death is not an abstract concept; it touches every life. As Sigmund Freud noted, “everyone owes nature a death and must expect to pay the debt…” But before their own individually assured deaths, most people will experience the deaths of some of those living around them. For this assignment, you will describe your own personal history with death. Share only as much as you feel comfortable sharing.
Please feel free to use the mini-lecture and the following questions as a guide:
Have you experienced the death of a family member?
If yes, who died, when did the person die, and what was the cause of death?
Have you experienced the death of a friend?
If yes, who died, when did the person die, and what was the cause of death?
Have you experienced the death of a pet?
If yes, what pet died, when did the animal die, and what was the cause of death?
The objective of this assignment is NOT to relive past emotional pain or to work through unresolved feelings of grief and loss. If you cannot or do not want to write about certain deaths, don’t. Address only what you feel comfortable addressing. This assignment is NOT supposed to be therapeutic; I do not want to push you into addressing your pain. The objective is to orient ourselves, at the onset of the course, toward the impact death has on us as individuals and on every other individual around us. This assignment will remind us that death is an abstract concept, but a reality that we may encounter at any time.
This assignment does not require any outside research and there are definitely not any right or wrong answers.
Please submit a 1-2 page essay (double-spaced, 11 or 12 pt. font) in paragraph format to the Elearning dropbox by May 21, 2021.
Grading rubric:
Assignment is worth 100 pts. total
10 pts. for spelling and grammar
10 pts. for clarity of writing style and ease of reading
80 pts. for content
Did the essay deal with the assignment topic?
Did it address the topic with intellectual integrity and honesty?
Did it give multiple examples of the impact of death?
If not, does it address why it did not?
