Name: Milovan Đurković Group: B Index Number: 000026-2015

Written assignment #2
Answers to the questions:
4. What is the most important (or central) idea in the textbook passage “Bereavement”?
Bereavement goes through same pattern of stages like most people go through when they confront their
death, but that is not possible if death occurs unexpectedly. In those cases, people who have lost their
loved ones can deteriorate for years, and feel hopeless.
5. What is the most important idea in the excerpt from The Year of Magical Thinking?
The main point is about the notions of life and death, how everything can change in a single moment.
People have hard time coping with loss, and they are never prepared for death., In those situations, people
often think life is meaningless
6. How do the stages of grief as described in the passage “Bereavement” relate to the ideas in the passage
“Stress and Human Resilience” (page 59)?
In the passage, we can see that psychological health and stress impact physical health. For example,
Joanne Hill who suffered loss for over 4 years managed to endure it. Grief is easier to overcome when
you have inner strength.
7.How do the stages of grief as described in the passage “Bereavement” relate to the ideas in the passage
“Reframing: Finding Meaning in Traumatic Events” (page 61)?
Grief is hard to overcome, and people usually tend to suppress it in any way. But, talking about them can
have long-term benefits. People should open up about negative thoughts and feelings so they can recover
from them.
8.How do the stages of grief as described in the passage “Bereavement” relate to the ideas in the passage
“At What a Cost?” (page 70)?
The bodies of the soldiers that were fighting in the battle of Gettysburg, both the confederates and the
union, were never identified, and that meant that no sense of closure was given to their families. Left
unburied, they died alone and scared. Because they died in a flash, the grieving process of their families
never truly dissipated.
9.How do the stages of grief as described in the passage “Bereavement” relate to the ideas in the
passage“The Gettysburg Address” (page 71)?
In his speech, “The Gettysburg Address”, Abraham Lincoln pointed out the importance of human life, the
frailty of life, but at the same time eternal deeds of the deceased, with the intent of making the families
feel better about the importance of the idea, and the sacrifice their loved ones made.
10.How do the stages of grief as described in the passage “Bereavement” relate to Didion’s description of
her loss in the excerpt from The Year of Magical Thinking?
Didion’s description of her loss shows that the unexpected tragic event is much worse because it leaves
the person with unfinished questions about the meaning of life.
11. How do the ideas in the passage “Stress and Human Resilience” relate to Didion’s description of her
loss in the excerpt from The Year of Magical Thinking?
Name: Milovan Đurković Group: B Index Number: 000026-2015

Didion struggled to find meaning in life, and it took some time for her to cope with her loss. Because of
her inner strength, she was resilient enough to remain sane.
12. How do the experiences of hardship and loss described in the passage “At What a Cost!” relate to
Didion’s experience of her loss in the excerpt from The Year of Magical Thinking?
Just like Didion’s late husband, the dead soldiers left their families without hope. Both cases of death
were sudden and hopeless. Both the families of the fallen soldiers and Didion had to overcome the
unexpected hardship and loss in their own way.
13. How does Abraham Lincoln’s response to hardship and loss in his Gettysburg Address differ from
and/or compare to Didion’s response to her loss?
Abraham Lincoln’s focus was on the future generations as a symbol of hope and that the sacrifice of the
fallen ones was not in vain. He could rationally give a speech because the army was not his family, unlike
Didion’s whose loss was more personal. Didion couldn’t think in the same way Lincoln did, about death
and the philosophy behind sacrifice. Her goal was to psychologically get stronger and overcome loss in a
healthy way.
14. How does the Concept of reframing relate to the passage from Module 1 “Symbols and Language”
(page 21)?

15. Which ideas or details will I use from other texts to make my point about hardship and loss?

Written Response: