Before beginning this discussion, make sure you have reviewed all the module learning materials.
For some of you, what you have learned may be totally new. You may have never been sick yourself or had to deal with ailing or aging loved ones. You may have never experienced the death of a loved one or truly considered your own death. It may be inconceivable for you that death can ever be embraced or planned for. The following reflection and discussion question will allow you the chance to reflect on death in perhaps a new and hopefully helpful way.
This activity aligns with Module Outcomes 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Overview
The video, Klimt, Death, and LifeLinks to an external site. provides a good example of how to discuss and analyze a work of art.
Pay attention to what the narrators call out about the paintings and how they interpret what Klimt might have been trying to do symbolically or visually.
Notice how the narrators in the video discuss certain visual aspects of the painting while also discussing the trends that may have influenced Klimt’s work.
Think about how you might do the same as you discuss the paintings and the poem in your response.
Step 1 Initial Post
In Klimt’s Death and Life and Stokes’ “La Jeune Fille et la Mort” (The Young Girl and Death), death appears as a dark, threatening figure, someone who will steal or threaten what is living and sacred.
Yet in Gibran’s poem, “The Beauty of Death”Links to an external site., the poet asks those he leaves in death to “Go back to the joy of your dwellings and you will find there / That which Death cannot remove from you and me” as though he is assuring us that there is nothing to be feared, nothing sacred that death can take away—love, joy, the memory of those who have died.
Which perspective do you agree with, and why?
Or do you see a combination of both?
In this discussion, write about which piece of art or literature from this module resonates most strongly with you, and provide at least 3 specific examples from your choice that you feel are a proper representation of death or the experience of those who remain after someone dies.
The initial post should be at least 250 words and must substantively integrate the assigned readings, terms, and concepts from the module.
Read the following for Discussion Post Expectations.
This is a “post first” discussion forum. Students must submit the initial post before viewing other students’ posts.
The initial post is due by Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET
Step 2 Response to Classmates
After making your discussion post, read through the postings of your peers. Choose (at least) two of your peers’ posts to respond to. The posts you choose to respond to do not necessarily have to be classmates’ initial posts.
Each response to a peer should be (at least) approximately 100 words in length and should contribute to the discussion in progress.
Responses to peers are due by Sunday at 11:59 pm ET
Evaluation
This discussion will be graded using the HUM321 Discussion Board with References Grading Rubric. Please review this rubric prior to beginning your work to ensure your participation meets the criteria. Each discussion is worth 100 points. Discussions total 20% of the course grade. Discussions will be graded each module by the instructor.
