Project 1 -- Cemetery Visit (Due Oct. 30).

Prof. Nan P. Chico,

Sociology 3419.

Student photographs of cemetery visit (Jan. 1997) now available! Be sure to see these before you decide where to go and what to look for.

• The cemetery visit should last 2-3 hours. Try to find a cemetery with a mausoleum, places for ashes to be buried or put in a wall, and a children's section. I highly recommend going to Colma, which has far more dead folks than live ones, but Holy Sepulchre at the bottom of Harder Road will do just fine. If you do go to Colma, Cypress Lawn has some beautiful Tiffany glass; the Italian Cemetery has some huge outdoor family vaults, and Woodlawn has some nice chapels and indoor statuary. Nearby in San Bruno is the Golden Gate National Cemetery, which won't have much variety in headstones, but is a good example of its type. If you aren't quite sure where these places are, try Yahoo! Maps.
• While you are there, write down/take photos of, at least 30 observations. Note your emotional reactions and thoughts about each one. Include as many of the following as possible:
  1. 2-3 different epitaphs; religious symbols or images; styles of headstones; crypts, vaults, niches, both indoor and outdoor styles.
  2. the marker of an infant (under 1); a young child; a teenager; someone close to your age; someone with your first name, and/or your last name; someone who was born or who died on your birthdate or in the year you were born; the very oldest person you can find; a family plot; a husband-and wife plot; a headstone that mentions the cause of death; one that mentions occupation.
  3. 2-3 indications of ethnicity or national origin.
  4. anything that you don't understand (other than a marker with a foreign language): a symbol, a custom or practice, etc.
  5. anything that surprises you, for whatever reason.
  6. a conversation with someone who works at the cemetery.
  7. 5-6 different things left on or near a grave by visitors (note the date of death).

• Write a paper (using college level English) about your visit with:
  1. an introductory sentence saying WHERE you went and the DATE and TIME.
  2. your 30 observations; all annotated, tying in some of the concepts from Blumer, the text and web-sites, as relevant.
  3. a concluding paragraph that describes your overall reaction to the assignment, particularly if you went with someone else, and/or if this was your first cemetery visit (or to a cemetery of the particular type you chose).

I highly recommend that you do this assignment with a significant other. If possible, go on a weekday during business hours, you are more likely to find cemetery workers to chat with, and might even see graveside ceremonies (from a distance). Allow plenty of time to look around for awhile, don't just start writing down the first thing you find. If you go with someone from class, be sure to work independently. Your grade will be based on your analytic discussion of relevant concepts, with proper reference/citations to material in the text, in lecture, and/or on the web. If you include photos with your paper, keep them separate with your name and a number on the back of each one. In the text of your paper, just refer to the number.

To Syllabus.

The URL of this site is http://class.csueastbay.edu/faculty/NAN/dd/proj1.htm