Abstract
The paper is a review of an article entitled "Cultural tourism, the State, and the Day of the Dead", which the writer find particularly relevant to him because of his plans to observe Day of the Dead celebrations during an upcoming visit to Mexico. The paper then relates the emotions of the writer prior to an intended visit to Mexico during the "Day of the Dead " celebrations, noting that there is a conflict between the authorities who welcome tourism on this holiday and the civilians who see tourism as intrusion into a sacred historical ritual and oppose it being promoted as a tourist attraction. The paper also explains that the community is divided on the subject, as many recognize the economic importance of tourism.

From the Paper
"These dynamics are evident in Mexico, particularly concerning how to mediate the conflict between the state and local residents over the tourist attraction that Day of the Dead festivities have become because of globalization. Cano and Mysyk have studied the problems which have arisen in the village of Huaquechula since 1988, when the one road leading into the village was paved for the benefit of tourists and the village became a part of the tourism circuit. In the process of studying the impact of these developments, Mysyk surveyed the villagers regarding their appreciation of the presence of tourists, their behavior, their feelings about tourists photographing or videotaping altars, and related issues."

Tags:tourism, industry, day, of, the, dead, Mexico

Abstract
This paper analyzes the absurdist existentialist tragicomedy
"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" by Tom Stoppard. The paper looks at how Stoppard portrays the everyman by portraying the confusion of the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet). The paper also explains how this play is a nexample of good absurdist theater because it allows the audience to draw comparisons with themselves, realizing that the characters they have been so critical of, really represent humanity. The writer believes that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not the heroes of the story and they are not given the opportunity to save the day, and never really manage to change the course of the play in any real way. The writer concludes that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with their sad charm, are pathetic in a way only an absurdist everyman could be and all of the bleak statements on humanity that Stoppard throws at his audience really mean nothing in the end because after all, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

From the Paper
"The play opens to an obvious dilemma. No matter how many times they flip their coin, or how much they try to interpret the meaning, the coin is always heads up. They believe they have freewill, and look desperately for a legitimate reason for this anomaly. On pg. 2, Guildenstern muses on their situation, "A weaker man might be moved to re-examine his faith, if in nothing else at least in the law of probability". Three pages later, he is still determined to find an explanation, "It must be indicative of something, besides the redistribution of wealth. List of possible explanations." (And he goes on to examine four possibilities, his will, time having stopped, divine intervention, the principle of probability)."

Tags:absurdist, existentialist, tragicomedy, Shakespeare, Hamlet, drama

Abstract
This paper examines how "The Day of Doom", a poem written by Michael Wigglesworth is a poem with the central apocalyptic theme of the Great and Last Judgment. It looks at how the 224 eight lined stanzas dramatize God's sudden appearance among wicked men, His summons of the living and the dead to judgment, His extension of acceptance to "believers" and His punishment of the damned. It also discusses how the poem is perfectly suited to the Puritan period and how the cultural circumstances when the poem was published in 1662 made the poem gain its great success.

From the Paper
"Through out the poem, Wigglesworth tends to strengthen the faith of the Puritans in their religion, their Christianity. The strong tradition of preaching and the sermon established by the Puritans had strong influence on the structure and the content of the poem. Inevitably, preaching became one of the strong sources for literary creations in the Colonial Period of American history. It is also true that sermons were the most popular literature of the time and became a dominant literary form for New England's most notable writers."

Tags:christianity, god, apocalyptic

Abstract
This paper explains that, on first glance, the atmosphere of the ancient Mesopotamian epic "Gilgamesh," Homer's "Odyssey," the Egyptian songs for the dead and the medieval allegory "Everyman" seem quite foreign to our modern culture and sensibilities since the works depict heroes grappling with the gods in a one-on-one fashion, and valor and might are the ultimate determinants of a man or woman's prowess. The paper then argues that the issues these heroes must deal with, however, are also basic human issues common even today and that because of this, these pieces are not simply curiosities, but still resonate as vital works of literature.

From the Paper
"The plea for companionship in the face of death "Everyman" takes on a transcendent power because of its universality and the desire for home in "The Odyssey" gives the work a timeless quality, and makes the amoral protagonist sympathetic. Likewise, in "Gilgamesh," the protagonist's sorrow about losing his beloved best friend makes him sympathetic, even though like King Odysseus, King Gilgamesh is often violent, deceitful, and cruel. When he is punished by the gods, like Odysseus, it is not in an especially just fashion, but simply because he has been cursed for killing the evil demon Humbaba of the Cedar Forest, when provoked and attacked. Instead of Gilgamesh losing his own life, his dearest friend Enkidu is taken to the cruel place in the underworld, which like Homeric conceptions, is a terrible place, regardless of how morally one behaves in life."

Tags:Odysseus, gods, heroes, valour

Abstract
The paper looks at the article "Cultural tourism, the State, and the Day of the Dead", where Lucero Morales Cano and Avis Mysyk examine how various Mexican government officials mediated between local identity and cultural tourism as they sought to promote the traditional Mexican holiday known as the Day of the Dead. The paper discusses how the authors clarify that mediation was necessary because of conflicting state and local values, for the state's efforts to promote cultural tourism in order to boost economic development are sometimes opposed by local community groups who consider cultural tourism programs to be intrusive and disruptive.

From the Paper
"In their Annals of tourism research article entitled, "Cultural tourism, the State, and the Day of the Dead", Lucero Morales Cano and Avis Mysyk examine how various Mexican government officials mediated between local identity and cultural tourism as they sought to promote the traditional Mexican holiday known as the Day of the Dead. The authors clarify that mediation was necessary because of conflicting state and local values, for the state's efforts to promote cultural tourism in order to boost economic..."

Tags:tourism, industry, issues

Abstract
The papers contained here are: "A National Memorial Commemorating the Dead", "Euthanasia", "The Role of Humor in Death", "Day of the Dead", "Acculturation and the Sociology of Death and Dying", and "Organ Donation".

Abstract
This paper discusses the mysterious conditions surrounding Marilyn Monroe's death. The question of suicide vs. murder is discussed and different versions of the story are presented. The writer also describes the life she lead and the people she socialized with, while trying to connect these with the circumstances of her death.

From the Paper
"At 4:25 a.m. on August 5, 1962, Sergeant Jack Clemmons of the West Los Angeles Police Department answered a phone call. According to some reports, the caller identified himself as Dr.Ralph Greenson. Greenson was Marilyn Monroe's personal psychiatrist and analyst. According to other reports, the caller identified himself as Dr. Hyman Engleberg, Monroe's internist. According to Donald H. Wolfe, in his book, The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, the caller was Engelberg (4). Agitated to the point that Clemmons was unable at first to understand the message that the physician was trying to convey, when the caller finally calmed himself enough to convey his message, it was one that was immediately suspicious and remains today the subject of outrage. "I am calling from the house of Marilyn Monroe," he said. "She is dead. She just committed suicide." "

Tags:police, controversy, mafia, questions, intimate, government, CIA, Frank, Sinatra, Castro, Kennedy, public, autopsy

Abstract
The paper offers an explanation of how Frank O'Hara's poem "The Day The Lady Died" and Charles Simic's poem "The Tiger" embody the elements typically associated with the conventional form of poetry known as the elegy.

From the Paper
"Traditionally an elegy was a form of poetic meter but it evolved into a term that applied to a poem that focused on mourning or loss. Typically in an elegy, the speaker reflects on the loss or death of someone or on something that evokes sorrow in him or her. In view of this description of the elegy we can see that both Frank O'Hara's "The Day The Lady Died" and Charles Simic's "The Tiger" can be classified as elegies."

Tags:loss, death, indifference, mourning, dead, poets, cities, urban. San Francisco, New York, Billie Holiday

Abstract
This paper will discuss the role of men in society, women in society, family in society, proper relationship between humans and gods, what makes life worth living, and what happens after we are dead in the Iliad and the Odyssey. By analyzing the text of these stories by Homer, we can realize the systems of thought this author held in the times he lived in. In both of these stories reflections of Homer's view on life are made apparent in the way that he writes, and this will give us the answer to these questions.

Abstract
This paper looks into the period of when X-rays and radium were discovered and how they were hailed as miracles. Widely using radioactive substances for presumed "curative" effects and to produce a range of products, pioneers into these fields eventually reaped the deadly effects of radiation. It discusses how many researchers, patients, and consumers died of radiation poisoning during these early decades.

From the Paper
"Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen was a relatively unknown professor and research at the University of Wurzburg until one fateful day in 1895. It was on November 8th of that year, while working with a variant of Crookes' shrouded cathode ray tubes, he "saw the shadows of the bones of his hand when held between the tube and a fluorescent screen." (Hausfeld, 1993, 1) Within months he had published his research and a radiograph of his wife's hand. He suggested usage in medical diagnoses, but the world of science would take his discovery much, much further. Within 30 years, hundreds if not thousands of people would be dead from radiation research, "treatments," and commercial use. These early pioneers and victims of X-ray technology would discover first hand precisely what it did to living cell structures."

Tags:radiation, health, science