Cemeteries are full of history. Have you ever taken a stroll through a cemetery? If you have, you would see the headstones all tell a story. They may or may not offer us a name, a birthdate, a death date, an inscription, something indicating their career, and even relationships. For instance, during different time frames, you might see the wife of Dr. Frank Smith, in place of a person’s name. You might notice patterns in the timing of deaths of children and parents. Was there a flu epidemic? Did a mother die giving birth? Did a young man die in war? Why do some people have large monuments, while others may have crumbling gravestones? Are the monuments and crumbling gravestones located next to each other? If there are any dates on the headstones, you can look up the history of grave markers and the materials they were made from.
Objective:
Be able to integrate research and information from headstones in two different cemeteries by comparing and contrasting them to have a better understanding of the cultural factors, sociological factors, and historical events represented in the cemeteries visited.
Assignment Requirements:
This is a research paper. Research should come from current professional sources (journal articles, books, websites, etc.).
Only resources that have been cited should be in your reference section. You will have
at least 6 resources.
Your assignment should contain the following information to obtain full credit:
1. A title page (APA format) on a
separate page
2. A short abstract of your paper (
Separate page following the title page).
3. A general review of your research about grave markers/headstones
AND the cemeteries you will visit (
before your observations). You will present a short history of grave markers/headstones in general. Next, you will provide a brief history of the cemeteries you chose to visit.
The history of the grave markers and the history of the cemeteries should be in separate paragraphs.
4. Integration of your observations of the headstones and research that adequately addresses all of the following areas:
· Cultural Factors (i.e., Identify traditions and beliefs, religion, economics, and art as it pertains to headstones)
· Sociological Factors (i.e., Identify families, Class conflicts/inequalities, race/ethnicity, spiritual beliefs)
· Historical Events (i.e., Identify epidemics of disease/illnesses, wars, technological/industrial advances of the time of the deceased)
First, you
should identify the grave markers/headstones you chose in the two cemeteries in the above history. (
Only show pictures and talk about the ones studying for your assignment. You will want to use at
least 8 markers, 4 in each cemetery, or 3 sets of family markers.
Place pictures of the headmarkers in the Appendix. This summary should
communicate you can integrate information to show you understand the cultural, sociological, and historical events represented by the headstones in the 2 cemeteries visited.
Specific examples of the cultural and sociological factors and historical events must be easily identified. (See the example of this assignment in the General Section of this course page).
5. The final paragraph contains your thoughts and feelings as you were working through this assignment and after you completed it (
this does not have research as this is how you felt or what you thought as you worked through this assignment and at completion
. It isn’t a summary of your information). After examining your thoughts and feelings is there
anything you plan to do differently as a result of this assignment?
6. A reference section (
Belongs on a separate sheet. The first line of each reference is
flush with the left margin and the second and third lines are indented. See APA format.) Only resources that have been cited are placed in the reference section.
7. An
appendix showing ALL pictures of the headstones/cemeteries required for this assignment.
8. Written in APA style. Use
New Times Roman, 12-point font, and double-space.
2600-word
limit or less.
9. Meet the requirements of the
Scoring Rubric
found in the General Section.
See the
Scoring Rubric
for further information about grading. Be sure to
hit the submit button when submitting, otherwise, it will stay in draft form and show up late. Please check that you
saved your paper with the correct file format.
10. Submit Assignment: Cemeteries: A Cultural, Sociological, and Historical Lesson on
Friday October 3 by 11:55 p.m. CST.
