What happens to the tombstones?

    This paper explores the ways people create meaning about a person’s self postmortem through tombstones. Although today an increasing proportion of individuals are

purchasing tombstones before they die, the vast majority of stones are purchased and

designed by the bereaved after the death of their loved ones (Meyer 1992). Although the

entire ritual process surrounding death—visitations, funerals, wakes—is a way for the

bereaved to face the death of their loved ones, the tombstone itself is a lasting memory

and tribute to the deceased.

The way we have interpreted and thought about death and dying has changed

dramatically over time (Kellehear 2007). This, in turn, has greatly altered our burial

practices and assumptions about the dead and dying. Instead of placing goods and

personal items with the dead, we are now more likely to include such references to the

persons’ lives on their stones as opposed to within the caskets. Through an analysis of

tombstones, I sought to understand how the pictures, epitaphs, and even size and shape of

the stones serve to tell a story about the person buried beneath them.

Explanation:

b. brooks wrote about the same type of neighborhood in which she grew up.

- "a.) it includes letters and books gathered over 1200 years, and consists of two parts.

- most of the new testament is letters from paul to the different churches, and since there's a new testament that means there is an old testament. "