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.Monday, February 13Malechi came to visit me today before class.I had asked him to speak to mebecause his first assignment was poorly written.Far from being angry or defen-sive, he thanked me, saying that he had turned in carelessly written essays athis previous college, SUNY Stony Brook, where he received A s from hisprofessors.He is not the first student to tell me that receiving a poor grademotivated him to work harder in the future.The other reason for Malechi s visit was more unusual.He said he hadgreat difficulty completing the eulogy assignment, which was due today, be-cause of a persistent migraine headache, from which he has never previouslysuffered.Writing the eulogy, he speculated, forced him to confront the inev-itability of his own death, resulting in the migraine.He told me he was theperson who wrote that three weeks earlier he had nearly died as a result oftaking a hallucinogenic substance.He had a  bad trip, and his friends warnedhim that he might not awake if he fell asleep.This was his first close encounterwith death, and he was scared.Writing the eulogy was the second time in lessthan a month he had been forced to confront the specter of death.He viewedthe migraine as a response to his death anxiety: he remained in bed thismorning for an hour, knowing that he had to finish the assignment but unableto move.I asked him if the obituary assignment was also difficult to write and hesaid it was not, mainly because he was writing about a death that did not seemto affect his own life.(No one in his immediate family has died.) I gave him anextra two days to complete the assignment and asked him if he would be willingto write an additional optional essay evaluating the eulogy assignment.Heagreed.I don t think he fabricated a story simply because he didn t turn in theassignment on time.I ll be curious to read his response essay.I wonder if any ofhis classmates had the same difficulty with the eulogy assignment.The Death of Ivan Ilych is not on our reading list, but I spent a fewminutes today discussing one of the most famous stories about dying anddeath.I pointed out how darkness turns to light during the epiphanic mo-ments preceding the protagonist s passing, an observation on which Richardelaborates in his diary entry:I found it interesting how Jeff defined epiphany as the moment when Godappears and how it now means any moment of insight.With this new definitionin mind, the correlation between literary studies, character, and religion isstronger than I imagined.I understood how the preacher-like qualities overlap60 Writing a Eulogywith the pulpit, but studying epiphanies now has an entirely new meaning forme.The idea that death is associated with light is quite interesting, as this thenimplies death is another form of knowledge; at least metaphorically, we may lookat it this way.Elisabeth Kübler-Ross mirrors this idea with her five stages for theterminally ill: (1) shock, denial, isolation; (2) anger at God, nature, healthypeople, parents; (3) bargaining: I will die if  .The person may not knowhe/she is bargaining; (4) depression; (5) acceptance, resignation.This processcould be read as a process toward insight/knowledge and enlightenment.Today the eulogies were due.The assignment was as follows:Writing a EulogyFor your second assignment, which is due on Monday, February 13, please write aeulogy for a person who is either living or dead.Try to describe the specialqualities of the person you are eulogizing.See if you can use words to bring thedeceased back to life.Remember that showing is better than telling.The eulogyis usually the most important part of a funeral, so make your language as heartfeltas possible.I consulted several books while writing my eulogy for Barbara and foundtwo especially helpful, The Book of Eulogies, edited by Phyllis Theroux, andInventions of Farewell, edited by Sandra M.Gilbert.Theroux reminds us thatthe  eulogy, or  funeral praise, is the oldest and, in some ways, least valued ofour literary forms.It is practiced by amateurs.When someone dies, it iscustomary for a member of the family or a friend to  say a few words, composedunder great duress, about the deceased.Mourners are not literary critics; we willaccept any words at all, as long as they are not mean-spirited or self-serving, andif a particularly moving or graceful tribute is delivered, we are grateful for thebalm (13) [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]