Utilizing my lectures and PPTs, the textbooks and online readings/videos, as well as external sources, please answer the following questions:
Provide a synopsis of the film or book. Please do not provide an in-depth, scene by scene, description but rather concentrate on the plot points and context that is relevant to issues pertaining to death and dying. You want to draw on what is critically relevant and what will inform your analysis. What is the death/loss theme that is being portrayed, who is the population, and how is this connected to our classroom context.
What was the primary grieving style of each person? (e.g., the reaction of someone receiving a life-threatening illness, a family member of someone who has died by suicide, the healthy sibling, a parent dealing with the death of a child). Provide examples of behaviors, emotions, and other adaptive or maladaptive coping mechanisms. Do the main characters react differently and, if so, are their styles intuitive or instrumental?
Is there any conflict depicted throughout the film between characters with respect to grief and loss adaptation? How is that conflict managed or addressed? If there is no conflict, how come? What are your observations throughout the film on the communication skills of the characters regarding grief/loss?
What is the film’s ending as it connects to death/dying or grief and loss adaptation?
In thinking about your social work practice, how would you facilitate the grieving and loss process? What therapeutic approach from our class that you would utilize or employ with the main characters?
Finally, how do you think about your selection in reference to your own social work practice? What is your overall takeaway or message from writing this critique?
Use your critical thinking skills to apply the course content to the main character(s) and their situation. Demonstrate that you have done the readings, listened to the lectures, etc. by applying our course readings and lectures to this assignment. You will need to be succinct yet comprehensive in your writing or presentation. You need to demonstrate your mastery of the course content and your ability to apply what you have learned over the course of the semester.
TEXTBOOKS
The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying
ISBN: 9780078035463
Authors: Lynne Ann DeSpelder, Albert Lee Strickland
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Publication Date: 2014-03-28
Counseling Strategies for Loss and Grief
ISBN: 9781556202469
Authors: Keren M. Humphrey
Publisher: Amer Counseling Assn
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
