User:Ssn9876/sandbox

Week 3 Questions

 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * The article that I picked is about involuntary euthanasia, and everything it talks about is relevant to the topic. First, it gives a broad understanding of what involuntary euthanasia is, and then goes into the history of involuntary euthanasia. In the history section it goes into history of it in the US and how Adolf Hitler used it during World War 2. This is the only section of the entire article.
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * This article does appear neutral, reading through it there doesn't seem to be a bias, rather it seems as if the author is just trying to convey the information on a harsh topic. This wiki user does put into quotations some words such as "medical experts" and "unfit" in reference to World War 2 which could indicate abias, but it seems as if the author is just trying to put into perspective what the thought process was like for Nazis in the war.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * In my opinion the two things that he does talk about (WWII and the US) are both represented well and seem to have just enough content for the reader to have a basic understanding of some examples of involuntary euthanasia
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * The links do work, and yes most of the information in the sources support the claims in the article, mostly because a lot of the information is just paraphrased from the sources.
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * All of the sources referenced in the article are reliable, and range from the National Institute of Health to the American Journal of Psyciatry
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * The most recent source of information in this article is from 2006. I feel like this is mostly because society in general has moved on from the whole "Involuntary Euthanasia" debate and moved to the highly contested "Whether or not to pull the plug", so a lot of recent information isn't available.
 * Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * There are a lot of posts about formatting and grammar, however there are also a lot about what to add or detract. The article talks about people who believe that euthanasia should be legal, for example Singer, and there is some contention about that based on the fact that Singer talks about voluntary euthansia rather than involuntary euthanasia. Also people are claiming that the T4 task force in World War 2 was about voluntary euthanasia, not involuntary. Basically, every single line is being scrutinized because of the fact that involuntary euthanasia is an extremely hard topic to write about without some overlap with voluntary euthanasia.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * This article is a part of the WikiProject for Death, and is related to our class because it talks about when is death ok, and when is inflicting death the right thing to do? Or is it ever the right thing to do? Involuntary Euthanasia is a topic that rotates and makes you answer these types of questions.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * In our class, we are all throwing around opinions here and there, but this article is actually using sources and studies done to educate somebody about the history of involuntary euthanasia and euthanasia in general.

Week 5 Citation Article Link
Hierarchy of death. I added a few lines to this a while ago and just didn't link it here!

Week 6: Topics I could possibly do
Hi Dr. Garcia, I'm actually having an incredibly difficult time trying to come up with some topics. So far, the only one that I could even consider doing is about the Hierarchy of death, and even then its a media invented term and not much room for improvement. Also something else I've looked into is Professional Mourning, which itself is a cool topic, but again most of the research I've done is from articles in blogs and whatnot. There is an article about religious terrorism that isn't finished that I think I could definitely find more information for, but besides that I can't really seem to find any other articles that are not only short, but also have a lot of potential sources. So for the assignment should I still try to delve deeper and come up with 2-3 good ones, or can I just start researching religious terrorism? Thank you! ~

Topic 1 Religious Terrorism:
 * The article doesn't talk about the origins of religious terrorism, or at least doesn't go very deep into detail.
 * There is not one reference to religious terrorist groups such as the Taliban or ISIS, something that could take up an entire section
 * The article talks very very generally about terrorism, and uses a definition of terrorism that is a bit outdated and could be refined more
 * Also there is a section about financing, which could be kind of cool thing to look into, how different group raise their money, however it's poorly executed
 * There is a lot of stuff in the talk page talking about different things that could be added to the article, each post having great suggestions on what to add and what to fix as well. For example, the KKK was previously mentioned in this, but debates about what exactly is religious terrorism have spread all over the talk page. This is why it will be an important to find a legitimate definition for everyone to follow.

Topic 2

Week 7: Picking A Topic
After a lot of frustration about not being able to pick a topic, I've decided that I'm going to do professional mourning. First of all, it's a really cool concept that has little to no research done on it. Secondly, there are a lot of religious stories that involve professional mourning and it's role in society.

As of now, here is the a breakdown of the article: an overall summary (that's only a few sentences), and a section about professional mourning in films, literature, and television. The original post doesn't even talk about religious significance. The following are just a few things that I believe will make the article better and more varied.
 * 1) Women's role in Professional mourning
 * 2) There is an article that I found that talks about professional mourning as a chance for women to earn a living rather than living in traditional roles.This sense of pride was a driving force behind women continuing with this kind of work.
 * 3) Professional Mourning in Christianity
 * 4) There are over ten verses in the bible that talk about calling people to mourn. Also, there are references to "weeping women" a lot. I still have to look up the exact context of these situations, but it seems as if mourning is a different and spiritual process. It's almost like the more people who mourn for you the more likely it is that you will go to Heaven. Again, this is just an inference, but I'm really close on finding scholarly articles to present this as well. \
 * 5) Professional Mourning in Islam
 * 6) Same concept as Christianity
 * 7) Professional Mourning in Hinduism

Women's Role in Professional Mourning
Most of the people hired to perform the act of professional mourning were women. Men were deemed unfit for this because they were supposed to be strong and leaders of the family, unwilling to show any sort of raw emotion like grief. This is why women were professional mourners; were actually able to express grief, and expressing grief is important when it comes to mourning a body in terms of religion (woman citation). Also, in a world full of jobs solely made for men, it gave women a sense of pride that they were actually able to earn money in some way. (woman citation here).

Bible Verses:
Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, "There is wailing in all the plazas, And in all the streets they say, 'Alas! Alas!' They also call the farmer to mourning And professional mourners to lamentation. Amos 5:16

Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come! Jeremiah 9:17

So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. Acts 9:39

Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.1 Samuel 25:1

Professional Mourning, as told by the bible takes the form of lamentation (bible quote). Lamentation was a necessary part of the grieving process when somebody passed away. For example, when King Samuel passed away, the whole nation of Israel lamented for him. Mourning is seen as respect. The amount of mourners somebody has shows how respected that specific individual was.

Potential Sources:

 * https://academic.oup.com/past/article/183/1/3/1465972 (About Islam and Professional mourning)
 * Crying : the natural and cultural history of tears (Talks about the historial significance of tears and how crying has changed over time)
 * The Bible
 * N.J. Richardson - "Early Greek views on Life and Death" in Greek Religion and Society
 * Delves into some history of professional mourners in Greece
 * https://global.oup.com/academic/product/forming-femininity-in-antiquity-9780199837779?cc=us&lang=en&
 * Goes into women in ancient societies and why there were the only ones allowed to mourn
 * http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=29beae13-8866-4dd4-9a09-f3f8fc4f9ef8%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=CPLI0000506808&db=vah

Week 8: Peer Review
Hello peer reviewers, everything from here to Prof Garcia's will be the content I will be adding to the article. Also because of Spring Break I haven't really been able to add as much, but will hopefully have everything here on Sunday!

Peer Review
Hi Saad! I think that this is a great topic as, like you said, there is very little information on it on the current Wikipedia page for it. I like the topics you have listed to cover for the article, and I think there is a lot of information that can be found for each. I actually did some research (although probably not as much as you) on this topic when we were choosing an article so I'll share with you some resources/information you may find useful. I saw you already have some verses from the Bible where professional mourning is mentioned, but this website has some more if you're interested - https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Mourners. Additionally, I don't know that some of these verses only pertain to Christianity since I believe some are included in parts of the Bible recognized by Judaism as well which may prove useful if you wanted to incorporate a section on Judaism (I'm not sure if there are other sources which mention professional mourning since the family usually sits Shiva but it could be worthwhile to look into). This article provides a personal account/experience of a professional mourner which could be incorporated into the article perhaps as another subsection such as "The Experience of Professional Mourning" (just a suggestion, it could probably be incorporated elsewhere if you chose to use it).

In addition to your already listed topics, I think it might be useful to add some kind of history or timeline if one is even conceivable. I think that it would be interesting and useful to any future readers of the article to be able to see a quick breakdown of the history of professional mourning and how it has changed throughout the course of history and across different countries/cultures/religions. The following are links to several books or sources I found that discuss women, Ugaritic texts (as is mentioned in the existing article), and Ancient Egypt: These could potentially be used for part of a history/timeline section. Again, I think it would be great to have contemporary practices of professional mourning (who performs the service, who wants the service, why do they want the service, how much are the mourners paid, etc.) to show differences/similarities in the history as well as to have some knowledge of what it is currently like in society. I'm not sure if all of this information/research exists, but, if it does, it would be great to incorporate! I think you're doing great so far and I hope this helped some! Mayhem03 (talk) 17:12, 18 March 2018 (UTC)
 * http://www.mariarosavaldesogo.com/controlled-attitude-professional-mourners-ancient-egypt/
 * http://www.mariarosavaldesogo.com/requirements-professional-mourners-ancient-egypt/
 * https://books.google.com/books?id=uvtebmqZZDYC&pg=PA479&lpg=PA479&dq=professional+mourning+ugaritic+epics&source=bl&ots=SViRXBmU4Q&sig=lnBlMy5m7cvD02JTuvE_an77JpQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi54NOSoMHZAhXNt1MKHWmCANkQ6AEISjAH#v=onepage&q=professional%20mourning%20ugaritic%20epics&f=false
 * https://books.google.com/books?id=V_c3Ac5oCSsC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=professional+mourning+ugaritic+epics&source=bl&ots=aYlhGRJJYE&sig=YQ_Bb_z31SB5XTubt1TkBtXvO-8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi54NOSoMHZAhXNt1MKHWmCANkQ6AEITTAI#v=onepage&q=professional%20mourning%20ugaritic%20epics&f=false

Intro Section Edits
Original:

Professional mourning or paid mourning is a mostly historical occupation practiced in Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures, and many other parts of the world. Professional mourners, also called moirologists, are compensated to lament or deliver a eulogy.

Mentioned in the Bible, the occupation is widely invoked in literature, from the Ugaritic epics of early centuries BC to modern poetry.[citation needed] Held in high esteem in some cultures and times, the practice was vilified in others.[citation needed]

Female professional mourners also, called Rudaali, were common in many parts of India, especially in the Western Indian state of Rajasthan.

Edit:

Professional mourning or paid mourning is an occupation that originates in Egyptian, Chinese, Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures. Professional mourners, also called moirologists, are compensated to lament or deliver a eulogy and help comfort and entertain the grieving family. Mentioned in the Bible and other religious texts, the occupation is widely invoked and explored in literature, from the Ugaritic epics of early centuries BC to modern poetry.[citation needed] Held in high esteem in some cultures and times, the practice was vilified in others, such as the Chinese Cultural Revolution.[citation needed]. Female professional mourners also, called Rudaali, were common in many parts of India, especially in the Western Indian state of Rajasthan.

Professional mourning is still practiced in China and other Asian countries. In fact, some cultures even think that the use of professional mourners brings a certain religious and historical application to funeral processions. (https://www.wnyc.org/story/303342/)

Ancient Egypt:
The professional mourner occupation in ancient Egypt was special because it was one of the only jobs that could be held by women. The professional mourners would be "making an ostentatious display of grief which included loud wailing, beating exposed breasts, smearing the body with dirt and disshelved hair; all signs of uncontrolled behavior, the disorder of sorrow". https://books.google.com/books?id=1pkH3QP390gC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=ancient+egypt+professional+mourning&source=bl&ots=mkdvxMPxOx&sig=edgZXShPr0ucmdXVv7-gcNychJk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjR9IaVjqLaAhXBzFMKHU_XDcc4ChDoAQhCMAQ#v=onepage&q=ancient%20egypt%20professional%20mourning&f=false.

However, the most important of the women were the two that impersonated the two gods Isis and Nephyts.

Isis and Nephyts were both Egyptian gods that were believed to play a special role when someone died. They were to be impersonated as a mourning ritual by professional mourners. In most inscriptions seen, one of them is at either ends of the corpse. There are also rules for impersonation of these two gods, for example the portrayer's body had to be shaved completely, not have any kids, and tattooed the names Isis or Nephyts on their shoulders for identification. (http://www.mariarosavaldesogo.com/requirements-professional-mourners-ancient-egypt/). Evidence of professional mourning is seen in Ancient Egypt through different pyramid and tomb inscriptions. Different inscriptions show women next to tombs holding their bodies in such ways that show sorrow, such as "hands holding their back of the neck, crossing their arms on their chests, kneeling and/or bending their bodies forwards" (http://www.mariarosavaldesogo.com/controlled-attitude-professional-mourners-ancient-egypt/). (put photo in here).

were also seen as a sign of wealth. The more wailers or mourners that followed your cascade around, the more respected you were in the society.

Ancient China:
Professional mourners have been regular attendees of Chinese funerals since 756. The tradition of professional mourning stemmed from theatrical performances that would occur during funerary processions. There would be musical performances at funerals stemming as early as the third century. Actors would play the role of the deceased and play out different aspects of their lives.

"...set up wooden figures of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang participating in the banquet at Goose Gate. The show lasted quite some time. This performance was part of a funeral procession during the Dali reign (766-779) as the coffin of the deceased was beign carried on the streets to his tomb site. The main funerary ritual had taken place at the house of the deceased, and now the mourners were walkking in the funeral procession, along with a troupe of performers. The latter performance of this celerbrated episode of the feast at the Goose Gate (Hongmen) from the Three Kingdoms saga was preceded by the enactment of a combat scene between two celebrated soldiers in history that was performed alongside the procession" (-book).

Most of the historical evidence of mourning exists in the form of inscriptions on the different panels of tombs. Each slab contains a different story, and by the analysis of these inscriptions we are able to tell that these were played out during the funeral. For example:

"Each scene --the preparation of food, the groom with a horse, and the entertainment -- is unfailingly reminiscent of classical representations that adorn many tomb walls or coffin surfaces created since the Hand period...these motifs are generally understood by students of Chinese funerary art as a banquet for the deceased...it is clear they represent the deceased couple because of the motif's strong connection to traditional representations of performances prepared for tomb occupants" (-book)

The idea of entertainment was not always popular, especially with the government and scholars.

Bible Instances of Professional Mournings
Professional mourning is brought up many times throughout the Bible. For example in Amos,

"Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, "There is wailing in all the plazas, And in all the streets they say, 'Alas! Alas!' They also call the farmer to mourning And professional mourners to lamentation" Amos 5:16

According to Biblical analysts, this verse is implying that lamentation is like an art. People who were deemed "good" at wailing and moaning were then able to take part in more and more funerals, and were expected to make these moaning sounds. The people who fulfilled the roles of these professional mourners were farmers who were done cropping for their season, and didn't have much else to do, so they took on this role for the extra money it would get them (Gill, John. "Commentary on Amos 5:16". "The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible". https: https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/amos-5.html . 1999.)

Another instance of professional mourning worth noting is in 2 Chronicles 35:25, the Bible says "Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their lamentations to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations." When someone of power dies, in this case Josiah, everyone can fill the role of mourner, professionals aren't needed because everyone feels the weight of the loss.

Jeremiah 9: 17-18 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come! “Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,That our eyes may shed tears and our eyelids flow with water.

According to the book Mourner, Mother, Midwife, women played in integral part when it came to mourning. "Wailing women are called to lead the people in expression of grief in response to the national tragedy that saw the destruction of Zion. These women who are called to “raise a dirge over us” are literally called “wise women.” This can also be translated as “skilled women” (Jer. 9:17 [MT16]), suggesting that the art of mourning is a skill that has to be learned. The role of the wailing woman constituted a professional trade that required training. . . . On the appropriate occasion (a funeral or a national tragedy like the one that form the backdrop of Jeremiah 9), wailing women not only had to be able to draw on the reservoir of lament handed down through the generations, but they also had to adapt these laments to suit the particular need of the current situation. . . . Their laments represent the community’s response in the face of extreme trauma." (http://margmowczko.com/bible-women-who-led-celebrations-and-lamentations/). Women were also seen as the only people who could express grief, so most of the time they were the ones leading the funeral processions as well. Most of the grief came from the women losing their husbands and sons to war, so the grief that they would feel would be real, and other women would just mimic. http://margmowczko.com/bible-women-who-led-celebrations-and-lamentations/

Modern Professional Mourners
In the eyes of the professional mourners, they are performers. A common ceremony in China involves the family paying the mourners in advance and bringing them in lavish style to the place the funeral will take place. The mourners are trained in the art of singing and bring a band with them. The first step is for the mourners to line up outside and crawl. This is symbolic of daughters running home from their families in an effort to see the body. Next, a eulogy is performed. The eulogy is performed in loud, sobbing, fashion and backed up by dramatic instrumental tunes, driving the attendees to tears. One of the sayings she says is

''‘Why did you leave us so soon? The earth is covered in a black veil for you. The rivers and streams are crying to tell your story – that of an honest man,’ Hu sings.''

''‘I shed tears for your children and grandchildren. We’re so sorry we could not keep you here,’ she croons between sobs.''

Then the family is told to bow in front of the casket three times, and suddenly a belly dancer takes the so called "stage" and the song picks up, lights start flashing, and everyone is upbeat again, "Like sunshine after rain" (https://www.wnyc.org/story/303342/).

Mourners are paid somewhere between 30$ - 120$ and if everything goes well they are able to be tipped very gratuitously.

In the United Kingdom there is a program called "Rent A Mourner" in which families can hire people to increase the amount of guests at a funeral. People hired from this website are essentially actors that are given a role to play by the family, for example a distant cousin or uncle. Mourners are expected to be able to communicate with and interact with guests without giving away that they have been hired by the family. This practice spans across religions, mourners have been hired at Muslim, Jewish, and Christian events. http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1994-i-am-professional-mourner-6-realities-my-job.html

In Egypt, when someone in the family died, the women in the family would start the lamenting, and the neighbors and the professional mourners would join as well. Professional mourners would also come up and help lead the family in mourning by making grief stricken shrieks, cherishing and reminiscing the deceased. A funeral dirge is also performed by the mourners. One of the teachings of Muhammad was that the sound of wailing woman was forbidden, but modern Egyptian culture doesn't heed to this part of the Quran as the wailing and mourners follow the body to the graveyard. All of this occurs within the same day, or if the deceased were to pass away in the night, the following day. https://books.google.com/books?id=xkLQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA665&lpg=PA665&dq=egyptian+professional+mourning&source=bl&ots=RaxWtdoLwz&sig=yl_LKFyW7Icb-n9Suwe9yPGiwak&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifmdr41LPaAhVQ0lMKHU6BCkQ4FBDoAQgrMAE#v=onepage&q=egyptian%20professional%20mourning&f=false

Prof Garcia's Comments
Week 4 Saad, I worry a bit about the viability of this topic for you. I do not know of much information out there on involuntary euthanasia. What is more, there doesn't seem to be a religion angle in here that you can work on. I think that you need to go back and take a look at the death stub articles and see what might be out there that interests you. Also, I need you to pay particular attention to all of the things you have to do on a weekly basis on the wiki timeline. I do not see your work related to citations here? Alfgarciamora (talk) 16:21, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Week 5 I'm sad to hear you're having trouble, Saad. I think that you are on a good topic with the professional mourning page, however. There is probably a lot of great work in anthropology and religious studies on this topic, and you can do a tremendous job with it. I say you go with that topic and move forward from there. Make sure to look at all the literature you possibly can and scan, scan, scan! Especially at the beginning. Alfgarciamora (talk) 22:30, 26 February 2018 (UTC)
 * And one last thing: please organize your sandbox page so that it is more readable. Take a look at Esther's page in our class for a good example.

Week 6 Glad that you chose a topic, Saad. I think that it is imperative that you begin to research the topic more in depth. I worry that you are falling behind and that you will not be able to keep up with the workload very soon. There is a lot of good information on professional mourning in the anthropological and historical research, so make sure that you take the time to do the research. I would highly encourage you to visit the research librarian at the Richter Library so that s/he can help you. Now that you've chosen a topic, it is important to go go go! Alfgarciamora (talk) 22:32, 5 March 2018 (UTC)