOO general of a summary.

Jasper:
You've definitely got a strong insight into the nightmares of illness and dying; whether they are personal or general. You definitely answered all of the key questions surrounding the unit. But, with that said, there is something you could change about this post, which is wordiness. This might sound a little funny seeing as you have only a paragraph, but within your paragraph there are just too many words.
For starters, you begin your post with, "I would say the most nightmarish aspect of our culture's practices around illness and dying would be to be denied care when you're dying". While the point is made that this is what your paragraph is going to be about, it is a run on sentence and looks a little crammed together. Personally, I would change it to be more along the lines of, "Throughout this unit I discovered many nightmarish aspects surrounding illness and dying. In my opinion, the worst aspect in our culture is denying care to those who are dying". This makes your paragraph a little longer and also makes your sentence a little clearer. Overall, you have a good understanding and that's the most important part of this assignment; to prove you have a deeper understanding of the dominant social practices surrounding illness and dying. 

Comments on my Blog:
Sophia:
I like how you focused on one particular aspect of illness and dying. I had always noticed that too - the way people seem to forget about someone's flaws when they're gone (I wrote my ten minute play about that topic last year). I liked the way you said it:

"It seems to me that when a loved one dies, their flaws die with them."

I notice this a lot when I'm around my father's side of my family. Him and his sisters will always talk about their parents, and joke about all the quirky things they did, but they won't say anything they didn't like about them. They don't even really talk about their personalities; it's as if they're afraid to touch they subject.

Another part I liked about your post was the next line:

"But what bothers me the most, is that they all wait until the person has passed to express their affection for them."

However, I thought you were going to go into more detail, but I guess it's okay that you didn't since this was supposed to be a pretty short post.

P.S. Also, this all seems to apply to Looking for Alaska.

Jasper:

Zoe (9th Grader): 
the comment that i found most interesting was 'when a loved one dies, their flaws die with them.'
when i read this it made me strangely think of Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray. it struck me as something that lord Henry might say. i am not saying that you are like lord Henry who is a horrid person. i am saying that your thought is very physiologically analytical if that makes any sense what so ever. 

Dad:
What I found most interesting was your comment


"But what bothers me the most, is that they all wait until the person has passed to express their affection for them."


That was something I came to grips with long before my father passed away. I realized that our western culture dictates it's acceptable for a male child to kiss his mother but not his father. I decided that I was going to break with western "tradition" and show my affection for him. At first I was a bit apprehensive, wondering how others around me might interpret my affection for another male. But, hey he's my father so why should I really care what other people might think. After awhile I didn't even give it a thought. It felt good. It felt natural. It made our relationship stronger. When he was gone I was so glad that I did.


As to what you might do to improve on this entry, I don't think we "...never once touch on their flaws". We simply appreciate the good things more than the flaws, so those memories tend to stay with us longer. 

 

HW 32 - Thoughts following illness & dying unit

What might you do or address differently as a result of what you've learned this unit, individually and with your family?

This unit was a little strange to me. Normally I'm bored in school because I find nothing I'm learning is applicable to my life. While the food unit was really important to me (and I did find it interesting), the illness and dying unit really caught my attention. I might not have shown it in class, and maybe my blog posts didn't thoroughly show my thought process, but I felt strangely excited by the different things I could explore. I've also noticed myself being more aware of what people say, whether I'm on the bus and I hear people talking about sick relatives or family members reminiscing about loved ones.

Normally my family frames dead relatives in a positive light. Now, it's more interesting for me to sit around and listen to them gush over one's accomplishments and never once touch on their flaws. It seems to me that when a loved one dies, their flaws die with them. But what bothers me the most, is that they all wait until the person has passed to express their affection for them. While everyone is laughing and telling pleasant stories, as morbid as this may sound to some people, I tend to think of the person's flaws. I think about the guilt and insults that they had thrust upon supposed loved ones; the same loved ones who sit and laugh and tell stories now. 

I'm not quite sure what to make of all this, but I do think this was a eye opening unit; definitely into the dominant discourse of illness and dying.

HW 32 - Comments 3

Comments I made:
Sophia:

I think that you chose an interesting topic to work off of. I really liked the question and response section, but when it came down to explaining them I was a bit disappointed. Not necessarily with your analysis, but with the way it was formatted. I kind of forgot previous answers and had to re read them a few times. I felt that you could have given some insight after each quote to keep the reader thinking.
Also, the Author of Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Fear of Death is Irvin Yalom, not Irving Yalon.

Jasper: 

I think you chose a very thought provoking subject, and had an extremely good "experimental" example with the old man, but I also felt that part of your post came out of nowhere.
While it was relevant to the topic, you go from "went bankrupt paying for their own medical care," to "I was with Kevin"... I understood what you were going to talk about because of your elevator speech from earlier, but if I had no idea what you had said in class, I would have been like "cool...he was with Kevin".
You have the ideas and the arguments, I think that maybe a little bit of organization is in need, overall, good job! 

Comments on my Blog:
Sophia:

My first impression of your post was that it was REALLY thorough (showed depth/insight). You explained every detail of your thinking, and what led you to your conclusion that people have tried to make the word die have less of a bad meaning.

Overall, I thought you were going to go further with it (for instance, asking people what they thought illness and dying meant), but the research you did was really interesting.
 

Zoe(9th Grader):

you have gone into so much depth with this!
i find it very interesting that the originally definition of ill was to be evil. in all this is very nice work 

 
Dad:

I thought your approach was well thought out. I think it's safe to say that the concept of death and dying is something we're all bound to examine every now and then. Hopefully one doesn't become obsessed with the concept. Not being the most religious of persons, I can see Epicurus' perspective as an healthy way to deal with what's inevitable.

It's interesting how you've examined the origins of words and the way they change their meaning over time. Kind of like children playing telephone, where each one whispers a message to the next and the final version is often quite different than what it started out to be.
 
Sarah M:

I really liked the research you did. It was very different from a lot of the things people did. My favorite line was "But the etymology of "die" shows that over time, humans have tried to make the idea of dying happier by "euphemistically" changing words. " Because it showed how humans in general try to soften the blow of harsh terms or events.  

Jasper:
I like your post because it was an original idea to go back to the first meanings of the words. I thought it was interesting how the word illness meant evil. I think you should have gone into why you think they had these definitions and how it connects a little more. 

Sarah T:
''The oldest definition was recorded around 1200 meaning, 'morally evil'"
When I read this it reminded me of how people used to think that if someone was sick that they were possessed by the devil or some evil spirits.   

HW 30 - Illness & Dying - Culminating Experiential Project- Lost in Translation

When reading Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death by Irvin D. Yalom, I was intrigued by the greek philosopher, Epicurus (341 BCE - 270 BCE). He believed that people should not fear death for death includes body and soul. What sparked me most though, was that these ideas have been passed on to modern times; how do we know that this is what Epicurus meant? I'm no expert on Greek language, nor philosophy, so I decided not to focus on Epicurus, but to focus on the change of words over time; Etymology. My resources were limited when doing this assignment, so I've resorted to using the Online Etymology Dictionary for the majority of my research. 

I started my research with the word, "illness". According to the site, it's origin is ill + -ness, from the 1680s. I already knew that -ness is "a native English suffix attached to adjectives and participles, forming abstract nouns denoting quality and state (and often, by extension, something exemplifying a quality or state)" (Dictionary.com). So I continued on to the page referring to "ill". The oldest definition was recorded around 1200 meaning, "morally evil". Then, around the 15th century, the modern (current) meaning "sick, unhealthy, unwell " was recorded. It's intriguing to me, how a definition can change over a few centuries.

Next, I looked up the second word of our unit, "dying". The earliest definition is from the 13th century, defined as "death". Dying is a verbal noun originating from the verb "die". To be quite honest, the beginning of the definition didn't make sense to me, "Mid-12c., possibly from O.Dan. døja or O.N. deyja 'to die, pass away,' both from P.Gmc. *dawjanan (cf. O.Fris. deja 'to kill,' O.S. doian, O.H.G. touwen, Goth. diwans 'mortal'), from PIE base *dheu- (3) 'to pass away, become senseless' (cf. O.Ir. dith 'end, death,' O.C.S. daviti, Rus. davit' 'to choke, suffer')". But the next section caught my eye, "Languages usually don't borrow words from abroad for central life experiences, but "die" words are an exception, since they are often hidden or changed euphemistically out of superstitious dread". 

The last line hung on to me; I wasn't expecting my research to directly relate back to any of the class readings, I was mistaken. "Religious leaders who, in an effort to increase their own power, increased the death anxiety of their followers by warning of the punishments that would be meted out after death to those who failed to heed particular rules and regulations" (Yalom, 80). In Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death, Yalom discusses religious leaders who convinced the followers of their religion to believe that death was negative. But the etymology of "die" shows that over time, humans have tried to make the idea of dying happier by "euphemistically" changing words. 

Overall, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't go into more depth with this assignment, but what I have found is still important because it can still be explored. I could keep looking up words that have been changed due to "superstition" or religion. Or I could find out more about specific religions etc.

1) Irvin D., Yalom. Staring at the sun: overcoming the terror of death. Jossey-Bass Inc Pub, 2008. Print.  
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicurus 
3) Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 16 Jan. 2011. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-ness>.
4) http://www.etymonline.com/

HW 29 - Reading and Noting Basic Materials

Paying for Medical Care: 

Over time the financials behind health care have increased dramatically. In the 1960s, the average being spent on 1 person's health care was $1,066. In 2007, it jumped to $7,421 (Staff, 64).  The predicted amount for 2018 will be $13,100 (Staff, 64). Even though we spend increased amounts of money per person per year, doesn't mean that we jump ahead other nations as being defined as a healthier country (Staff, 64). Currently, my family is on COBRA, a government regulated health-care service, for those who are unemployed (laid off). For the first few months, COBRA, while not extremely cheap, has low monthly payments. When the person reaches their last few months of COBRA, the monthly payments increase dramatically. When a person's time on COBRA runs out, they have no health care and have to find a new, private plan. Currently, the U.S. is ranked at number 31 for life expectancy as well as number 37 for infant mortality. (Staff, 64).

Being Sick/Facing Terminal Illness: 

When one finds out that they are going to die, they aren't quite sure what to do. They experience a whirlwind of emotions (Albom, 48). When Beth came in to be a guest speaker, she explained that Erik was a fighter, and never wanted to let people see him suffer. This was very similar to Morrie in Tuesdays with Morrie because one of his main concerns was not needing someone to "wipe [his] ass" (22). Instead of focusing merely on the negative, Morrie discovered a positive to his ailment. He had missed a loving childhood, and having people look after him became his solace. This was due to the babying he received, it gave him the feeling of peacefulness of which he missed in childhood (92). On the contrary, with my personal experience with those who are aging, they always want to be independent and complete tasks on their own.
 

Isolation:
As a society, we isolate the ill or dying in order to relieve ourselves of guilt or pain. When watching the film Near Death, we were presented with ill patients, who were going to die no matter what the doctors would do to attempt to save them. We also viewed conversations between the groups of doctors as well as nurses, discussing how to take care of these patients. If a patient was unable to speak for themselves, the doctors would talk about family input, rather than any previous input by said patient. One family didn't want to even see their ailing family member because it was "becoming too much for them to handle". The situations presented in Near Death showed us that society isolates the ill, but tries to keep them alive as long as possible. As an opposite, in Tuesdays With Morrie and with Beth's story, the ill/dying were kept as close to family as possible. Morrie, instead of staying at a hospital had aids who helped him with every day tasks. Beth also kept Erik at home as much as possible because he didn't like the stillness and whiteness of the hospital.   

1. Staff of Washington Post. Landmark. Public Affairs. New York. 2010.

2. Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays With Morrie. 1st. New York. Double Day. 1997.

HW 28 - Comments 2

Comments I made:
Sophia: Did not do Homework 27 
Jasper: Did not do Homework 27

Bianca:
I think that in this post, you provided great depth of thought. You showed this throughout the entire passage and thought that the beginning of this line was your most beautiful of all, "I saw the sickness of a frail women, the lack of personal items such as flowers, paintings, and get well cards in her room, the lack of windows, and the abundance of pitiful smiles from nurses and people alike". While this was your most beautiful line, I think that you could have talked even more about the separation between the observer and the observed.

I realize that you did do this with relating back to Beth and Erik, but I do think you could have elaborated a little more personally (emphasis on the personal). You did do this at one point, "One can assume correctly that I never found out what she was thinking so, my thoughts wandered onto the next thing", but that line is talking about someone else. If I were you, to make the story flow more easily, I would have changed that to "There was no way for me to be sure of what she was thinking, so my thoughts wandered on to the next thing". This is YOUR story, it should be from your point of view; I felt that that line pulled the reader out of your shoes; it was a disconnect.

I think that your post was well-thought-out, and definitely went into a deep level of understanding. Great Job!

Young Seo:
Hey Young Seo,

I noticed that you only had one comment, and neither of my partners did their assignment, so I'm commenting in yours.

I thought the opening to this post was funny, in a good way. Another thing that you did was connecting your experience to society's beliefs in Korea, "In Korea, usually girls don't hug boys to greet except boyfriend". It gave an outsider (like me, and American) deeper insight into your thought process and reasoning. Overall, you made this post meaningful and personal.
One thing you could change is making the post flow a little better. It was nice that you decided to talk about your grandma, but I feel like it took away from what you were saying about your cousin. 

Comments on my Blog:
Sophia:
I thought the best part of your post was the first paragraph - there was a lot of detail and depth to it. I also liked how you told part of the story, and then reflected on it, and then told the rest, and then reflected on it again.

I identified with the idea about people needing something to do. It reminded me of my grandfather, who has heart problems (so he can't do much without getting tired), but still tries to do things for himself.

This also goes back to the part in Tuesdays With Morrie, when Morrie decides that he doesn't want to feel bad that he needs help doing simple everyday tasks. He viewed it as a good thing, whereas most people are different - they like to be able to take care of themselves.

Jasper:
The part I liked best from your post was: "I could have been sledding, building a snowman, or going for a walk in the snow. I thought about what she could have been doing at that moment. She could have been reading her newspaper...oh wait but that wasn't delivered due to the snow. Well she could have been watching the news...oh wait, she did that already today. Well she could go through old items in the storage room; oh wait, that's downstairs." By comparing the endless possibilities of things you could do, to the options that she had really was very powerful to me. It was powerful because it shows the drastic difference and made me think that people probably get very sad with a lack of activities as they get older and it gets harder to move around.

Zoe(9th Grader):
i like the way you opened this, your writing style is very good. i also like the part when you said "I thought about one of the big ideas of Tuesdays With Morrie; Morrie had a hard time 'letting go'" because it gave me more of an insight in to what you were thinking wile writing this

Dad:
I liked your reference to Tuesdays With Morrie, specifically the reference to “letting go”. The individual Elizabeth is referring to used to be a “get up and go” type, unafraid to face any challenge, trying to motivate others to do the same. Since I know who Elizabeth is talking about I can see she’s paid a lot of attention to small details. But I think the one thing I’ve noticed she could elaborate on is the challenge that’s involved with getting up and down those stairs; how she has to walk sideways holding on to the handrail one step at a time to navigate each and every step; how the wrought iron metal rail wobbles a bit, sometimes making her nervous. If no one is there and she falls? What then? That to me is when she seems most challenged, most afraid that something might happen.

Beatrice:
I liked how you made your post into a narrative one. Like Jasper, I agree that your post was more powerful by comparing the amount of activities you could've done as opposed to the limited few of the protagonist in your post. The old person you wrote about is similar to ones many people know (stubborn when offered assistance). Finally I admired your connection to your reading book.  

HW 27 - Visiting an unwell person

We look out the window to the hill in the yard; the snow is rapidly layering over the dead summer grass. She grips the edge of the kitchen table with one hand, the other on her walker; arms tensed. My arms go out in immediate reaction just in case she falls. She pushes herself up from the leather chair grunting a little, "umpf". She steadies herself and uses her walker to move about 8 feet to the sink. She begins to wash the dishes. She has a routine; fill a bowl part way with hot water, add dish-soap, add cool water, rinse. I offer to help her, but she doesn't hear. I stand up, "You know, I can do that for you", she replies, rather loudly, "No, it's okay, it gives me something to do".

"It gives me something to do". I thought about what I could have been doing at that moment. I could have been sledding, building a snowman, or going for a walk in the snow. I thought about what she could have been doing at that moment. She could have been reading her newspaper...oh wait but that wasn't delivered due to the snow. Well she could have been watching the news...oh wait, she did that already today. Well she could go through old items in the storage room; oh wait, that's downstairs. 

I shrug and say okay and leave the kitchen. I go downstairs to my room; listening to the scratching of the walker on the kitchen's linoleum flooring. Later, I hear her mumbling to herself, as the alarm for the drier goes off, so I go back upstairs to see if I can help. She hesitates, and opens the drier door. She leans down, not responding to me, and begins to take clothing out. She stands up and straightens her body, a little out of breath, and says, "you can do the rest, put my clothing on my bed and towels on the railing; I'll take them downstairs later". She holds the counter top and turns her walker around. I ask her, "Do you want me to just take them down for you?". "No, I need to make a trip down there later".

I thought about one of the big ideas of Tuesdays With Morrie; Morrie had a hard time 'letting go', he was scared to let other people take care of and do routine tasks for him. Morrie never gave into his illness, but gradually, he learned how to accept the fact that there were some things he just couldn't do for himself anymore, and someone else was going to step in and do it for him.