Jul 10

Monuments to Mortality

Due to the schedule change this week (MW classes are meeting instead on WF), some of you will be attending this class just before our Tuesday afternoon excursion to Mt. Auburn Cemetery, while others have class on the following day. If you're in the latter group, feel free to draw on what you saw at the cemetery in responding to the following prompt.

Watch at least the first half of this documentary on the historic cemeteries in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah was the first English settlement in the colony of Georgia, and the state's original capital.

I'm particularly interested in the contrast between the colonial graveyard (the Old Burying Ground, discussed during the first 11 minutes), Laurel Grove North (a gorgeous Victorian-era site, discussed from minute 11 to 22, roughly speaking), and Laurel Grove South (the part of Laurel Grove where blacks were buried, both before and after the Civil War, discussed from minute 22 to 26 or so).

For HW, do one of the following:

1. Take note of something said by the narrator or someone he interviewed, as to the public or private function of grave plots so old that the original mourners are themselves long dead. Quote and respond to that idea with your own thoughts on the purpose of grave sites. Be sure to include a time signature in your response.
2. Take note of a grave marker that strikes you as interesting. What emotional response does the marker demand from viewers? Be sure to include a time signature in your response.