HW 53 - Independent Research A

With Poem, Broaching the Topic of Death
By Ben Daitz, M.D.

Many cultures all around the world have their own way of dealing with death and views. This article mainly focuses on the culture of the navajo, in their culture when one dies it's bad luck, and there's a fear that it'll bring you death. Ms. Begay, a navajo is trying to change the way most navajo's portray death and wants them to accept it as something normal.

Before reading this article i always assumed native americans were the least superstitious when it came to death, and would handle it better than dominant religions such as christianity. But reading this shows how most cultures in society are puzzled by death, and are scared to face it.

Citation:
Ben, Daitz. "With Poem, Broaching the Topic of Death." New York Times (2011): n. pag. Web. 9 May 2011.
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Dance, Laugh, Drink. Save the Date: It’s a Ghanaian Funeral.
By Sam Dolnick:

In most cultures when their is a death, we mourn in total sorrow and make the process of recovery harder for us, because of our dominant social practices. One of the things we do that make it harder for us is us worrying about being judged or our religious beliefs. We sometimes hide our emotions like laughing or crying and having conversations casually at a funeral because it's not the average "norm"/normal way.

This article counters the first article because it's showing, how some cultures accept death better than others, in fact it was the total opposite, the first one was about how in the navajo culture people don't even talk about the deceased, while in the ghanaian culture they have an actual party. When i found this article i was stunned because coincidently i was looking for something that would counter my first read and i got lucky. After reading this I was a bit inspired, because I always told people when talking about death, I always mention that I want my funeral to be happy, not the typical all dark and quiet look, i want people to talk, socialize and do fun things as much as possible, even if its hard and when they're sad and the best way i think that would be possible is if everyone releases the true emotions and says whats on their mind.

Citation:
Sam, Dolnick. "Dance, Laugh, Drink. Save the Date: It’s a Ghanaian Funeral.." New York Times (2011): n. pag. Web. 9 May 2011. "