Need Help on comming up with a project on Death and Dying?

Answer 1

I took a class on this in graduate school. I looked historically at the DNR order and the power of attorney. I wrote the redefining of clinical death in the 60's due to the respirator.

I know other people did interesting projects on dealing with death in different cultures and religions as well.

Maybe on those will give you an idea.

Answer 2

Ah, that's pretty broad. If it's literature, I think I can help you.

Victorian poetry is especially generous about death, and I think you can use /anything/ written by Edgar Allan Poe. Just type his name in Google and you have all you need for your project.

Another advice is "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas, which is written to his dying father as a motivation to fight against death. You can find it here:
http://www.bigeye.com/donotgo.htm

Or, you can stick with the eternal cliche and use Hamlet, I don't think anyone will object to that as a project subject, schoolteachers seem to have a special interest in William.

If you want to do something original, I recommend you take it a little further and write about /not/ dying. Afterlife has always been a fascination for me, and quite an interesting subject to work with. Do a little research on this in different cultures and beliefs, and you will be astounded by what you'll find. Greek mythology alone is a world within itself.

As for Medieval Europe, that is probably the ideal time period you should look if you want to see death at work. And the art is enough to give you the chills.

Hope I was helpful...

Answer 3

Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth has written may book on death and dying.
Any of her books should be a source for any research paper on the topic.

Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth: (1926-2004) Swiss-born American psychiatrist whose work with and teching about terminally ill patients helped alter attitudes toward death and the care of the dying. She opposed the taboo against openly discussing and studying death and was a force in the US for the creation of hospices where palliative care and support are provided to the dying.

Dr. Kübler-Ross exerted influence in person and through her writings, especially her book On Death and Dying that first appeared in 1969. Before that time, the terminally ill were often left to face death alone. Kübler-Ross helped make thanatology (the study of the physical, psychological and social problems associated with dying) into an accepted medical discipline. The study of dying became part of medical and health care education in US, often with Death and Dying as the textbook.

From interviews with the dying, Dr. Kübler-Ross identified five stages that many people go through -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Not all dying patients follow the same progression, but most experience two or more of the five stages:

Denial -- Often denial is the first stage. "I can't be dying. Not me."
Anger -- As the disease worsens and denial becomes less possible, there may be anger. "Why me?"
Bargaining -- "If I do such and such, can I put off death for a while?"
Depression -- When the bargaining doesn't work, depression may set in.
Acceptance -- "I accept my fate and am ready to die."
The stages may not progress in this order. The person who is dying, and those who love them, may go back and forth among some or all of these and other emotions.

Answer 4

Look up a local hospice in your city or if you live in a small community without one, in a city not far from you. Talk to the director or an administrator and tell him/her you're doing a school project on death and dying and would like to interview a caregiver at the hospice on his/her experience dealing with those who're about to die and with the time of death itself.

If you could not find any hospice near you, call up a hospital or a nursing home and request the same interview. Hospital and nursing home personnel also have to deal with death and dying almost every day.

Answer 5

Research the writings of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. She was a breakthrough researcher who first addressed this as a discipline. I think her book was called "On Death and Dying". Although her work has been around for awhile, she is still relevant.