Homework 56

Stephen, I really enjoyed your elevator speech you brought enthusiasm and excitement into the classroom which made it a pleasure to listen you and what you investigated for your project. I t was interesting to see your perspective on  high paid funerals and why it might be a little bit unnecessary to spend all that money on someone that wont be able to see it or enjoy it. A valid point you brought up was the idea of by people doing that they feel that they contributed to the persons life because even though they are gone you are still going out of your way to make sure they go out with class and sophistication. 

Evan, Your elevator speech really was fun to watch and listen because you interacted with the crowd and made people really get and idea of what you did for your culminating project. I think that being able to know what your parents want to happen to them when they are dead is a very important thing, and by reading your project I can see that you went into depth with the comparing and contrasting of your parents death plans and how your mother and father are on two different pages.

Xtra credit cemetery

Visiting the cemetery was really weird and scary, the reason why is because like all humans I don't want to be around death or be in the presence of it. What was really interesting was the dates on the tombstones to see died in 1856 and it's 2011 its just seems so out of place and strange.
















In the first cemetery all of the tombstones were broken down and breaking apart and you could hardly see the writing on them. I notice that there was no real extravagance to the tombstones they were all very small with no detail some weren't even tombstones just rocks or bricks.

The second cemetery was bigger and had more to it in my eyes it was more modern, and it had a lot more graves. These grave yards were both associated with the same church so a lot of pope that were family members and that where in the catholic family were buried here.


Visiting a cemetery is something that I won't do again because it is to depressing and makes me think to much about my own death and the death of my loved ones. Also at the same time I feel that it is a learning experience at the same time by going to a grave yard you can get a clear understanding of life and death and what it means to die and live, I feel that you appreciate life more after a visit like that.

XTRA CREDIT HAROLD AND MAUDD

Three charactes
Harold
Maudd
Mother

Harold -I feel that harold enjoys flirting with death he gets pleasure out of viewing death. He goes to funerals of random people and drives a hearse for a car, I feel that harold embodies death as a character. What makes harold such a unique character is the fact that in our culture and society death is looked upon as such  negative thing but he uses it as a positive so he can have something fun to do when he is bored or seeking attention from his mother. Significant scene: Is when harold is in his therapy session lying on the couch like he was in a casket and when the therapist was talking to him he wasn't responding. The reason why it was important to me was because I thought he only put that front up infront of his mother.

Harold's' mother-  she doesn't care about the death games that he try's to play on her, Eevn tough she can't deal with it  she still loves him because he is her son. As a mother you would think she would show more concern but even as the movie goes on and Harold's theatrics become more and more elaborate she still responds to him in a very nonchalant fashion.

Maudd- I feel that maudd is the same as harold but what is different about them is that maudd actually flirts with death for her it is not  game she would not mind dying, but for harold its just a facade he puts up to gain attention. I noticed that maudd really likes harold and she is trying to turn harold into a person that thinks like she does.

I feel that in this moving it shows how certain people look at death as an art, especially with harold he mad it seem normal like death was suppose to be apart of your daily life. I really felt that A Million Ways To Be by Kat Stevens played such a huge in the movie because the line "If you want to be you be you and if you want to be free be free" connects so well to the plot of the movie and the characters because it shows there is nothing wrong with accepting death and embracing it because by doing that you can become more comfortable with it. What makes this movie so powerful is at the end when maudd dies and it what that shows is how death came into his life but nt to take him but someone he loves so now he knows what his mother feels like.

project 55

Culminating project 55

I feel that death is a sensitive topic to talk about no matter who you are talking with. Death in out society is looked at as a nightmare something that we want to flush away and put behind us when it appears. But at the same time what makes death such a unique experience is the care of the dead and what a person wants done personally to their body when they die. Since every one has their own way they want to be taken care of when they die i interviewed three people that are very close to me and asked them all the same question to see what would be their response to each question and how could I compare and contrast each answer.

Interview with cousin:

What does death mean to you?

Death is a process where the soul leaves the body and the body is left to decompose into the earth, when you die you leave the ones you love and care for to move on to a better place .

Are you a person who fears death or do you accept it for what it is and just know that one day your time will come.

Of course i fear death if i didn't I would not be human. It's in human nature to fear the day that you are going to die and perish from the earth, but I also feel that I can't let it affect me I have to keep living my life and enjoying my time on earth until that day comes.

When you die what do you want people to remember you for?

I want people to remember me for having a good time and making people happy. I would like people to know that no matter what it was i gave my all to it and I enjoyed living.

When you die what do want to happen to your body?

To be honest I never thought about it I feel that im to young to think about that stuff and plus it is extremely depressing to think about. I feel that I would like to be cremated and kept inside a close family members home.

At your funeral how do you want people feel?

I really don't want people to be crying and all sad what would make me happy even though I'm dead is if people celebrated and had a good time, I know it's weird to say but I feel that people would get over my death easier that way.

Interview with Uncle Dean:

What does death mean to you?

Death is the end of life. It is and inevitable faith something that we will all face sooner or later.

Are you a person who fears death or do you accept it for what it is and just know that one day your time will come.

I really do fear death, what makes me fear death is the fact that I have kids and me dying before I get to see them grow up and graduate from school and get married really torments me. It's something that is deep inside of me it isn't a visible fear you would have to ask me to know the answer.

When you die what do you want people to remember you for?

I want people to remember me for someone that would give their all for their kids, and just a good hearted person.

When you die what do want to happen to your body?

When I die I just want an old fashion funeral and burial nothing fancy very traditional, but I would like to be buried in Jamaica because that is where i was born and that's where I grew up. I feel that is would be the right thing to do deep inside my heart.

At your funeral how do you want people feel?

I feel that is a question I can not answer because every body is different and different people will grieve with my death in their own ways.

Interview with mother:

What does death mean to you?

Death represents the end of a life no matter if it was a short one or long one. I feel that people live lives knowing one day they will die so they use that as motivation to succeed and to get the most done while they can.

Are you a person who fears death or do you accept it for what it is and just know that one day your time will come?

I do fear death put I make sure it doesn’t affect the way I live my life on a day to bases. As I get older I feel that it is something I find my self-thinking about a lot, but I feel that it is only human to do that.

When you die what do you want people to remember you for?

I want to be remembered as a caring mother and great friend and someone loved to live their life to the fullest.

When you die what do want to happen to your body?

I want to have a normal funeral and burial but even though I saying this now I guarantee that it will change later because this has been something I have discussed before with family members and friends and I see my self changing it around depending on the mood im in.

How do you want people to feel at your funeral?

I want people to be sad and morn the fact that I am gone but I don’t want my death to ruin people’s lives I would feel better if people could still live their life’s in peace and happiness even though I am not around.

I feel that doing these interviews really gave me a new perspective on death and how to look at in a very content and peaceful way instead of it being a nightmare to think of. When you are able to see where others that you care for are coming from on a topic that is very sensitive it can really alter your thinking and change what you thought was right or wrong. After doing these two interviews it really made me think of how I would cope with the death of a family member especially my mother, coming into this project I thought it would be a piece of cake to do the interview but it really made me sad and upset thinking about the day my mother would die and how my family would go about conducting the funeral. I feel that I am stronger now because I was actually able to sit and talk to her about such a sad and sensitive topic and get some useful information about how my mother feels about death and what it means to her. This project help me get a deeper understanding of death and the death care industry and with all of the facts and evidenced I have learned I will be able to spread the word and share some of my intelligence.

Hw 54

What I am closest to is Christianity even though I do not read the bible all the time I do have a clear understanding of it and the verses in it. Genesis 1:26-27 is the most powerful and most controversial  verse in the bible, due to the line Lets us make man in Our image, according to Our likeliness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ What is so significant and important about that line is that in the eyes of a Christian and the Christian society god cannot die so by saying lets make man in our image it  like saying lets make man immortal, but if every one dies how is it possible to make man in god's image. While doing this research I reached out to two people my mother and the pastor of the church I attended. When speaking to my mother about that line she said that it is not about making man like god but more about making man in a image of purity and wholesomeness. When I spoke to the pastor I didn't focus on the same question i asked my mother I wanted to know how he felt about the aspect of heaven and hell being a Christian pastor. He basically went into detail about how people can repent for the sins they have done and by doing that you become one with god which makes it more likely for you to go to heaven. When he spike about hell he explained that when someone does something wrong and doesn't ask god for forgiveness they will go to hell. The final question I had for him was what does he mean by doing something wrong, he said sins are always looked at on a major scale, but even if it is something small and you feel wrong about it you should repent for it.

Homework 52

Death is something that is unexpected you never know when it will pop up and affect you or someone you care for. I feel that death is used to signify the end of a person's timeline we use death as a way to get the most of of our lives, by knowing that you are going to die you feel that you have to get so much accomplished before your time to die comes. I feel that the stories touched on so many unexpected deaths that families and friends had no clue that it was going to happen to someone they know or care for. Since there is nothing we can do about death i feel that there's no reason to think about it to let it affect your life in any shape or form. Death is inevitable you can't escape so i feel that by living your life knowing it that it will happen but not worrying or thinking about it you will live a way better life.

Quote: "Lucia and her two daughters were unhappy with jose and blamed him for maria's death. Even the paternal grandfather of the baby said jose was man with pride. Maybe too much."

What this quote shows is how since you cant do anything after a person is dead to bring them back to life or to be in your life anymore people always find away to put the death on someone so they can feel better about  themselves. so they don't have to focus on the death they can put there time and energy to the person they believe was the cause of the death.

Analysis: What it shows is that there is no time on death you never know when it is going to happen, all od the stories touched on that topic that it can happen sooner then you think or later, but at the end of the die you just have to live your life and not focus on that to too much. And since we never know when our time will come we just have to keep living and pray that we can live a life of longevity.

Homework 47

Interviews 1- Felix,17 years old-
Question 1- How do you feel about the care of the dead in the society we live in?
Question 2- How does your family go about the care of the dead when someone passed way in your family?
Question3-Do you think religion has a huge affect on the way a dead body gets taken care of?
Response
Response1- I feel that you have to put them in caskets and bury them in cemeteries.
Response 2- In my family since we are not serious we just follow the procedures of a normal funeral and burial.
Response 3- When it comes to religion it can alter the way the body gets taken care of because certain religions believe that if the body is buried a certain way or taken care of a certain way the person would be better off with their god and have more of a connection with their religion in their afterlife.

Interview 2- Travis,16 years old
Question 1- Do you feel that religion is a cover up used for hope to make people believe that when they die they will actually be brought back to life by their god?
Question 2- Why do you think people spend so much money on funerals?
Question 3- Do you think funerals are set up depict the emotions that you will feel when that person dies?
Response
Response 1- I come from religious back ground and my family believes that when you die your body passes on but your soul lives for ever.
Response 2- The reason people spend so much money on funerals is because they want to show to the people that come to the funeral and family members that they care for this person a lot so by spending thousands of dollars on them even though they dead it's all out of respect.
Response 3- In a funeral the emotions are like a roller coaster you feel sad because the person is gone but at the same time your convincing your self that the person is in a better place so you can feel better then you due.

Interview 3-Jamal,18 years old
Question 1- What does R.I.P mean to you?
Question 2- When you die how do you want to be taken care of ?
Question 3-do you feel that it is necessary to have a expensive funeral when you die?
Response
Response 1- It means Rest in Peace it's self explanatory, you want that person you know that they are in a better place and now they can rest with no worries.
Response 2- I want a regular funeral nothing fancy
Response 3- There is no reason to have an expensive funeral because i'm dead I won't even be able to see  it or enjoy it.

Homework 46

I have already had two experiences with the care of the dead and how to go about it in a respectful manner to show appreciation and courtesy.The first experience was with my grandmother when she passed away my father went out on a limb to make sure everything was perfect for her funeral. I remember speaking to my mother and father about the casket and what casket would be right for my grandmother and even though I feel that she deserves a nice casket to lie in they spent a lot of money on something that is just going to stay in the ground forever. When I went to the funeral I noticed that my grandmother looked very pale and white when i asked my mother she said that they got a makeup artist for her so that she would very pretty for the open casket.

What I have been taught was to always have respect for the dead and that at a funeral you have to feel sad for the person even though you might not know them well because that shows respect towards the family that lost their loved one. The social norm of our society when you care for the dead is to make sure they have a proper casket and a nice place to be buried in. I also know about the body of someone that is dead has to be embalmed before they are buried to preserve the body. The question I have towards that is why would the body have to be preserved if the person is dead and once their buried no one will see them again?

Home work 44 Comments on students projects

Javon's project_Javon great project I noticed that you investigated the statistics of abortions in America and in different countries. You also went into depth explaining how women feel about abortions, and also gave your explanation on what being a mother means to you and how that is such a responsible role to take on.

I particularly valued the research you did on abortions the statistics I really think that gave your project a lot of substance and made it more interesting to read because you had factual evidence.

The main reason why this project mattered to me was because while having a conversation with Javon he explained to me what he was doing for his project and from the jump I was interested because he was actually going to interview a women that had an abortion.

Constructive Criticism: I feel that you should go more into depth with the questions you asked the person in the interview.



Stephen's project-Stephen very interesting project I realized that you focused on the pros and cons of Home births and hospital births, and you also focused on the C-Section rate in America and also the whole concept behind the OB/GYN.

I feel that when you went into depth with the advantages and disadvantages of home births, birthing centers, and hospital births was the most interesting part for me and I valued you that the most.

The main reason why I wanted to read your project is because when you did your elevator speech you had so much energy and a great introduction for your speech and it made me want to see what your project had to offer.


Amhara's project-I really likes your project because it was different from the rest of the students in the class. You were planning out a procedure to follow so when your mother decided to have another kid everything would be natural and the best for your mother.

I really valued your overall goal that you wanted to achieve in your project because you were applying what you learned from class,the movie, and the book to help out someone out in your family that you care for.

The reason your project mattered to me was because it was different the fact that you had a video that people could watch to see the work that you did for your project.

Homework 42 Pregnancy Project

Interview with my aunt about her home birth versus her birth at the hospital

Question 1: What made you decide to get a home birth in the first place?
Response: The main reason why i decided to have a home birth is because it is a tradition in my family that has been done for many years. Another aspect that help me decide on having a home birth than a hospital birth is that when my mother had me it was through a home birth. I really wanted to have a natural birth I really wanted to feel connected to my body and my newborn child. I feel that "technological intervention should not be apart of any birth.
Question 2: Did you have a Mid wife and what was that experience like?
Response: Lucky enough for me one of my closest friends worked at a birthing center and was a midwife there so when I finally made my decision on having a home birth I knew exactly who i was going to ask to assist me through the process. What made the experience for me such a good one is because i knew who i was dealing with and the personality of the person and that they were going to do their best to make sure my birth was a good one. The feeling of having someone watching 24 hours made me feel more safe because any time I had a question and wasn't sure of something I could always go to her and she always had a answer for me which made me feel better and better as the birth went on.
Question 3: Even though you were having a home birth were there any times you felt like you should go to the hospital?
Response: There was actually one time during my pregnancy where I was having extremely painful contractions and I remember telling my mid wife and my husband that I need pain medication and I want to go to the hospital, but as the day went on the contractions went down and i came back to my senses and decided that I wasn't going to the hospital no matter what and I fully trust Janet(mid wife) and what she is doing.
Question 4: Did any of your family or friends criticize your decision to have a mid wife?
Response: There was a big difference between my family and my friends opinions. Mostly everyone in my family supported me in my decision especially my mother, since she had a home birth with me she felt that it was only right for me follow in her footsteps. The contrast with my friends was that they felt the hospital was the normal thing to do and that I was crazy for even considering having a home birth.
Question 5: Even though for your first child you had a home birth for your second child what made you decide to have the birth in the hospital?
Response: I wanted to be able to experience both sides of the birth, so that I wouldn't be bias towards one side. I feel that having a home birth and the hospital birth was one of the most powerful  moments in my life I was able to compare and contrast the two and really analyze the process of Birth.
Question 5: How was it when you had the hospital birth?
Response: To me it seemed very fast the way the doctors and nurses moved and how they rushed me to the ER. I feel that with the home birth things are slow and calm while on the hand the hospital was fast and frantic. Since I was so use to being in the comfort of my home when I gave birth when I had my child in the hospital I didn't feel that sense of comfort and relaxation. I realized that my mid wife took it really slow and ask me how what i was thinking about and what was going through my head and how I felt about the process, but in the hospital to me it seemed like they didn't care about my feelings they just wanted to get the baby out and call it a day.
Question 6: Did anything happen in the hospital that you where against?
Response: There was actually a time were the doctors were talking about an emergency C-Section, but once they said that automatically refused to have that and their response was that it wasn't a guarantee it was just in case.
Question 7: How did they deal with the contractions and pain and how was that different from your home birth?
Response: They gave me an epidural which cut the pain in half and it made me feel way better then when I came in. What was different was that you felt way more pain in the home birth and there nothing you can do about but deal with it and push that baby out.
Question 8 : Did you feel that same connection with your baby at the hospital that you felt when you gave birth at home?
Response: I feel that your always going to have that connection with your baby because it yours and it was inside of you for 9 months, it's just the surroundings that changed I was use to being at home with my mid wife and husband not tons of doctors and nurses.
Overall thoughts and opinions?
Response: Deep in my heart I feel that all women should have home births because it's definitely a once in life time experiance, that changed my life. but i also feel that there is nothing wrong with a hospital Birth and if you feel more comfortable at the hospital instead of home then you should have your birth at the hospital.

My Summary: I feel that by learning about home births and hospital births and watching the movie and doing interviews really help me understand pregnancy more and what aspect go into the birthing process. Even though I learned a lot about both sides am still not bias towards any of the two because I believe that both have their pros and cons. From my knowledge the birth of a child is life changing and the experiance even though is painful there is so much that you can get and learn from a home birth. I feel that when read Ina May's book The Guide to Child Birth she really help me get a clear understanding on how home births work and how natural births help woman connect to their bodies and baby's. One of the most powerful quotes in the book was on pg. 133 "Western medicine assumes a total separation between mind and body. Thoughts and feelings are considered the irrelevant to physical welfare. When something goes wrong with the body, our culture teaches that pharmaceutical medicines or surgery will be necessary" What makes that quote so powerful and significant to me is because it doesn't just connect to birth it connects to all aspects of the body that any time our bodies are sick or not functioning right doctors are quick to through unnecessary medication towards instead of letting our bodies heal natural and it's all just a way to keep money running though our country and another way to make something that is pure an industrial nightmarish atrocity. Even though home births to me seems like the right thing to do there is evidence and statistics that back up hospitals as well. "Approximately 1 in 200 us women deliver at home, accounting for approximately 25,000 deliveries annually. An estimated 75% of low risk singleton home births appear to be planned home deliveries. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist does not support home birth, citing safety concerns and the lack of rigorous scientific study"(Joseph R. Wax MD;F Lee Lucas, PhD, Maternal and newborn outcomes in planned home birth vs planned hospital births: a metanalysis) i also feel that there are very important things that can be done at a hospital that a doctor can do that a mid wife can't and certain procedures that the doctors have planned out for certain problems that go on during a birth. Even though I have learned so much from the whole birth unit i feel that there is more information that could be discovered to deepen my knowledge of pregnancy and birth.

Homework 40

Hey, thanks for writing Guide To Childbirth, your core argument was to give mothers significant information on how to trust the ancient wisdom of their bodies so that they can have a more fulfilling birth experience. That made me rethink pregnancy and birth because by doing that the woman gets to experience a life changing moment in her life, were she is able to connect with her body and her new born child.

But the author, surprised to be talking to someone who instead of sharing their own birth story actually rephrased the main idea of the text s/he spent months giving birth to asks, "Really, which parts were most effective or important for you?" When you answer, "Well, in the last third of the book you focused on the ancient myths of pregnancy and how some practices are looked down upon in our society but in the end it is actually good for the mother and the baby, which (added another angle to/connected back to/further developed/contradicted) the first 2/3rds of the book. But let me be more specific." And then you listed the top 3 ideas/pieces of evidence/insights/questions from that final third of the book (and somehow even listed page number references).
1) On pg. 215 you explain how sexual intercourse during pregnancy is actually not harmful but beneficial for the baby and the mother. In fact the human semen is the most concentrated source of prostaglandins (any of a class of unsaturated fatty acids that are involved in the contraction of smooth muscle, the control of inflammation and body temperature, and many other physiological functions) the substance that cervidil, prepdil, and cytotec attempt to mimic.Woman who have sexual intercourse are more likely to go into labor around forty weeks.
2) On pg.157 you explained orgasmic births, and how woman demand pain medication before they experience an unmedicated birth, you focused on how when the pain is higher you are more likely to have a more intense orgasm. when you brought ti up to the audience of people listening to you and you saw how blank their faces where that shows that in our society birth is mostly associated with pain and not pleasure.
3) On pg.222 I found it interesting that woman who eat and drink more will have an easier time giving birth because they have more stamina to push the baby out. The woman who throw up during labor are considered not conscious and feel that they will put on more weight or effect the baby some how. Another interesting insight was how woman who starve themselves are required to have nourishment so they wont be in labor for more than twenty-four hours.

At this point, realizing that s/he's having a unique conversation with a serious reader of her/his book, the author asks - "But what could I have done to make this a better book - that would more effectively fulfill its mission?" You answer, "Well, let's be clear - your text sought to provide (narratives, historical analysis, journalistic analysis, policy analysis) from the perspective of a ( ....) for the book-reading-public to better understand pregnancy & birth in our culture. Given that aim, and your book, the best advice I would give for a 2nd edition of the text would be, to build on what you did in this book, but find out the myths and practices of natural births in our countries and how do their births turn out compared to ours. But I don't want you to feel like I'm criticizing. I appreciate the immense amount of labor you dedicated to this important issue and particularly for making me think about The benefits of having a natural birth and a midwife & How woman can give birth without technological intervention (as specific as possible). In fact, I'm likely to do embrace natural births and inform woman about the benefits of a midwife.differently as a result of your book." The author replies, "Thanks! Talking to you gives me hope about our future as a society!"

Homework 37

To Leticia: I feel that it is interesting to se how you can compare and contrast both of the interviews. I feel that both woman have a different story to share and you are able to how they went about the child birth process and what were the positives and negatives of having a child. I feel that Both these interviews have something that you can take from them because you can clearly see for both of them having a baby and taking care of it is very difficult because they can;t manage having a job and taking care of the baby. I feel that instead of having the exact dialogue you could of just focused on the gems of the conversation the most insightful parts instead of the small talk that you guys had between questions.

To Willie: I feel that your interview had some interesting facts in them and it made me think about how each woman has their own way that they go about pregnancy. What was insightful about your interview was when you asked the question "What did you do to prepare for the pregnancy" The fact that she was so organized and prepared for when the baby came shows that she is taking responsibility and being smart about  her child's birth. If you had more interviews then it would make it more interesting to read because you can compare and contrast the different interviews to see how each woman goes about having a baby.

Homework 36

1.First Interview(My friends mother)

  The question I asked to start the interview was How did the pregnancy affect you physically, emotionally, or in other ways? She explained that when it came to her emotions she was always up and down. It was cross between being happy that she is going to have another child and the fact that she did not know if her and her husband would be able to take on the responsibility of having another child and could they go through the same stressful process they went through with their first child. When she explained how it affected her physically, she said that she already knew what would happen to her body since she already had a kid before, but what bothered her was that she would have to do a lot of work to get her body back to the way she wanted it. When she told me that she wasn't sure if she could deal with having another baby I asked then why get pregnant, She explained that she would like to have another kid in the house and she feels that it would be good that her older son had a younger sibling to take care of and look after.

  From my point of view all the things that she explained to me where the basics that I already knew from before. The while idea that the process of having a kid is very long and painful and when it came to emotions I already understood that women get depressed and happy during pregnancy. What I found interesting was that she was having a kid so that my friend would have a baby brother or sister in his life.

2.Second Interview(Lady in grocery store)

   While picking up some groceries at the supermarket, I began to talk to a pregnant while waiting on line to  paying for my groceries.I explained to her that I had to go and interview pregnant woman for a class at school so that it wouldn't be more awkward then it already was. The question I asked her was What influenced your choice to have a baby. Her answer was that she really want's to be a stay home mom so that she can raise her kid and make sure that she devotes her time towards her baby, and if it goes as plan she might even consider home schooling her child. Since I wasn't going to be able to sit down and talk to this woman, instead of asking another question I just branched off what we were already talking about. I asked her does she want more than one kid to stay home and take care of. She said she would like two but if she only gives birth to one it doesn't matter.

   What I found found extremely interesting was that in our culture most woman don't let their baby hold them back from being apart of the corporate world. Most mothers just get baby sitters to take care of their child for most of the time. So when she said that she want's to be a stay home mom, I was really surprised because most mothers don't do that. If i had more time the question i would ask her is What inspired you be be a stay home mom?

3.Thrid interview(My mother)

   I feel that my mother would be a great person to interview because I would be able to see what my mother went through when she was pregnant with me and my brother. The first thing my mother told me was that when she was pregnant with me she began to sneeze way more then any normal person would sneeze that for those 9 months she was constantly sneezing but she wasn't sick, but when she gave birth to me a couple weeks later she stop sneezing. She also told me that she was worried when she was giving birth to me because I was premature and she felt that I wasn't going to make it. When I asked her what feelings or memories come back to her when you think of giving birth? she said just the idea of having children of her own brought tons of joy into her life and knowing that she would be able to have tow little boys in her household made her happy.

   What I found interesting was the whole thing about her sneezing. The question I forgot to ask was What made her sneeze so much? what my mother said was something that I also heard from the other mothers. The fact that knowing you are going to give birth makes you very happy and you can't wait to hold your new born baby in your arms.

What influences your choice on having a child?, I feel that there are multiple reasons on why people decide to have children so by doing these interviews I am able to explore the multiple stories and understand why woman decide to have kids.

Homework 35

   I interviewed the age group of 13-18. I realize that everyone believed that when a child was born it was a great thing and was supposed to be celebrated by the family and people around the new born child. I also realized that with the younger kids their responses where very vague and it took a lot of time and effort to actually get some deep insights out of them. They mostly talked about how painful it is for a woman, and that the process takes about 8 months and how it takes a lot of time to care of a baby and that it is a huge responsibility, but besides that they did not explore the multiple aspects associated with birth. But as I began to interview the older kids the conversations where very interesting. A pattern that I notice with the older kids is that they had a tendency to ask me a question during the interview and how i felt about the topic which I thought was very interesting because it brought depth to the conversation that we where having. My friend Jamal ask me "Depending on the religion and culture of a certain society do you think the doctor has more or less control in the birth process? I felt like that question was a very god question because it can be interpreted in many ways you can focus on the social class of that society, the traditions and beliefs, and also explore religion. I just feel that Birth is such a complex topic and the older you get the more you can actually wrap your mind around it.

   One thing I know for sure is that Birth is never just handled in one way, depending on where you are from and what you believe in the birth process can be very different or very similar. The one thing that can be connected between all races, religions, and cultures is it is an event in a woman's life that is celebrated and never looked upon as a negative but more of a positive. I feel that no matter the scenario when a baby is brought into the world people look at is a gift and that you should be thankful to have this child in your life. During the process of these interviews I have come to a conclusion that birth really cant be explained i feel that the birth it self is always the same but how you go about the setting,doctor, and what the baby is suppose to be born into is all at random because every one has there own special theatrics that they want done around their new born child.

Homework 34

   In our society the birth of a new born child is looked upon as a gift, the parents of a new born baby feel that their child is special and that their child has characteristics of a leader and the potential to change the world. I honestly believe that every time a baby is brought to this earth that is the exact mind state that every parent has. But on the other hand birth is looked at as a burden and something that slows a persons life down, to have to constantly watch and take care of a baby takes a huge chunk of time out of any body's schedule, I feel that that is the reason why people always wait till they are older and more mature to have children. It would make no sense what so ever to have a child in a early stage of your life because their are probably multiple goals and aspirations that you want to fulfill before you begin to settle down. 

   While discussing the topic of birth with one of my fathers associates he brought up an interesting point. He said that "That once a person has a child it's the parents job to make sure that their child does better and lives a better life then they did"after thinking that over and getting a clear explanation on why he said that it actually made sense. The reason why I can agree with him on his conclusion is because i can connect to it and see it in my daily life. My mother and father where both born and raised in Jamaica, my mother moved to America to make sure she went a college and had a career that she was happy with. My father also move to america with a dream of owning a electrical contracting business. My mother always told me that the reason she moved to america is because one day she knew she wanted to have kids and she wanted to make sure her kids did not have to struggle like she did. I think the main reason why what my father's business partner said is so important is because it is true. Connecting back to what we learned in class about Culture of Power and how people should be rich in culture and intelligence and should travel the world and learn new things, and i feel like that is most parents dream and goal in life is to make sure that when their child is born even if they have to bust their ass working to make sure that their child has the advantage that they didn't then they will do everything possible to make that happen.

Questions:

1) Is the birth rate higher in America do to the fact that their is more opportunities and jobs to be obtained?

2) What is the average age for a couple to decide to have a kid?

3) Is the birth of a child looked upon as a positive or negative in our culture?

HW 30

   For my project I wanted to explore how my best friend dealt with his father surviving a stroke, and how did that affect his father and his family. The main reason why I wanted to do research on my friends fathers stroke is because I found it interesting on how I use to hang out at my friends house so much and his father and mother knew me so well, but after the stroke his father didn't know me or my name. So I wondered how that lost of memory affected the house hold he lived in. Even though lost of memory is only one side affect of having a stroke i asked my friend what were some other things that caused his father to have a stroke and what changed in his house hold.
   My friend told me that his father had a hard time even remembering his own kids, and for almost 2 months him and his family had to help his father remember all of his loved ones and others he knew. One of the main things that my friend said that changed about his father was his ability to move around and get from point A to point B. He constantly had to be around his father to make sure he was okay and because his father always needed assistance. He also told me that his fathers whole diet had to change because of the stroke he had to start eating extremely healthy, and due to that his father began to lose a lot of weight. What I found interesting was how he went into depth to explain his fathers emotions and how he was always depressed and never seemed to be happy, and when he told me this I knew that the stroke had to have an affect on him. Because through out my childhood he was like my second father and he was always filled with energy and ready to play sports and hang out so when he told me that i was really surprised. After speaking to my friend I did some research and everything he told me I found on the internet while doing research for side effects of having a stroke.
  While doing research one of the main things I found out was how having stroke can affect your perception, emotions, and swallowing and chewing. Stroke victims constantly have mood swings because the part of their brain that produce emotions are injured, and this is called emotional lability. This causes uncontrollable depression, laughter, etc.
    When my friend explained how is father lost weight because of his lack of eating, I figured out that is normal with stroke victims because the stroke disables the muscles in their mouth that allow them to chew and swallow so they just don't end up eating because it is too much of a hassle. This disorder is called dysphagia.
   I did enjoy doing this project but it did also made me realize how going through something like that can affect your family so much. While discussing the matter with my friend he explained to me that his father will never be the same and when he told me that I finally understood what he was going through and how he dealt with it i did did not understand because if that ever happen to my mother or father I don't think I could deal with it.
  I learn that illness and dying is apart of our daily lives and we are going to have to deal with it sooner or later. We will never know when it will happen to us or our loves ones but when it comes we have to be able to deal with it and over come it no matter how devastating it is.
What this shows about the dominant social practices of illness and dying in our culture is that no matter how much help and assistance we get from hospitals and doctors there's nothing they can do about the side affects that tear family's and friends apart. i feel that it is great that mt best friends father is better and back on his feet but he will never be the same and there's nothing that any hospital or doctor can do about that.
  The reason this whole project matters is because you are able to get insight into a concept that has so much depth and different perspectives. So when your able to actually focus on one aspect you get to see what illness and dying is all about and how it affects the lives of others and how our cultures goes about dealing with it.
   SOURCES:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4761

http://www.livestrong.com/article/78950-effects-having-stroke/

http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/AboutStroke/UnderstandingRisk/Understanding-Risk_UCM_308539_SubHomePage.jsp
 
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/stroke/page3_em.htm#Stroke%20Symptoms


    
       

hw 29

Facing terminal illness- The idea of you knowing that you or someone else you know is going to pass away has to be one of the most scariest and sad things that you will experience in your life. With some people it's easier to grasp the idea that someone besides yourself is going to die. There is a time in everyone s life where you clearly understand that you are going to die and after a while it isn't that terrifying anymore. A great example is from Tuesdays with Morrie (pg 36) "You know how i'm going to die? he said . I raised my eyebrows. I'm going to suffocate. yes. My lungs, because of my asthma, can't handle the disease. It's moving up my body, this ALS. It's already got my legs. Pretty soon it'll get my arms and hands. SAnd when it hits my lungs..." This shows that Morrie has come a conclusion that his life is almost over and he barely has any time left.

Process of Dying- I honestly believe that the process of dying has to be one of the worst things ever, for the person thats dying and the family members and friends that have to watch and go through the process as well. When the guess speaker came in and explain that her husband had cancer and the process she and her kids had to go through to take care of him and be there for him, it made me realize how hard that most be. One insight she said was that her husband never believed that he was going to die he though that maybe a miracle would happen or then would cure him and things would be better. Even though he knew deep inside things were not changing for the better he still stuck with that plan. It was also so interesting how his process of dying brought the family together but also teared them apart. When she explain that the older son never really got to visit his father when he was sick, that shows that the death of someone can really be hard on the people that know they are going to spend the rest of their lives without he/she being there. Throughout that whole speech you feel extremely sorry for the family's lost but you also get some insight on what it is like to deal with the death of someone that is very close.

Being sick- Even though I don't remember ever being sick to the point where I had to go to the hospital. My mother told me when i was a baby I almost died because one of my kidneys failed and i had to have surgery so they could get rid of it. While my mother told me this story the only thing i could thing about was what if the surgery wasn't successful and I did die How would that affect my love ones?and How would their lives be different? Before this topic came up in class there was never a time where i would talk to my parents about illness or dying because i never wanted to talk about it because I feared it.