essay on death is a fiction

Essays About Death: Top 5 Examples and 9 Essay Prompts

Death includes mixed emotions and endless possibilities. If you are writing essays about death, see our examples and prompts in this article.

Over 50 million people die yearly from different causes worldwide. It’s a fact we must face when the time comes. Although the subject has plenty of dire connotations, many are still fascinated by death, enough so that literary pieces about it never cease. Every author has a reason why they want to talk about death. Most use it to put their grievances on paper to help them heal from losing a loved one. Some find writing and reading about death moving, transformative, or cathartic.

To help you write a compelling essay about death, we prepared five examples to spark your imagination:

1. Essay on Death Penalty by Aliva Manjari

2. coping with death essay by writer cameron, 3. long essay on death by prasanna, 4. because i could not stop for death argumentative essay by writer annie, 5. an unforgettable experience in my life by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 1. life after death, 2. death rituals and ceremonies, 3. smoking: just for fun or a shortcut to the grave, 4. the end is near, 5. how do people grieve, 6. mental disorders and death, 7. are you afraid of death, 8. death and incurable diseases, 9. if i can pick how i die.

“The death penalty is no doubt unconstitutional if imposed arbitrarily, capriciously, unreasonably, discriminatorily, freakishly or wantonly, but if it is administered rationally, objectively and judiciously, it will enhance people’s confidence in criminal justice system.”

Manjari’s essay considers the death penalty as against the modern process of treating lawbreakers, where offenders have the chance to reform or defend themselves. Although the author is against the death penalty, she explains it’s not the right time to abolish it. Doing so will jeopardize social security. The essay also incorporates other relevant information, such as the countries that still have the death penalty and how they are gradually revising and looking for alternatives.

You might also be interested in our list of the best war books .

“How a person copes with grief is affected by the person’s cultural and religious background, coping skills, mental history, support systems, and the person’s social and financial status.”

Cameron defines coping and grief through sharing his personal experience. He remembers how their family and close friends went through various stages of coping when his Aunt Ann died during heart surgery. Later in his story, he mentions Ann’s last note, which she wrote before her surgery, in case something terrible happens. This note brought their family together again through shared tears and laughter. You can also check out these articles about cancer .

“Luckily or tragically, we are completely sentenced to death. But there is an interesting thing; we don’t have the knowledge of how the inevitable will strike to have a conversation.”

Prasanna states the obvious – all people die, but no one knows when. She also discusses the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Research also shows that when people die, the brain either shows a flashback of life or sees a ray of light.

Even if someone can predict the day of their death, it won’t change how the people who love them will react. Some will cry or be numb, but in the end, everyone will have to accept the inevitable. The essay ends with the philosophical belief that the soul never dies and is reborn in a new identity and body. You can also check out these elegy examples .

“People have busy lives, and don’t think of their own death, however, the speaker admits that she was willing to put aside her distractions and go with death. She seemed to find it pretty charming.”

The author focuses on how Emily Dickinson ’s “ Because I Could Not Stop for Death ” describes death. In the poem, the author portrays death as a gentle, handsome, and neat man who picks up a woman with a carriage to take her to the grave. The essay expounds on how Dickinson uses personification and imagery to illustrate death.

“The death of a loved one is one of the hardest things an individual can bring themselves to talk about; however, I will never forget that day in the chapter of my life, as while one story continued another’s ended.”

The essay delve’s into the author’s recollection of their grandmother’s passing. They recount the things engrained in their mind from that day –  their sister’s loud cries, the pounding and sinking of their heart, and the first time they saw their father cry. 

Looking for more? Check out these essays about losing a loved one .

9 Easy Writing Prompts on Essays About Death

Are you still struggling to choose a topic for your essay? Here are prompts you can use for your paper:

Your imagination is the limit when you pick this prompt for your essay. Because no one can confirm what happens to people after death, you can create an essay describing what kind of world exists after death. For instance, you can imagine yourself as a ghost that lingers on the Earth for a bit. Then, you can go to whichever place you desire and visit anyone you wish to say proper goodbyes to first before crossing to the afterlife.

Every country, religion, and culture has ways of honoring the dead. Choose a tribe, religion, or place, and discuss their death rituals and traditions regarding wakes and funerals. Include the reasons behind these activities. Conclude your essay with an opinion on these rituals and ceremonies but don’t forget to be respectful of everyone’s beliefs. 

Smoking is still one of the most prevalent bad habits since tobacco’s creation in 1531 . Discuss your thoughts on individuals who believe there’s nothing wrong with this habit and inadvertently pass secondhand smoke to others. Include how to avoid chain-smokers and if we should let people kill themselves through excessive smoking. Add statistics and research to support your claims.

Collate people’s comments when they find out their death is near. Do this through interviews, and let your respondents list down what they’ll do first after hearing the simulated news. Then, add their reactions to your essay.

There is no proper way of grieving. People grieve in their way. Briefly discuss death and grieving at the start of your essay. Then, narrate a personal experience you’ve had with grieving to make your essay more relatable. Or you can compare how different people grieve. To give you an idea, you can mention that your father’s way of grieving is drowning himself in work while your mom openly cries and talk about her memories of the loved one who just passed away. 

Explain how people suffering from mental illnesses view death. Then, measure it against how ordinary people see the end. Include research showing death rates caused by mental illnesses to prove your point. To make organizing information about the topic more manageable, you can also focus on one mental illness and relate it to death.

Check out our guide on  how to write essays about depression .

Sometimes, seriously ill people say they are no longer afraid of death. For others, losing a loved one is even more terrifying than death itself. Share what you think of death and include factors that affected your perception of it.

People with incurable diseases are often ready to face death. For this prompt, write about individuals who faced their terminal illnesses head-on and didn’t let it define how they lived their lives. You can also review literary pieces that show these brave souls’ struggle and triumph. A great series to watch is “ My Last Days .”

You might also be interested in these epitaph examples .

No one knows how they’ll leave this world, but if you have the chance to choose how you part with your loved ones, what will it be? Probe into this imagined situation. For example, you can write: “I want to die at an old age, surrounded by family and friends who love me. I hope it’ll be a peaceful death after I’ve done everything I wanted in life.”

To make your essay more intriguing, put unexpected events in it. Check out these plot twist ideas .

10 of the Best Short Stories about Death

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Death is a common theme in literature, and many of the finest writers of short fiction have explored the fear, event, and aftermath of death using the short-story form. Below, we select and introduce ten of the very best classic short stories which have death as their theme, ranging from the Gothic and macabre through to the realist, naturalist, and modernist modes.

1. Edgar Allan Poe, ‘ The Masque of the Red Death ’.

Among Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous tales, ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ is one of the shortest. In just a few pages, Poe paints a powerful picture of a luxurious masked ball, which is then interrupted and ultimately destroyed by the presence of a mysterious figure.

This 1842 story is about a mysterious disease or plague which kills the sufferer within half an hour, causing pain, sudden dizziness, and profuse bleeding. To avoid this terrible pestilence, a wealthy noble named Prince Prospero retreats with his retinue of a thousand of his friends and hangers-on to one of his abbeys.

We discuss this story in more detail in a separate post .

2. Henry James, ‘ The Beast in the Jungle ’.

In this longer tale from 1903 – it’s so long it is sometimes categorised as a ‘novella’ – Henry James uses his interest in delay to explore a friendship between a man and a woman which never turns into a romantic relationship because the man, John Marcher, fears that something terrible is going to befall him. What follows is one of James’s finest stories about death and how irrational fear of death at every turn can prompt us to hide away from living.

His stalwart and patient female companion, May, stands by his side and tries to help him make sense of this mysterious and imprecise threat which he feels hangs over him. Will this ‘beast’ lurking in the jungle of his unconscious ever be unleashed? Perhaps James’s finest example of a subversion of the traditional love story.

3. Kate Chopin, ‘ The Story of an Hour ’.

Some short stories can say all they need to do in just a few pages, and Kate Chopin’s three-page 1894 story ‘The Story of an Hour’ (sometimes known as ‘The Dream of an Hour’) is a classic example. Yet those three pages remain tantalisingly ambiguous, perhaps because so little is said, so much merely hinted at.

Chopin’s short story is, upon closer inspection, a subtle, studied analysis of death, marriage, and personal wishes. The story focuses on an hour in the life of a married woman who has just learnt that her husband has apparently died.

We have analysed this story here.

4. Robert Louis Stevenson, ‘ Markheim ’.

A year before Stevenson completed his short Gothic horror masterpiece, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , he wrote ‘Markheim’ (1885), a short story loosely based on Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment , in which the title character murders a shopkeeper and is plagued by a series of ‘visions’ in the wake of this horrific deed. Are these ghostly apparitions, or the pricking of his own conscience? Following Poe and Dickens and others, Stevenson leaves the matter open to question …

5. Anton Chekhov, ‘ The Death of a Government Clerk ’.

This 1883 short story by the Russian master of the form focuses on Ivan Chervyakov, a government official, who sneezes upon one of his superiors while in the theatre. The stress of having committed such a blunder eats away at him and he ends up going home and dying of sheer embarrassment.

6. James Joyce, ‘ The Sisters ’.

The opening story in Joyce’s 1914 collection Dubliners , ‘The Sisters’ is narrated by a young boy whose friendship with a recently deceased Catholic priest, Father Flynn, starts to concern him as the narrator picks up rumours and whispers about the priest’s behaviour and reputation.

Did Flynn do something wrong? Joyce doesn’t tell us – but the boy’s dreams and nightmares suggest that he may have been aware of something improper concerning the priest’s actions but, being only a child at the time, he had repressed it.

7. D. H. Lawrence, ‘ Odour of Chrysanthemums ’.

If Joyce’s story is about the psychological fallout that might follow the death of someone we know, this 1911 story, one of Lawrence’s earliest stories, is about how a young wife gradually begins to fear the worst when her husband doesn’t come home after work one night.

The story focuses on a miner’s wife, Lizzie Bates, living among the mining communities of Nottinghamshire. When Lizzie’s husband doesn’t come home from his work down the mine, she is angry … and then worried. What has happened to him? We follow Elizabeth’s thoughts and fears across the course of one evening as she waits for her husband to return.

8. Katherine Mansfield, ‘ The Daughters of the Late Colonel ’.

Several of Mansfield’s best-known stories focus on death: see ‘The Garden Party’, her 1920 story about a young woman who is greatly shaken by the death of a man from the local village. This 1922 story also takes death as one of its main themes: it focuses on two sisters, whose father has recently died.

It’s largely plotless: the sisters make arrangements for the funeral, recall a visit from their nephew while their father was still alive, and wonder whether to fire their maid. Part of the power of the story is its understated switching between moments of comedy (told in flashback, the moment when their nephew, Cyril, tried to make their irascible and hard-of-hearing father understand what he is saying) and pathos (the two unmarried and middle-aged sisters cut an almost tragic figure). We have analysed this story in more detail here .

9. Zora Neale Hurston, ‘ Sweat ’.

Hurston (1891-1960) is perhaps best-known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God , a classic of African-American literature published in 1937. But she also wrote numerous classic short stories, and ‘Sweat’ is a fine example of her mastery of this short form.

This 1927 story is about an unhappy marriage between Delia Jones and her husband, Sykes, who brings home a rattlesnake one day to taunt his wife (who has an extreme fear of snakes). When the snake bites and kills Sykes himself one night, the story becomes an interesting exploration of death and a put-upon wife’s reaction to the demise of her husband.

10. Ernest Hemingway, ‘ The Snows of Kilimanjaro ’.

This 1936 short story is probably Hemingway’s best-known and most widely studied short story; it is also one of his longest. Originally published in Esquire magazine, the story focuses on a writer, Harry, who has travelled to Africa and is trying to change careers, from writing to painting. However, he fails to treat a wound and gangrene sets in, slowly eating away at him.

This story is about a myriad things, but one of the prominent themes is that of the artist, and how an artist (in this case, a writer) deals with failure, with all of the works that he knows he will never write, and with losing a handle on his craft. Hemingway wrote the story when he had fears about his own writing productivity and the story is, in some respects, autobiographical.

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What the Stoics Understood About Death (And Can Teach Us)

David fideler on what awareness of mortality does to a life.

“Wherever I turn, I see signs of my old age,” Seneca wrote to Lucilius. Seneca had just arrived at his villa outside of Rome, where he was having a conversation with his property manager about the high cost of maintaining the disintegrating old building. But Seneca then explained, “My estate manager told me it was not his fault: he was doing everything possible, but the country home was old. And this villa was built under my supervision! What will my future look like if stonework of my own age is already crumbling?”

At that time, Seneca was in his late sixties, and he was starting to feel the aches and pains of old age. But he also found old age to be pleasurable. However, the older you get, the more challenging things become. Extreme old age, he said, is like a lasting illness you never recover from; and when the body really declines, it’s like a ship that starts springing leaks, one after another.

Where I currently live, in Sarajevo, I see extremely old people, who are quite close to death, on an almost daily basis. It seems that some of my neighbors—​thin, frail, and bent over, often walking with a cane at a snail’s pace over the old stone streets—​could drop over and expire at any moment. That said, seeing extremely elderly people out and about is an inspiring and heartfelt experience for me. First of all, it’s lovely to see people who have lived for so long, often against challenging odds, and it’s impossible to see them without feeling a great sense of tenderness for them. Second, they are a timely reminder of my own mortality. It’s also very different from what I remember seeing in the United States.

Unlike many other countries, the United States has accomplished a world-​class disappearing act when it comes to keeping older adults (and any other reminders of death) out of sight and out of mind. With its shiny glass and steel buildings, shopping malls, and spread-​out suburbs, the American landscape has been sterilized and artificially “cleaned up” in such a way that extremely old people are rarely seen on public display. But here in a historic European city with ancient stone buildings that go back centuries, and well-​established neighborhoods with cobblestone streets, extremely old people, hobbling along, are a happy part of daily life. They remind me that life is not without extreme struggle. And when people die, which can happen at any age, the local religious communities post death notices, with photos of the deceased, in local neighborhoods all over town. It’s another nice custom that reminds us of being mortal.

A Stoic wants to live well—​and living well means dying well, too. A Stoic lives well through having a good character, and death is the final test of it. While every death will be a bit different, the Roman Stoics believed that a good death would be characterized by mental tranquility, a lack of complaining, and gratitude for the life we’ve been given. In other words, as the final act of living, a good death is characterized by acceptance and gratitude. Also, having a real philosophy of life, and having worked on developing a sound character, allows a person to die without any feelings of regret.

Seneca frequently thought and wrote about death. Some of this must have been due to his poor health. Because he suffered from tuberculosis and asthma from a young age, he must have sensed the certainty and nearness of his own death throughout his entire life. In Letter 54 he describes, in graphic detail, a recent asthma attack that nearly killed him. But much earlier, probably in his twenties, he was so sick, and so near death, that he thought about ending his own life, to finally stop the suffering. He didn’t follow through on that, fortunately, out of love for his father. As he writes,

I often felt the urge to end my life, but the old age of my dear father held me back. For while I thought that I could die bravely, I knew he could not bear the loss bravely. And so I commanded myself to live. Sometimes it’s an act of courage just to keep living.

For a Stoic (and for other ancient philosophers, too), memento mori —​contemplating our inevitable death—​was an essential philosophical exercise, and one that comes with unexpected benefits. As an anticipation of future adversity, memento mori allows us to prepare for death, and helps remove our fears of death. It also encourages us to take our current lives more seriously, because we realize they’re limited. As I’ve discovered in a practical sense, reflecting on my own death—​and the inevitable death of those dear to me—​has had a totally unexpected and powerful benefit: feeling a more profound sense of gratitude for the time we still have together.

The Latin phrase memento mori literally means “remember that you have to die.” Over the centuries, scholars often would keep a symbolic memento mori image in their study, like a skull, as a reminder of their own mortality.

In the world of philosophy, the model of someone dying well, without an ounce of fear, was Socrates. Imprisoned on trumped-​up charges for corrupting the youth of Athens, Socrates was detained for thirty days before facing his death sentence of drinking hemlock poison. At the time of his death in 399 BC, Socrates was around seventy years old. If he had wished, he could have very easily escaped prison, with his friends’ help, and then set up life elsewhere in Greece. But it would have gone against everything he believed in. Also, escaping would have permanently damaged his reputation. Since one of Socrates’s main goals was to improve society, that implied he should follow society’s laws, even if he had been treated unjustly.

This allowed Socrates thirty final days to meet with his friends and his students to continue their philosophical discussions. He had challenged the morality of those who called for his death with a very memorable line: “If you kill me,” he said, “you will not harm me so much as yourselves.”  This thought was much appreciated by the later Stoics, since, in their view, nothing can harm the character of a wise person. During his last meeting with his students, right before his death, Socrates discussed and questioned the possibility of an afterlife. He also said, memorably, that “philosophy is a preparation for death,” which was probably the real beginning of the memento mori tradition (at least for philosophers). When his final conversation was complete, Socrates drank the hemlock, and he peacefully passed away, surrounded by his students.

According to Seneca, the philosopher Epicurus said, “Rehearse for death,” which is a practice Seneca himself greatly encouraged. For Seneca and the other Roman Stoics, death was “the master fear,” and once someone learns how to overcome it, little else remains fearful either.

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus told his students that when you kiss your child goodnight, you should remind yourself that your child could die tomorrow. While it is literally true that your child could die tomorrow, many modern readers recoil at the idea of even contemplating such a thought. However, that might be a measure of their reluctance to accept the inevitability of death, or a way of repressing the fact that death can arrive unexpectedly, at any moment. As someone who personally uses this practice, I can tell you that it’s perfectly harmless, once you get past any initial discomfort. The huge benefit it brings is the greater sense of gratitude you experience with your loved ones. When you perform this practice, you consciously realize that someday, which nobody can predict, will be your last time together—​so you experience much greater gratitude for the time you spend together now. As Seneca wisely recommended, let us greedily enjoy our friends and our loved ones now, while we still have them.

What is it like emotionally to contemplate your own death or the death of a close family member? I’ve been experimenting with this for some time now and can report only positive results. That’s because, when I think of the mortality of a loved one and the fact that all of our time together is by definition limited, it improves the quality of my life. It makes me feel a much deeper sense of appreciation for all the time we are together. If you don’t remember that your time is limited and finite, you are much more likely to take things for granted.

I most often remember death when I’m with my son, Benjamin, seven and a half as I write. That’s a delightful age because he’s very playful and now capable of having fun conversations. We’re also starting to talk about philosophical things.

Of course, it’s impossible for most children of his age to grasp the gravity or finality of death, because most of them have never had any firsthand experience of losing a loved one. Children live in a kind of psychological Golden Age, in which all their needs seem magically provided for. Since they live in a protected sphere, most haven’t yet been exposed to the more challenging aspects of life.

Because of that, I’ve been trying to teach Benjamin a little bit about death and the fact that daddy, mommy, and he will someday die. This effort is a bit of basic Stoic training for a kid, and I’m curious if it might be possible to increase his appreciation for the limited time we have together, even at such a young age? At the very least, I hope it will greatly reduce the level of shock he experiences when someone close to him does die, because he’ll be expecting it.

The other day, we were driving home after feasting on some fast food, and Benjamin spoke to me about God for the first time in his life. With a boyish sense of delight, he explained to me, “God has some amazing powers, like being able to see and hear everything. But his greatest superpower is that he’s invisible!”

I chuckled at his use of the word “superpower,” which made God sound like a superhero, just like Spider-​Man! But laughter aside, he had opened up the doorway to speak about some profound issues, so I brought up the topic of death.

“Benjamin,” I asked, “do you know that, someday, mommy, daddy, and you are going to die?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“I’m almost sixty,” I explained, “so I could live another twenty years.”

“I don’t think you’ll live quite that long,” he said. “But maybe something like that.” (Thank you, Benjamin! We’ll just have to see how things go.)

Then I asked, “Did you know that you could die at any time?”

He said, “I don’t think I’ll die anytime soon.”

“But,” I replied, “you could. This is not something in our control. You are young, so you could live for a very long time. But since we’re driving in a car, we could be in a car crash five minutes from now, and we could both be killed instantly. So even if you’re very, very young, you can die at any time. If you stay healthy, the chances that you’ll live a long life go up. But in the end, when we die is not under our control.”

Benjamin nodded and seemed to understand. And fortunately, we arrived home safely a few minutes later.

__________________________________

From Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living by David Fideler, published by W. W. Norton.

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Theme of Death in Literature: Examples & Definition

Death is undoubtedly one of the most mysterious events in life. Literature is among the mediums that allow people to explore and gain knowledge of death—a topic that in everyday life is often seen as taboo. 

This article by Custom-Writing.org will:

• introduce the topic of death in literature and explain it;
• discuss other issues related to the theme of death;
• suggest some essay ideas on this topic.

💀 Significance of Death in Literature

• 🔮 How Death Theme Is Presented
• 💡 Related Themes

✍️ Death Essay Topics

• 📚 Death in Literature: Examples

🔍 References

Why is it important to write about death? Well, there are many reasons behind people’s curiosity about the said phenomenon. Death is unavoidable and intangible, something that can’t be seen or explained. One of literature’s central tasks is to give structure and meaning to things that are otherwise hard to perceive.

When it comes to death, literature has several functions:

• It helps to deal with grief and death anxiety;
• It gives meaning to life and death;
• It makes sense of the phenomenon of death.

It’s also important to note that death as a theme exists separately from biological or physical death, as writers mainly focus on its spiritual and supernatural aspects.

🔮 Theme of Death in Literature: How Is It Presented?

Literary works make readers experience things and rethink the preexisting ideas of the world around them. However, these experiences are subjective. So, unsurprisingly, in various literary works, death is portrayed differently.

In every literary genre, the existence of death serves a different purpose:

• In horror stories , it evokes fear or wonder.
• In mystery novels , it creates a sense of curiosity and advances the plot.
• In a tragedy , it usually leads to a moment of catharsis and provides closure.

The range of attitudes towards death also differs depending on the culture and the time period when the work was written.

Theme of Death in English Literature

Preoccupation with religion was the most notable feature of the Middle Ages . The church held unchallenged dominion over every aspect of people’s life. It’s not surprising that the ideas of hell and heaven were more certain than anything in the visible world.

During the Renaissance , people still held strong religious ideas. However, with the development of science, the representation of death in works of art became more realistic. Death became equivalent to annihilation.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an example of a tragedy that conveys that message. “The rest is silence” are the last words of Prince Hamlet. The phrase indicates that there’s no afterlife: an idea fairly different from what the majority believed around that time. 

Death in Victorian Literature

Similar to the medieval era, the mortality rate during the Victorian time was very high, so the death theme in literature continued to stay relevant and popular. Despite the 19th century being the era of secularization, it was also a period of sustained religious revival. That’s why the Victorian era is often called a golden age of supernatural stories.

• A good example of a 19th-century novel that deals with the theme of death is Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights . As many as 11 characters die throughout the story. In the case of Heathcliff and Catherine, death is the only means that can unite them.
• Charles Dickens is another famous figure whose novels cover the topic of death. In his sentimental novels, however, he focuses on the aspect of mourning rather than death’s freeing quality.

Death in American Literature

Literary critics agree that death is one of the most prominent themes in American literature. Many famous authors have devoted their works to this particular topic:

• In Herman Melville’s fiction, characters die regardless of age, social status, or moral characteristics. That shows how inevitable death is and how unpredictable life can be.
• Nathaniel Hawthorne worked in the Gothic genre, which includes supernatural elements, responds to social anxieties, and explores the topic of death.  
• When it comes to poetry, Emily Dickinson is one of the first names that come to mind. In many of her poems, she touches upon the topics of death and immortality.
• Another famous figure worth mentioning is Edgar Allan Poe . His name is closely associated with the horror genre. An excellent example of a literary work where death is one of the central themes is Poe’s short story The Cask of Amontillado .
• The topic of death is also characteristic of African American literature . It often focuses on the arc of mourning, such as in Toni Morrison’s Beloved .

Death in Children’s Literature

Although it may seem bizarre now to most people, death used to be one of the major themes in juvenile literature. Children’s books often mirror society and its complexity in a particular epoch. By introducing concepts such as death, the stories prepare children for the world’s harsh realities.

The concept of death has also served as a major plot device. For example, it was often used as a punishment for antagonists. Such stories stressed the importance of salvation and the precariousness of life. They also conveyed a moral message that reflected society’s values. As child mortality rates have decreased with time, the death theme has become less reoccurring in the kids’ literature.

Death Theme in Contemporary Literature

The contemporary view of death is far from that in ancient tragedies or Renaissance fiction. In the past, the death theme was often used as a plot device to provide closure or catharsis. Contemporary fiction usually presents a more realistic depiction. Death no longer serves as a moment of closure. Instead, it can work as an opening of a new story.

💡 Death in Literature: Related Themes

Death is undoubtedly one of the most popular topics in literature. Themes such as love, survival, disease, immortality, and grief are almost always portrayed in conjunction with death and are closely related to it.

Theme of Survival in Literature

Survival stories usually focus on characters that try to avoid death at any cost. They often find themselves in a hostile environment, out in nature, or in the midst of war. These stories portray people who are forced to fight for their lives and often show how far they can go to accomplish this goal.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is an excellent example of survival fiction. It features a father and a son who travel through a post-apocalyptic world. The novel can be interpreted as a modern take on Homer’s The Odyssey .  

Love and Death in Literature

It might be true that the fastest way to die in literature is to fall in love. Young lovers tragically dying at the end is a common trope that goes back to courtly literature. In its context, love is always unattainable. As a result, archetypes such as Romeo and Juliet or Tristian and Isolde gained popularity outside the genre.

Immortality in Literature

Immortality is a theme that has been very powerful within the literary tradition in almost every country. On the one hand, it can be presented as the end goal of a character who strives to gain eternal life. On the other hand, it’s usually seen as something that isn’t worth pursuing.

One example is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. It shows how the desire for eternal youth can lead to a person’s downfall.

Death by Disease in Literature

Deadly diseases can often be seen in literature written during epidemics. Diseases such as the plague are sometimes used as plot devices. They can also serve as a divine punishment, add to the mystery, and evoke the feeling of dread in the readers.

The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe is an example of a story where a disease acts as an agent of death.  

Theme of Grief in Literature

Grief is arguably life’s greatest source of distress. It is closely related to death, especially that of loved ones. Literary works that focus on the concept of mourning help people to face their worst fears and get through the loss of their loved ones.

Putting feelings into words makes it easier to cope with grief and gives meaning to the lives of the ones who passed. One good example of mourning literature is the novel Beloved by the American author Toni Morrison.

Death is a widely discussed topic not only in literature but also in mythology, psychology, philosophy, medicine, and many other studies. If you need to write an essay on death, here are some examples of topics:

• The many faces of death.
• Nietzsche and the death of God.
• Burial practices of Native Americans .
• Death as a psychological phenomenon.
• Chinese philosophy on dealing with grief. 
• Death in Ancient Greek and Roman cultures. 
• Is the death penalty a fair punishment?
• Funeral customs and cultural implications of death.
• Why is the discussion about end-of-life care meaningful? 
• Ways to portray death in the traditional and modern context.

Death in Literature Essay Topics

From ancient Greek literature to modern fiction, the topic of death stays relevant. It’s analyzed and talked about in many essays and research papers. Here’s a list of literature essay topics that may come in handy:

• Death in Gothic literature .
• Sylvia Plath and the poetics of death.
• The nature of death in Emily Dickinson’s poetry.
• Death in Camus’ The Outsider . 
• Suicide in modern Japanese literature.
• Dance of the Dead in Medieval literature. 
• Symbolism of clock in Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death .
• The poetry of mourning and its cultural significance.
• The personification of death in American literature. 
• How do literary works shape people’s perception of death?

Theme of Death in Hamlet Essay Topics

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is probably the most famous literary work exploring death and its implications. Throughout the play, the phenomenon of death manifests itself in various forms. Here are some essay topics related to the famous tragedy:

• The idea of suicide in Hamlet . 
• The meaning of Ophelia’s death.
• Death, disease, and decay in Hamlet .
• Murder as the ultimate goal in Hamlet . 
• Death and the questioning of human existence in Hamlet .
• Hamlet and his obsession with death. 
• How does grief affect Hamlet’s development as the character?
• How does death manifest itself in Shakespeare’s Hamlet ?
• How does the change in the point of view on death affect Hamlet’s character?
• “Death, the undiscovere’d country, from whose bourn no traveler returns.” The importance of the quotation on the understanding of Hamlet .  

📚 Theme of Death in Literature: Examples

Death has always been a topic many authors used to elicit an emotional response from the reader. In fiction, poetry, and theater death theme gives way to other topics ranging from love to madness. This section will introduce some literary works that have death as one of their central themes.

Theme of Death in Hamlet

Hamlet is arguably the most influential tragedy written by William Shakespeare. The theme of death in the play is tightly connected to those of grief, revenge, suicide, and murder. The author also incorporates some supernatural elements, such as the ghost of Hamlet’s father, to convey the sense of mystery. The ghost itself symbolizes the disruption to the preexisting social order of the time.

Hamlet’s most straightforward consideration of death happens in Act 4, Scene 3. In that scene, the young prince ironically describes the life-cycle of human existence. He interprets it this way: we eat in life, and later we are eaten in death. In Act 5, the play once again returns to the question of human existence. Hamlet ponders the futility of the human condition and the inevitability of death. Another encounter with death is through the character of Ophelia , who might have taken her own life.

The concept of suicide is also present throughout the play. It’s especially prominent in Hamlet’s famous soliloquies. However, Hamlet himself never attempts to take his own life. The whole plot of Shakespeare’s play is based on the idea of death; Hamlet becomes obsessed with revenge, but by doing so, he also becomes the agent of death. Want to know more? Check out our article on themes in Hamlet .

Hamlet Quotes about Death

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet , death is the driving force behind the major events of the play. It becomes the cause and the consequence of revenge. Here are some quotes from the tragedy that are related to death:

To die,—to sleep,— No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to,—’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. Hamlet , Act 3, Scene 1

To be, or not to be: that is the question.  Hamlet , Act 3, Scene 1

Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity. Hamlet , Act 1, Scene 2

Death Theme in A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find presents the writer’s view on the outcome of life. It exhibits a deep religious insight through the use of the theme of death.

The Misfit is one way O’Connor portrays death. When the Misfit kills the grandmother, the readers are again reminded of mortality and its significance. However, the murder of the grandmother is foreshadowed from the very beginning of the story. The description of her dress, the passing away of the family, and the conversation with Misfit allude to her death.

The woman’s anxiety about death is what eventually leads her and her family to be the victims of murder. A Good Man is Hard to Find features a confrontation between a grandmother who personifies a superficial sense of goodness and a criminal that embodies evil. In turn, however, that said an evil man is the one who causes the older woman to see herself for what she is: a sinner. According to Christian values, death is life’s most precious gift. For that reason, grandmother’s desire to avoid it seems almost comical.

You’re welcome to check out our article on themes in A Good Man is Hard to Find where you can find more interesting info.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Quotes about Death

Here are some of the best death-related quotes from Flanner O’Conner’s short story A Good Man is Hard to Find :

Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady. A Good Man is Hard to Find

“She would of been a good woman,” The Misfit said, “if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” A Good Man is Hard to Find

It was a head-doctor at the penitentiary said what I had done was kill my daddy but I known that for a lie. My daddy died in nineteen ought nineteen of the epidemic flu and I never had a thing to do with it. A Good Man is Hard to Find

Death in A Rose for Emily

The short story A Rose for Emily , written by William Faulkner, is an example of Southern Gothic literature, so death is naturally one of the story’s central themes. It presents itself in various forms throughout the plot.

In A Rose for Emily , Faulkner reflects the struggle that comes with maintaining tradition in the face of radical change. Emily herself may personify old values and practices that are getting replaced. Emily lives in her own world, which is a timeless vacuum.

Death dominates the story from the very beginning to end. Emily’s whole life has been haunted by death and loss. First, her father passes away, then her lover Homer. Emily tries to exert power over death by denying its existence in the first place. For instance, when Homer dies, Emily refuses to admit the fact of his death, even though she’s the one who inflicts it on him. Emily’s attempt at having a grotesque marriage with Homer’s dead body reveals her disturbing desire to fuse life and death. Nevertheless, it ends with death’s triumph.

Death Quotes in A Rose for Emily

The power of death is masterfully reflected in William Faulkner’s short story A Rose for Emily . Here are some quotes that demonstrate it:

So the next day we all said, “She will kill herself”; and we said it would be the best thing. A Rose for Emily

She died in one of the downstairs rooms, in a heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlight. A Rose for Emily

When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant— a combined gardener and cook— had seen in at least ten years. A Rose for Emily

We hope you enjoyed reading through our article and learned something new! Don’t hesitate to share it with your friends. Good luck exploring various themes in literature.

❓ Theme of Death in Literature FAQs

Because I Couldn’t Stop for Death is a lyrical poem written by Emily Dickinson. The most apparent themes of the poem are mortality and death. It’s an exploration of the inevitability of death and the uncertainties surrounding the dying process.

The short story The Masque of the Red Death , written by Edgar Allan Poe, is about the inevitability of death. Wealth and social status ultimately don’t matter: death can easily take anyone’s life anytime.

The theme of John Donne’s poem Death Be Not Proud is that death can’t corrupt the soul. The poet sees death not as a victor that claims his life but as something that frees his soul from his body.

There are plenty of works that focus on the idea of death. Here are some good examples:

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. 2. The Cure for Grief by Nellie Hermann. 3. Beloved by Toni Morrison. 4.The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Death is a major topic in many literary works, including poetry. Works of poets such as Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, etc., only prove that. The authors consistently write about death and its various manifestations.

• Death and Dying in Literature: Cambridge University Press & Assessment
• Why Death Is so Important in YA Fiction: The Guardian
• Death and Literature: Different Approaches, from Simplicity to Obscurity: Redalyc
• Can Novels Change Our Attitudes about Death?: Electric Literature
• Death in Literature: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
• Death as a Theme in Hamlet: ThoughtCo
• Death in Wuthering Heights: Georgetown University in Washington DC
• Death In Shakespeare: No Sweat Shakespeare
• Can Books Ease the Pain of Grief?: BBC
• The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray: Boston University
• The Meaning of Death in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Harvard University
• A Summary and Analysis of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”: Encyclopedia
• Death, Be Not Proud: Encyclopedia Britannica
• Water and Liquid in Toni Morrison’s Beloved: Dickinson College
• Why We Write about Grief: The New York Times
• Because I Could Not Stop for Death: The City University of New York
• The Masque of the Red Death: California State University Dominguez Hills
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Why Do We Always Proclaim That the Novel Is Dead?

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By Liesl Schillinger and Benjamin Moser

• Aug. 11, 2015

Each week in Bookends, two writers take on questions about the world of books. This week, Liesl Schillinger and Benjamin Moser talk about why the novel’s demise so regularly looms.

By Liesl Schillinger

They proclaim the novel’s death in part to whip up their resolve to effect its resurrection.

As a college student in the 1980s whose major was comparative literature, I had no choice but to take a course on literary theory: It was required. The smug bloviator who taught it told us that the defining characteristic of the written word was its inability to express meaning. The act of reading a novel, which I had previously regarded as a natural process, as organic as breathing, was actually a battle in which words engulfed readers, fuddling our wits and scattering the import of the text. Truth, he added, deploying Nietzsche, was a mobile army of metaphor, metonym and anthropomorphisms . . . without a general. He himself, he said, would be that general.

Those who tell us that the novel is dead remind me of that professor. They want to assert that they alone possess the knowledge of what writing is for, what it means and how it is received. They want to be the “deciders.” It’s a conceited impulse, but it isn’t necessarily ill intentioned. Their pronouncements are made, I believe, from a position of urgent sincerity that often has two separate foundations. One is nostalgia: They yearn to find in contemporary literature the strong resonance they felt with the books that first shaped their sensibilities. The other is ambition: They themselves intend to write a novel that will show others what proper writing is.

When nostalgia motivates these arbiters, I suspect it reflects a longing not so much for a bygone book as for a bygone era, in which human connections supposedly formed with a denser weave than they do today. They feel that life itself is less adequate than before, thus less worthy of being novelized. Like Edwin Arlington Robinson’s Miniver Cheevy, they mourn, “Romance, now on the town, / And Art, a vagrant.” Yet the roundness and fullness of life persists on the street and on the page, despite the pining writer’s dudgeon.

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Death is a Fiction - Grade 9, Reading - I [unit - 4 - Life and Death]

Death is a fiction.

Do you agree with the following statements? Discuss

a. Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.

b. From the day you are born, you are slowly dying.

Did you ever see somebody who actually died and came back? No. There may be a near-death experience. Near is not good enough. Near water is not as good enough as water, isn’t it? So, some people have nearly died, that is not good enough.

So you have not experienced it, you have not seen it, nor have you had a piece of first-hand information from anybody. So from where did you get this idea that there is something called death? Death is a fiction created by ignorant people. Death is the creation of people who live their lives in total unawareness. There is only life, life, and life alone, moving from one dimension to another, another dimension to another.

See, what you call life right now, the process of life; you can also refer to it as death. You can say “I am living right now” or you can say “I am dying right now.” Actually, from the day you are born you are slowly dying. One day the process will be complete. Right now it is on concerned, without a moment’s distraction, it is going straight to the grave, nowhere else. Isn’t it so?

So is death okay or not okay? Even these kinds of questions which are coming up are silly, because whether you say it is okay or not okay, any way you will die. Every moment you are playing between life and death and life and death – actually it is so. This inhalation, exhalation... You inhaled, life happened. You exhaled and did not inhale again, death happened, isn’t it?

See, every moment in Yoga we say inhalation is life, exhalation is death. You exhale, and if you do not take in the next inhalation it dislodges you from the body. So fragile, isn’t it so? Something so fragile is the basis of your existence here. Death is walking with you every step. It is so close all the time. There is nothing wrong with death; it has to happen. Only because there is death, there is life. You need to understand that the moment you are born, you have a death sentence upon you. When, where, and how is the only question, but you are on death row. Your death is confirmed, isn’t it?

We do not know whether you will get educated or not; we do not know whether you will get married or not; we do not know whether you will know joy or not; we do not know whether you will know misery or not; but we know one day you will die. That one thing is guaranteed. This whole fear of death has come simply because you have no idea what it is. You have formed ideas about everything, just about everything. But it does not matter what ideas you have formed about life, when you are confronted with the moment of death, you really do not know anything. That is one space of life that has remained uncorrupted by the human mind. Everything else we have corrupted, isn’t it? Whatever was supposed to be sacred, all these things are hugely corrupted by the human mind. Human minds have corrupted love, relationships, God, Divinity – everything they have corrupted and twisted out whichever way they want.

Death is one thing that they are still clueless about–though a lot of people would like to talk authoritatively about it. They know they are going to go to heaven; they are dead sure about it. If they are so sure, I don’t see what they are waiting for. They are doing everything not to go to heaven. Why? If you are so sure you are going to a wonderful place, a better place than this, and then you must hurry up. But because you are not sure, you talk. You are not 100% sure where you will go, what will happen to you. Just to solace yourself, just to be able to psychologically handle life, you create all these things.

But essentially, the very idea of death has come to you because people have been talking about it without knowing about it. Otherwise, if your societies did not speak about it, you would just know the way you are right now, your present existence, is not permanent. That you would know, but you would not have any other ideas about it. Even now you do not have any idea about it; you imagine that you have.

-Sadhguru (excerpt from Life and Death in one breath)

A. Find the words from the text that have the following meanings.

a. a thing that is imagined imaginary/fiction

b. a way of looking at something dimension

c. to force somebody to leave …………….........

d. faced somebody so that you could not avoid …...…………….

e. to make somebody feel better ………………….

B. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words.

a. Death is a fiction created by human beings.

b. Ultimately, we are moving straight to the grave

c. According to the speaker, death is ultimate truth It is sure to happen.

d. The human beings have ……… everything and they have twisted in whichever way they want.

C. Answer the following questions.

a. According to the speaker, there is only life. How?

➡ According to the speaker there is only life because death is a fiction created by humans and when a person dies the dimension of life will be changed not the body or soul.

b. What is life according to Yoga?

c. Why is there nothing wrong with death?

➡ Because the death is only truth to have in human life and it is obvious that one day everyone has to die so there is nothing wrong with death.

d. Why do we fear death?

➡ We do fear death because we are unknown about it.

e. Why do people have an idea of death?

D. What is your perception of death? Write a short paragraph.

Death is a fiction created by ignorant people. death is the creation of people who live their lives in total unawareness. there is only life, life, and life alone, moving from one dimension to another, another dimension to another., post a comment, oops no internet.

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5 moving, beautiful essays about death and dying

by Sarah Kliff

It is never easy to contemplate the end-of-life, whether its own our experience or that of a loved one.

This has made a recent swath of beautiful essays a surprise. In different publications over the past few weeks, I’ve stumbled upon writers who were contemplating final days. These are, no doubt, hard stories to read. I had to take breaks as I read about Paul Kalanithi’s experience facing metastatic lung cancer while parenting a toddler, and was devastated as I followed Liz Lopatto’s contemplations on how to give her ailing cat the best death possible. But I also learned so much from reading these essays, too, about what it means to have a good death versus a difficult end from those forced to grapple with the issue. These are four stories that have stood out to me recently, alongside one essay from a few years ago that sticks with me today.

My Own Life | Oliver Sacks

As recently as last month, popular author and neurologist Oliver Sacks was in great health, even swimming a mile every day. Then, everything changed: the 81-year-old was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. In a beautiful op-ed , published in late February in the New York Times, he describes his state of mind and how he’ll face his final moments. What I liked about this essay is how Sacks describes how his world view shifts as he sees his time on earth getting shorter, and how he thinks about the value of his time.

Before I go | Paul Kalanithi

Kalanthi began noticing symptoms — “weight loss, fevers, night sweats, unremitting back pain, cough” — during his sixth year of residency as a neurologist at Stanford. A CT scan revealed metastatic lung cancer. Kalanthi writes about his daughter, Cady and how he “probably won’t live long enough for her to have a memory of me.” Much of his essay focuses on an interesting discussion of time, how it’s become a double-edged sword. Each day, he sees his daughter grow older, a joy. But every day is also one that brings him closer to his likely death from cancer.

As I lay dying | Laurie Becklund

Becklund’s essay was published posthumonously after her death on February 8 of this year. One of the unique issues she grapples with is how to discuss her terminal diagnosis with others and the challenge of not becoming defined by a disease. “Who would ever sign another book contract with a dying woman?” she writes. “Or remember Laurie Becklund, valedictorian, Fulbright scholar, former Times staff writer who exposed the Salvadoran death squads and helped The Times win a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 1992 L.A. riots? More important, and more honest, who would ever again look at me just as Laurie?”

Everything I know about a good death I learned from my cat | Liz Lopatto

Dorothy Parker was Lopatto’s cat, a stray adopted from a local vet. And Dorothy Parker, known mostly as Dottie, died peacefully when she passed away earlier this month. Lopatto’s essay is, in part, about what she learned about end-of-life care for humans from her cat. But perhaps more than that, it’s also about the limitations of how much her experience caring for a pet can transfer to caring for another person.

Yes, Lopatto’s essay is about a cat rather than a human being. No, it does not make it any easier to read. She describes in searing detail about the experience of caring for another being at the end of life. “Dottie used to weigh almost 20 pounds; she now weighs six,” Lopatto writes. “My vet is right about Dottie being close to death, that it’s probably a matter of weeks rather than months.”

Letting Go | Atul Gawande

“Letting Go” is a beautiful, difficult true story of death. You know from the very first sentence — “Sara Thomas Monopoli was pregnant with her first child when her doctors learned that she was going to die” — that it is going to be tragic. This story has long been one of my favorite pieces of health care journalism because it grapples so starkly with the difficult realities of end-of-life care.

In the story, Monopoli is diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, a surprise for a non-smoking young woman. It’s a devastating death sentence: doctors know that lung cancer that advanced is terminal. Gawande knew this too — Monpoli was his patient. But actually discussing this fact with a young patient with a newborn baby seemed impossible.

"Having any sort of discussion where you begin to say, 'look you probably only have a few months to live. How do we make the best of that time without giving up on the options that you have?' That was a conversation I wasn't ready to have," Gawande recounts of the case in a new Frontline documentary .

What’s tragic about Monopoli’s case was, of course, her death at an early age, in her 30s. But the tragedy that Gawande hones in on — the type of tragedy we talk about much less — is how terribly Monopoli’s last days played out.

• Health Care

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115 Death Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Death is an inevitable part of life that has been contemplated and explored by humans throughout history. It is a subject that evokes a wide range of emotions and thoughts, from fear and sorrow to curiosity and acceptance. Writing an essay about death can be a profound and thought-provoking experience, allowing individuals to reflect on their own mortality and explore existential questions. To inspire your writing, here are 115 death essay topic ideas and examples.

• The concept of death in different cultures.
• The role of death in religious beliefs.
• The fear of death and its impact on human behavior.
• Death as a theme in literature and poetry.
• The portrayal of death in art and cinema.
• The psychology of grief and mourning.
• The stages of grief according to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.
• How to cope with the loss of a loved one.
• The impact of death on family dynamics.
• The connection between death and existentialism.
• Near-death experiences and their implications.
• The debate between the existence of an afterlife and oblivion.
• The significance of death rituals and funeral customs.
• The ethics of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
• The right to die: exploring the concept of death with dignity.
• The role of death in philosophical thought.
• Death as a catalyst for personal growth and transformation.
• The impact of death anxiety on mental health.
• Exploring the concept of a "good death."
• The portrayal of death in popular culture.
• Death and the meaning of life.
• The portrayal of death in ancient mythology.
• Death and the concept of time.
• The impact of death on medical ethics.
• The portrayal of death in children's literature.
• The intersection of death and technology.
• Death and the fear of the unknown.
• The impact of death on social media and digital legacies.
• The acceptance of death: exploring different perspectives.
• The role of humor in coping with death.
• Death and the concept of justice.
• The impact of death on religious beliefs and practices.
• The influence of death on artistic expression.
• Death and the concept of free will.
• The portrayal of death in different historical periods.
• Death and the concept of fate.
• The impact of death on the concept of identity.
• Death and the concept of soul.
• Death and the concept of pain.
• The impact of death on medical advancements.
• Death and the concept of forgiveness.
• The portrayal of death in video games.
• Death and the concept of sacrifice.
• The impact of death on cultural traditions.
• Death and the concept of legacy.
• Death and the concept of beauty.
• The portrayal of death in religious texts.
• Death and the concept of morality.
• The impact of death on social structures.
• Death and the concept of justice in different societies.
• The portrayal of death in different artistic mediums.
• Death and the concept of love.
• The impact of death on the concept of time.
• Death and the concept of truth.
• The portrayal of death in different musical genres.
• Death and the concept of suffering.
• The impact of death on the concept of freedom.
• Death and the concept of redemption.
• The portrayal of death in different dance forms.
• Death and the concept of rebirth.
• The impact of death on the concept of beauty.
• Death and the concept of forgiveness in different cultures.
• The portrayal of death in different architectural styles.
• Death and the concept of fate in different societies.
• The impact of death on the concept of identity in different periods.
• Death and the concept of pain in different cultures.
• The portrayal of death in different fashion trends.
• Death and the concept of sacrifice in different religions.
• The impact of death on the concept of legacy in different civilizations.
• Death and the concept of beauty in different art forms.
• The portrayal of death in different culinary traditions.
• Death and the concept of justice in different historical eras.
• The impact of death on the concept of morality in different societies.
• Death and the concept of love in different cultures.
• The portrayal of death in different sports.
• Death and the concept of suffering in different religions.
• The impact of death on the concept of freedom in different periods.
• Death and the concept of redemption in different belief systems.
• The portrayal of death in different circus acts.
• Death and the concept of rebirth in different mythologies.
• The impact of death on the concept of beauty in different civilizations.
• Death and the concept of forgiveness in different cultural practices.
• The portrayal of death in different gardening styles.
• Death and the concept of fate in different belief systems.
• The impact of death on the concept of identity in different societies.
• Death and the concept of pain in different historical periods.
• The portrayal of death in different interior design trends.
• Death and the concept of sacrifice in different cultural practices.
• Death and the concept of beauty in different fashion trends.
• The portrayal of death in different music genres.
• The impact of death on the concept of morality in different periods.
• The portrayal of death in different film genres.
• The impact of death on the concept of freedom in different societies.
• The portrayal of death in different theater styles.
• The portrayal of death in different dance styles.
• The portrayal of death in different visual art forms.
• Death and the concept of beauty in different architectural styles.
• The portrayal of death in different literary genres.

Whether you choose to explore the philosophical, cultural, psychological, or artistic aspects of death, these essay topic ideas provide a wide range of possibilities to delve into this profound subject. Remember to approach the topic with sensitivity and respect, as death is a deeply personal and meaningful experience for many individuals.

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Sunday, July 17, 2022

Solution of English Grade IX || Unit 4 Death is a Fiction (New Course)

Death is a Fiction

A. Find the words from the text that have the following meanings.

a. a thing that is imagined- fiction

b. a way of looking at something - dimension

c. to force somebody to leave - dislodge

d. faced somebody so that you could not avoid - confronted

e. to make somebody feel better - solace

B. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words.

a. Death is a fiction created by human being.

b. Ultimately, we are moving straight to the grave .

c. According to the speaker, death is guaranteed.  It is sure to happen.

d. Human beings have corrupted everything and they have twisted it whichever way they want.

C. Answer the following questions.

a. According to the speaker, there is only life. How?

b. According to the speaker, what is life?

According to the speaker, life is the process of moving from one dimension to another.

There is nothing wrong with death because it is a natural part of life, and has to happen.

We fear death because we do not know what it is. We have never experienced it, and we do not know what happens after we die. This uncertainty can be scary, and it can lead to fear.

People have an idea of death because people have been talking about it without knowing about it. /People have an idea of death because they have been told about it by others.

Death is the end of a life in a living thing. All living and biological actions of the living thing stop, including the mind and the senses. The usual indication for death both in humans and many other animals is that the heart stops beating and cannot be restarted. This can be caused by many things. All living things have a certain lifespan, and they finally die.

Simple Present Tense

A. Rewrite the following sentences using the correct form of the verbs given in the brackets.

B. Make a statement or a question using these prompts. Use the present simple.

C. Change the following sentences into negative and question.

a. The swimming pool opens everyday at 9: 30 am.

Neg- The swimming pool doesn't open everyday at 9: 30 am.

Q- Does the swimming pool open everyday at 9: 30 am?

b. I use my car very often.

Neg- I use my car very often.

Q- Do you use your car very often?

c. John comes from Mexico.

Neg- John doesn't come from Mexico.

Q- Does John come from Mexico?

d. I play the piano very well.

Neg- I don't play the piano very well.

Q- Do you play the piano very well?

e. Ann watches television a lot.

Neg- Ann doesn't watch television much.

Q- Does Ann watch television much?

f. I write to my parents every month.

Neg- I don't write to my parents every month.

Q- Do you write to your parents every month?

g. This car breaks down every five hours.

Neg- This car doesn't break down every five hours.

Q- Does this car break down every five hours ?

Write a message of condolence to her family on behalf of your school. It will be published in a local newspaper. Use the clues given in the box below.

Subhadra Adhikari (1946 – 2019) …….. passed away at her residence, Kathmandu, due to respiratory problems …….. famous and wellknown senior actress .….... contributed a lot to the Nepali film industry ………….. Basanti, Basudev, Muna Madan, Chino among superhits ………….heartfelt condolences

HEARTFELT CONDOLENCE

DOB: 1946     PHOTO      DOD: 2019

We are deeply saddened by the news of the demise of our veteran actress

Subhadra Adhikari.

She passed away at her residence, Kathmandu, due to respiratory problems in 2019. She was a famous and well- known senior actress. She contributed a lot to the Nepali film industry. Basanti, Basudev, Muna Madan, and Chino are among her superhit movies.

She was quite popular for her congeniality, diligence and great virtue. At this time of grief, we want to express our sincere condolences to her bereaved family and pray for the strength to bear the irrecoverable loss. We will always cherish her wonderful memories.

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The Life, Death—And Afterlife—of Literary Fiction

In the golden age of magazines, short stories reigned supreme. Has the digital revolution killed their cultural relevance?

Those of you who are reading this essay, let me ask you, right away—is your smart phone next to you? Or is it in your hand? Are you reading this on your phone, swiping up the paragraphs, swipe , swipe , swipe , wondering how far you're going to have to swipe to actually finish this thing? (Just so you know, it’s gonna take a lot of swiping.) Or are you reading on your computer screen, as I've been writing this on mine? I happen to know you’re not reading this in a print magazine. Ha! And ouch!

As you read, is your smart phone or computer or iPad simultaneously acquiring notifications, texts and emails, along with promotions, advertisements and daily venues of news, opinions and games such as Wordle and Spelling Bee, an altogether constant onslaught of information, incessantly demanding that you spend every waking hour of every day focused on this unrelenting digitality that keeps showing up on the screen in front of you, that screen with which you likely indulge in more back-and-forth than you generally do in person with an actual human being, like, say, your husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, friend, lover, boss, employee?

Are you multi-tasking as well, working online, Zooming, Googling, communicating with your fellow employees, but also darting off now and then to your favorite venues (like, maybe, this), and then back to your job, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth?

Another question: when you’re reading a short story (on this same site, for instance) or a novel, do you remain immersed in the narrative, able to stay there for quite some time without going anywhere else? As if you were having sex for fifteen or twenty minutes, maybe even half an hour, unwilling to allow any interruptions? Or as if you had dived into a swimming pool or a lake or a sound or a sea and were floating across the water, staring up at the sky?

Can you read anything at all from start to finish, ie. an essay or a short story, without your mind being sliced apart by some digital switchblade? Without your seeking distraction as a form of entertainment, or entertainment as a form of distraction? Or is all of this just ordinary life in the internet era, with your every thought and feeling and perception being diverted or fractured or dissolved or reiterated endlessly with utter normality in a digitalized world to which nearly all of us are fixated, or might we say, addicted? Did you ever even know a different world?

I did know a different world, at least once upon a distant time. I arrived at Esquire in the late eighties to work with the legendary fiction editor Rust Hills , whose passion for literature arose in him every single morning like daylight. He and I would occasionally drink two or three Negronis at lunch, sometimes at the New York Delicatessen on 57 th Street, and talk about the writers and novels and short stories we loved (and hated). Often we met with the writers themselves, and if they were young and didn’t have much money, Rust might slide them across the table a check of his own, just so they could keep scribbling away in their precocious days of writing. Then he and I would happily weave our way back to the office at 1790 Broadway, plop down in our cubicles and make enthusiastic phone calls to writers and agents, our voices probably a little louder than usual. Rust always believed that we could ask anyone for anything. “Let de Gaulle do his own refusing,” he liked to say. Our jobs never felt like work—we played for a living.

The tech world back then seems almost non-existent by comparison to that of this century, even though New York City in the 1980s was economically soaring, having been resurrected from its financial crisis in the mid-Seventies. Yes, cable television had arrived en masse that decade, as had VHSs, Blockbuster movie rentals, dual-cassette answering machines, and far more CDs than the sadly dying vinyl records.

But for all of that, computers were only slowly listing their way into homes and businesses, considered then more like superior typewriters than electronic versions of a personal post office. Back then, we dropped tokens like coins into the subway tolls—no MetroCards to slide through a slot on the turnstile. In those days, rather than staring at their phones, subway riders spent their journey reading books, magazines, and newspapers, with besuited straphangers adept at folding the New York Times broadsheet into an eighth of its original size, and reading the newspaper while holding it in a single hand. Out on the streets, we waved our hands in the air to lure taxi cabs our way. “Uber” would have been considered nothing more or less than an intriguing word from another language. As for “zooming,” well, that just meant we were speeding down the avenue, transported by a wild or exuberant or desperate cabbie. Cell phones had not yet arrived to any significant degree, so pay phones cluttered the sidewalks of the city. At home in our apartments, we still suffered from the expense of long-distance phone calls. And at Esquire , our receptionist, who also worked as the switchboard operator, would connect incoming calls to us. If we missed the calls, she would give us handwritten messages and phone numbers when we came by her front desk. Yes, handwritten.

As for magazines, they were physically everywhere—on our coffee tables at home, in waiting rooms, libraries, airplanes and trains; and being sold at newsstands, bookstores, drugstores and magazine shops that vended only magazines, hundreds of different periodicals, maybe even thousands, including literary journals. Which meant that fiction as a whole, and short stories in particular, were also everywhere to be found. And bought.

Back then, magazines in general, Esquire included, stood rather jauntily in the center of American culture, alongside the towering industries of television, movies, and music. Editors in that era often achieved national renown as editors. And to borrow Marshall McLuhan’s longtime axiom, magazines then were mediums for the message, with literary fiction being one of the prime and abiding messages, as it had been in periodicals for more than a century. In the 1920s, for example, F. Scott Fitzgerald made his living not as a writer who had published The Great Gatsby , one of the greatest American novels to this day, but instead as a short story writer, who was paid for 160 stories delivered in various magazines, most frequently the Saturday Evening Post .

“Decades ago,” wrote the tech and media journalist Simon Owens in 2020, “short fiction was a viable business, for publishers and writers alike.” He cites the ideal venues for short stories as the so-called “glossy” magazines (who calls them that now?) such as Esquire , The New Yorker , Playboy, and The Atlantic , along with what were once known as “pulp” magazines, among them Asimov’s Science Fiction and Analog , all of which benefited from hundreds of thousands, and in some cases, millions of subscribers. I was always impressed as well by Redbook and McCall’s , two popular monthly women’s magazines, both now departed from the print world, which for close to a century routinely published accomplished fiction, including stories by Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, Anne Tyler, and a condensed version of Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon . Even the renewed Vanity Fair , prior to its celebrity obsession when Tina Brown took it over in 1984, devoted itself to extraordinary fiction, at one point buying and printing Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold .

A radical change in the structure of literary culture was already approaching.

For a while in the nineties, it still seemed to Rust and me and many other writers, editors, and marketers that fiction in magazines would last, well, forever. As would magazines themselves. As would literary fiction, period, anywhere and everywhere. Esquire , The Atlantic , Playboy , The New Yorker, and Harper’s published short stories in nearly every one of their issues. Several of those magazines— Esquire , The Atlantic, and The New Yorker —also put out a summer issue solely dedicated to fiction. I even loved using novelists and short story writers to research and compose nonfiction—John Edgar Wideman, for instance, who wrote a rich, imaginative investigation into Michael Jordan and his influence on race in America, and Denis Johnson , who roamed around the world, reporting on multiple catastrophes, including the civil war in Liberia and the take-over of Afghanistan by the Taliban. Another brilliant fiction writer, Joy Williams , Rust’s wife, fired out dazzling and sarcastically ferocious essays, one against hunting entitled “ The Killing Game ” (which infuriated hunters who subscribed to Esquire ), and another in defense of nature, called “ Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp .”

And yet for all of that, a radical change in the structure of literary culture was already approaching. I remember one afternoon in the early-to-mid nineties when the novelist and short story writer Mark Helprin alerted me that tiny computers the size of transistor radios were heading our way. That we would carry them in our hands, stuff them in our pockets, and even pay bills and receive income through these little, unimaginable instruments. That magazines and newspapers and books might even disappear into or pop out of that miniature machine. How could he have known this? I have no idea. Laptop computers in those days seemed at least as big as briefcases, with office computers the size of altars. I recall saying to him with a bit of a laugh and much more astonishment: “Really? The size of a transistor radio?” It struck me as science fiction. Turned out to be science. Helprin was right.

As was the novelist, so-called metafictionalist, and Johns Hopkins professor John Barth, who back in 1993 declared: “I happen to not be optimistic about the future of literature in the electronic global village.” The only thing wrong with his intuition: the word “village.” It’s not a village anymore, if it ever was; it’s a universe.

At times, the digital universe feels to me like the technological equivalent of a black hole, swallowing everything around it, including the un-digital idiosyncrasy of humans, to the point that we are unable to re-emerge from that hole into a freer, more open constellation. In God, Human, Animal, Machine , the writer Meghan O’Gieblyn, who lost her faith after having been raised as a fundamentalist Christian, has created a fascinating inquiry into the nature and power of informational technology, as if that technology might be a new God, in the process of mathematizing uniqueness, and algorithmizing all of us, whether we are religiously faithful, agnostic, or atheistic. She describes how the Israeli intellectual Yuval Noah Harari argues that we already accept “machine wisdom” when it comes to the recommendation of “books, restaurants and potential dates.” He believes that “dataism” is replacing humanism as “a ruling ideology,” invalidating the conviction that an individual’s feelings, ideas, and beliefs make for a “legitimate source of truth.” According to Harari, “Dataism now commands: Listen to the algorithms!”

In the past twenty-five or so years, the magazine industry has shrunk in the midst of this “dataism,” particularly in its rendition of literary fiction. Three years ago, Adrienne LaFrance, executive editor of The Atlantic , decided to help devise an online destination for such fiction, short stories in particular, beginning with one by Lauren Groff. “The thinning of print magazines this century,” she writes , “meant a culling of fiction.” The internet, in her estimation (and mine), “makes fairly efficient work of splintering attention and devouring time.” As a result, she concludes that literary reading is “far too easily set aside.”

Simon Owens, the previously mentioned tech and media commentator, could not fathom the economic incentive behind LaFrance’s online venue for fiction. “Short stories don’t generate a lot of traffic,” he writes. In the past, he explains, a writer could make “a middle class living writing nothing but short fiction, and a few did.” Now, he writes, “that’s not the case.”

I often think of how writers, editors, copy-editors, fact-checkers, and even publishers are losing their work just like coal miners in Appalachia have over the last twenty years, with both professions having jobs taken away, seemingly forever, by what has been described in regard to West Virginia, for instance, as “automated technology.”

The power of the internet has not just affected writers economically. It has influenced the very nature of their own creativity. What Will Self, one of my favorite novelists over the last thirty years, calls BDDM—“bi-directional digital media”—is having a severe effect not just on reading, but on writing. Self confesses : “If there are writers out there who have the determination—and concentration—to write on a networked computer without being distracted by the worlds that lie a mere keystroke away, then they’re far steelier and more focused than I.” His vision of the literary future, despite his love for literature (even apparently for e-books), is dark indeed. “If you accept [over the next twenty years] that the vast majority of text will be read in digital form on devices linked to the web,” he asks, “do you also believe that those readers will voluntarily choose to disable that connectivity? If your answer to this is no, then the death of the novel is sealed out of your own mouth.” Writers in this age, he states, are “less imposing” than many of the relatively recent past, which is a “…a reflection of a culture in which literature is no longer centre stage (or screen).”

Given that this new medium is bi-directional and mathematical, and that, to quote Marshall McLuhan once again, “the medium is the message,” literary criticism itself has become dully numerical. Writers and writing tend to be voted upon by readers, who inflict economic power (buy or kill the novel!) rather than deeply examining work the way passionate critics once did in newspapers and magazines. Their “likes” and “dislikes” make for massive rejoinders rather than critical insight. It’s actually a kind of bland politics, as if books and stories are to be elected or defeated. Everyone is apparently a numerical critic now, though not necessarily an astute one. Or even honest. Consider, for instance, Cecilia Rabess’s recent debut novel Everything’s Fine , about a young Black woman employed by Goldman Sachs, who becomes enamored of a racist white co-worker. Six months before the book was even published—and read—members of the digital venue Goodreads , owned by Amazon, blasted the future publication with a flood of one-star reviews, accusing Everything’s Fine of prejudice and racism. Numbers, numbers, numbers, all in attack, rather than a variety of detailed immersions into the actual text, subsequently shared in what we call “writing.”

It’s as if the internet, with its ostensibly forthright venues, has actually turned nearly all of its posters into marketers and up-and-down voters, rather than readers and reviewers. That may be one of the reasons that the publishing and academic world has now become so consumed with propriety in relation to literary writing; otherwise editors, publishers and professors fear that old and new literature, along with themselves, may be treated as viciously as Rabess’s novel.

My perception is that, perhaps because of online mass condemnations, there’s simply too much of an ethical demand in fiction from fearful editors and “sensitivity readers,” whose sensitivity is not unlike that of children raised in religious families who’ve been taught that unless they do everything right, Hell (a longstanding venue of “cancellation”) is their likely destination. That instruction, common in the Protestant South where I grew up, has now—strangely—segued into the secular world of academics and publishing. Too many authors and editors fear that they might write or publish something that to them, at least, is unknowingly “wrong,” narratives that will reveal their ethical ignorance, much to their shame. It’s as if etiquette has become ethics, and blasphemy a sin of secularity.

The power of literary fiction—good literary fiction, anyway—does not come from moral rectitude. Consider, if you will, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was a morally righteous author in the 1850s and whose famous anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, became immensely popular (at least in the North) and in time, a historical version of American sanctimony. Yet, as James Baldwin wrote nearly a century later in his essay “Everybody’s Protest Novel,” it was also “a very bad novel.” For one thing, it praises the enslaved for turning their cheeks, as it were, to be slapped again—or killed—rather than fighting back, a notion of Christian virtue and acceptance that results in brutal suffering and death on an unjust earth that will finally send Uncle Tom out of America to a less violent place known as Heaven. In Baldwin’s words, Stowe “was not so much a novelist as an impassioned pamphleteer; her book was not intended to do anything more than prove that slavery was wrong… This makes material for a pamphlet but it is hardly enough for a novel, and the only question left to ask is why we are bound still with the same constriction.”

The power of literary fiction—good literary fiction, anyway—does not come from moral rectitude.

And yet constriction has become even more constricted at this point of the 21st century, narrowing the fearless explorations that have been inherent in literature. A new American edition of To the Lighthouse , Virginia Woof’s 1927 British classic, to be published this year by Vintage, opens with an apologetic preface proclaiming that the publication is not an “endorsement” of the novel’s “cultural representations or language.” And just like in the 1850s, there are present-day writers—Sally Rooney, Ben Lerner (I remain a fan of his first two novels, but not his third), Celeste Ng, and Emma Cline, to name a few—composing fiction that Becca Rothfeld, in a brilliant essay appearing in Liberties Magazine , describes as “sanctimony literature,” in which the authors endorse and applaud their pious protagonists for living correctly. In contrast to the four novelists cited above, Rothfeld lauds Jane Austen for creating what she calls “morally mottled characters.” In Rothfeld’s view, political and ethical merit are not inherently identical. The truth is, pretty much all of us are mottled, and to immerse ourselves as readers into the complexity—not the clarity—of existence is illuminating. We can feel as close to the characters as we do to ourselves.

For me, good literature investigates morality. It stares unrelentingly at the behavior of its characters without requiring righteousness. The problem these days with a vast amount of fiction ( and its criticism) is that morality is treated as if it were mathematically precise, obvious, undeniable, and eternal. It is none of those things. Morality evolves, devolves and evolves again. It is not a rule that comes from outside of ourselves, as when the Ten Commandments supposedly floated down to the top of a mountain into the hands of Moses. That’s fiction, too, folks, as if the Bible were a very good book of magical realism, written by Garcia Marquez . Truth does not have to be literal. It can arrive at reality, dressed in a dream. Paradoxically, fiction is often truer than journalism in regard to the nature of life, even though it is largely invented, aka “fiction.” And genuine morality, as opposed to contemporary etiquette, arises from within us, over time, with thought, with feeling, and, crucially… with curiosity. In Buddhist meditation, for example, curiosity leads to a greater and more generous awareness.

Curiosity, in my view, is also what tends to make for far better fiction, and nonfiction as well. Too many publishers and editors these days seem to regard themselves as secular priests, dictating right and wrong, as opposed to focusing on the allure of the mystifying and the excitement of uncertainty. Ethics and aesthetics appear in this era to be intentionally merged, as if their respective “good” is identical. By contrast, the late, brilliant editor Robert Gottlieb, who worked with Toni Morrison , Robert Caro , Cynthia Ozick , Doris Lessing , and Joseph Heller , among many others, blended himself into the prose and intentions of his authors, supporting and allowing the independence of their freestanding literature. He was an editor-in-chief at the The New Yorker for several years, but never a dictator. He could judge and sharpen the distinctive power of an author’s voice without condemning its unique, often defiant point of view.

In their best moments, writers scribble on their pads and type on their keyboards like children playing with their buddies outside on the street or in the woods or at a park, far away in soul, if not place, from their parents. As the scholar and literary critic Peter Brooks declares in the book Seduced by Story , a beguiling and recent analysis of the nature of narrative, both fiction writing and children’s play “are about the creation of a space of freedom within the inexorable mechanisms of the real. That play, in the case of the successful fiction, delivers us back to reality changed, enhanced, with a greater wisdom in our stock.” Novelists love novels, he suggests, because such literature doesn’t constrain its creation by rules. “Fiction,” writes Brooks, “is playful precisely in its refusal to accept belief systems, its insistence on the ‘as if.’”

Or, as my friend, the novelist Darcey Steinke, says: “I actually think the best writing has paradox and ambiguity built right in. You can’t write without accepting it. Novels are about people that are fucked up!”

Oh, dear literature! Will you die or shrink or practically disappear into a tiny, elitist realm like opera has into Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan? James Shapiro, an English professor at Columbia, has only owned a smart phone for the past year. And yet his literary life has radically altered. “Technology in the last twenty years has changed all of us,” he tells Nathan Heller in a New Yorker piece about the diminishment of English majors in college. “…I probably read five novels a month until the two-thousands. If I read one a month now, it’s a lot. That’s not because I’ve lost interest in fiction. It’s because I’m reading a hundred web sites. I’m listening to podcasts.”

John Guillory, another professor, recently retired from New York University, and the author of Cultural Capital and Professing Criticism , says his fellow academics need to confront “the declining cultural capital of literature in a wildly expanded media universe.”

There’s even anxiety that artificial intelligence might make human writing superfluous. The Italian writer Italo Calvino , one of my favorite novelists (read The Baron in the Trees !), foresaw this in a lecture he gave way back in 1967, entitled “Cybernetics and Ghosts.” He laid out questions that strike me as astonishingly prescient, given the recent attempts of AI at composing literature. “Will we have a machine capable of replacing the poet and the author?” Calvino asked during his speech. “Just as we already have machines that can read, machines that perform a linguistic analysis of literary texts, machines that make translations and summaries, will we also have machines capable of conceiving and composing poems and novels?”

The answer, as Calvino likely already knew, even though he died at the age of 61 in 1985, is: You betcha . A couple of years ago, a former Esquire colleague of mine, Adam Fisher, relayed to me a poem composed by AI. It wasn’t that good, but it wasn’t that bad, either. It probably would have gotten a solid B in an MFA program.

Will readers like us therefore need to become the literary equivalents of the Amish, living peacefully and slightly outside the technological world? Can reading and writing literature become our version of riding in horse-drawn buggies cantering peacefully down a car-jammed highway? Or do we simply need to accept new forms of art, whatever they might be, as when Bibles were first printed by the Gutenberg Press back in 1455, and a new bright vision arose from reading?

Not long ago, I was waiting in a long line to the cashiers at the Barnes & Noble bookstore by Union Square in Manhattan, lugging a stack of books and magazines that I was about to buy. Just ahead of me stood a lovely, dark-haired woman, probably in her forties or fifties, also carrying a stack of books, who pulled a flip phone out of her coat pocket, opened it for a second, then flipped it back shut with seeming delight. I fell in love with her instantly. Yes, she was beautiful, and I didn’t mind that, but it was the flip phone that made me want to ask her out, to sit with her in a bar or coffee shop, discussing the similar nature of our particular universe, and then to subsequently marry and share a digitally-free—or at least digitally-modest—life.

Her flip phone made me believe I already knew her. That she also loved reading literary fiction (the books she was lugging implied that, too, including Haruki Murakami’s short story collection First Person Singular , which I was also buying). That she appreciated direct contact with humans, talking and listening in physical presence, not just staring at a phone in the midst of humanity. That there was a calmness in her, and strength as well. In my view, she had either rebelled against smart phone obsession or never succumbed to it in the first place. I’m reminded of a wonderful line from Lola Shub, a high school senior from Brooklyn, quoted by Alex Vadukul in the New York Times last December in an article about young Luddites: “When I got my flip phone, things instantly changed,” she said. “I started using my brain.”

My own brain decided to hide my intermittently-smart Samsung phone in the back pocket of my jeans and wondered what to say to the flip phone woman. In the end, however, I said nothing. Instead, I smiled at a little kid, also hauling a stack of books, who just came running into the line ahead, and then leaning against that very woman. The boy grinned back at me. I went up, bought my books and magazines, stuffed them in my knapsack, took them home, sat down on my favorite chair, turned off my phone, and began to read.

Outside my window, a big moon sailed slowly across the sky above New York City. It felt like my head was its own moon, albeit somewhat smaller, peacefully floating over Murakami’s story “Cream.” The very process of reading in itself is a generous, enriching form of solitude, meditational in fact, but it is also a calm instigation of independence, and maybe even an ongoing incentive for intellectual revolution. It allows a reader, especially in this digital age, to think more freely rather than being dictated by aggressive algorithms. Murakami’s recently-published stories also made me realize how fiction at large, and short stories in particular, remain as exhilarating as ever, the embodiment of an infinite variety of visions and voices, and powerful alternatives to the standard nature of the current mind, regardless of whether literary fiction is now harder to find, publish, promote, and write in this era of digital dictatorship.

Twenty-five years ago, I wrote and published the following paragraph in the introduction to an anthology I edited called Why I Write , that features original essays by 28 fiction writers, including Denis Johnson , Joy Williams, Darius James, Mary Gaitskill , Ann Patchett , and David Foster Wallace :

The very act of reading literature, the anticommunalism of it, the slow drift into reverie, the immersion into the charismatic black-and-white grids of the page—all of this emphatically unplugs us from that other grid, that beeping, noisome electronic grid that attempts to snare us in a web of reflex, of twitch and spasm. Does this make the pursuit of literature a Luddite maneuver, with all the shadowings of melancholy and futility attendant on such rebellions? I suspect that to the contrary, passionate reading will become a form of permanent opposition…

I feel this way now more than ever. And I suspect I will for the rest of my life. Will you?

Will Blythe is the author of a New York Times bestseller To Hate Like This is To Be Happy Forever . A former literary editor at Esquire , he quit the magazine in protest to a last-minute cancellation of a novella by David Leavitt that included scenes of gay sex.

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242 Death Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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• The Death of My Grandmother and Lessons Learnt Often the loss of a grandmother is the first loss in life, which only complicates the feelings experienced. The loss of my grandmother was the biggest tragedy that has happened to me.
• Death Ceremonies in Luhya Tribe This tribe is called the Luhya tribe and is one of the 42 tribes of the Republic of Kenya. This is because a clan might actually size to exist due to the death of a […]
• Death, Dying, and Bereavement: Reflection End of life care for my mother took a toll on me, and I had to reevaluate my aspirations to see whether I treated life as an endless path.
• The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Death and the Afterlife The main purpose of the Gilgamesh myth is to illustrate the weakness of man in the face of destiny. By the time this dream appears in the story, the reader is already aware Enkidu is […]
• Life After Death In many religions across the world, people belief in life after death and also being born again in the world after an individual. Life after death is the belief in the continuation of life after […]
• Plato on Death: Comparison With Aristotle Afterlife – Essay on Life After Death Philosophy On the other hand, religion has maintained that the soul is immortal and survives the death of the body. Plato argued that the soul is immortal and therefore survives the death of the body.
• Life After Death: Christianity and Islam Perspectives The afterlife, or the resurrection, is the purpose of most religions. This is the question we ask when we talk of the afterlife and the resurrection.
• The Probable Cause of Marilyn Monroe’s Death She had many lovers, many admirers, she associated with the rich and powerful, but in the end, she was so emotionally and psychologically troubled that when she died in 1962, with bottles of drugs beside […]
• All Are Equal in Death Death refers to the lasting termination of all life’s tasks in a human being. Death chances on its prey in the middle of their actions and strikes equally to all.
• Death and Dying From Children’s Viewpoint I can say that religion, the media, and my parents contributed to my early understanding of the concept of death. I developed a view that life expires at the death of my parents’ revelation that […]
• “Sylvia’s Death” by Anne Sexton The poem “Sylvia’s Death” by Anne Sexton is devoted, as the title suggests, to the death of poet Sylvia Plath. The poem itself is like a monologue or a short speech devoted to Sylvia and […]
• The Peculiarities of Discussing the Theme of Death in Poetry and Prose The question of this fringe helps to emphasize the problem of the lovers’ separation.”The separation of the soul from the body, and the separation of lovers from each other, is not an ending but the […]
• Death and the Afterlife: A Spiritual World After Death The spiritual world for people means the immortality of their souls, which is in general highly important from the point of view of religion and philosophy.
• Are the Witches Responsible for Duncan’s Death? For example, Banquo was given good news by the witches about the likelihood of his children becoming kings and yet he did not rush to murder as it’s in the Macbeth’s case.
• The Theme of Death in the World of Literature Important is the fact that the death is personified in the poem and has the role of the gentleman. The death is presented as a powerful element of the poem and of the narrator’s life […]
• Magellan’s Death in the Philippines and Captain Cook’s Death in Hawaii Captain Cook was a surveyor in the royal navy and in 1778, he made his first trip to the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiians were very hospitable to the captain and his crew.
• Socrates: His Life, Philosophy, & Death The Philosopher, Socrates was a Greek and he was born in the proximities of 470 B. Much of the philosophy and life of Socrates is explained by Plato in his dialogues.
• Late Adulthood and Death This paper examines ageism and the stereotypes associated with late adulthood; how individuals can promote health and wellness in late adulthood; the importance of relationships and social interactions; and personal attitudes towards death in late […]
• Perspectives of Death In the different interpretations of death, there is a section of people that believe death is the final stage in the life journey of both human beings and plants.
• Philosophy: “Death” Essay by Thomas Nagel Therefore, the first element of viewing death is evil that the author examines is the contrast of this occurrence to life, which is perceived as good.
• Worldviews in Religions on the Aspect of Death and Afterlife The essay compares and contrasts the worldviews of Christianity, medieval Buddhist and Muslim on the aspect of death and afterlife and is covered as follows.
• Why Are We Afraid of Death? However, it can be interesting to understand why the rest of the people are so afraid of death. People are afraid of the unknown.
• Death and the Maiden: Emily Dickinson’s Thematic Obsession With Death The Afterlife less interesting than life?”.”My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close” opens another door into the theme of death from Dickinson’s penetrating and sharp intellect.
• Death and Funeral Customs of the Ainu and Nuer Peoples The high level of interest in the thematic is due to transformations in the rituals that indicate changes in the social order and conditions of its existence.
• From Birth to Death: Human’s Destiny The reason people seem to be so attached to Facebook and blogs is because they think this is their primary means of communicating and connecting to the world.
• The Theme of Death in Literary Works The Duke reflects on the death of the Duchess and finding a new mistress to please him. The significance of the use of dramatic monologue is that it distinguishes the poet from the main speaker […]
• Death and Suffering: War Opposing Viewpoints The number of human casualties is very much alarming Take the case of the Second World War. It is considered to be the worst and the most deadly war ever fought in the history of […]
• The Theme of Death in Fiction-Writing Nevertheless, while it is emotional, having to deal with death, the pain of losing a son, and having to deal with the sympathy of people around them, the story disguised the emotion of the individuals […]
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Most of these studies focused on the incidences of SIDS, factors that are responsible for the condition, and the possible measures that could be put in place to reduce the incidence of the condition.
• Cleopatra’s Life, From Her Ascension to the Throne to Solemn Death The bond between Antony and Cleopatra continued to strengthen and resulted in the return of most of Egypt’s empires that had been conquered by the Romans.
• The Love of Poets for Nature: Life and Death In the first section, the narrator depicts the serenity of a frosty night and lets the audience realize that the narrator is the author himself.
• The Matter of Life and Death Since it is necessary that the population of the mankind did not expand, due to the lack of supplies, it is undesirable that the pregnant woman were in the bunker.
• “Death” by Thomas Nagel: The Issue of Death and How People Think of It In a way, this contradicts his above reasoning that if there is no one to experience the loss of good life, then the absence of suffering and realization is not bad at all.
• Sea Otters’ Life Cycle From Birth to Death However, after the species had almost become extinct and their protection began, the species began to recover and towards the close of the 20th century, conservation had given rise to tens of thousands of sea […]
• Detailed Coronial Analysis of a Chest Pain Related Death The coroner’s report reviewed in this paper is for the patient AD who was brought to the emergency department by the Queensland Ambulance Service with the diagnosis of the acute coronary syndrome.
• Death and Terminal Illnesses Some of the diseases under this category are heart diseases in the advanced stages and to some extent cancer.”In popular use, terminal conditions indicate diseases which will end the life of the sufferers in a […]
• The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf It was as if they were mindful of what had happened to the moth but in truth these creatures were simply taking a break.
• Modern Christianity View and Perspective on Death and Dying Some Christians believe that death is safe to the people of God and that it is a necessity to fit in the complete delight of God.
• Social Issue: The Death of the Whitney Houston In addition to giving a precise of the aforementioned story, the next discussion also elaborates the story by relating it to sociological imagination and the concept of social perspectives.
• Effects of a Parental Death on Younger Children The impacts of paternal and maternal death on young children are premised on the child’s health, school enrollment and educational attainment of the child in comparison to adverse poverty.
• Becoming Original: Truth and Death in Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil In the creation and presentation of the true inevitability of death via Hooper’s veil, Hawthorne fulfills Fuller’s definition of the American writer as in possession of the “noble fearlessness [that] can give wings to the […]
• The Line Between Life and Death: The Terri Schiavo Case A clear definition of a person who is alive is important in order to be able to make decisions about patients in a vegetative state.
• Reflection on Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “On Death” We are not aware what happens at the moment of death or after it and seek to find the answers to the questions raised by Shelley in the poem “On Death”.
• Ethical Issues of Death and Dying The aim of the end of life care is to ensure that the dying person encounters the least discomfort during the dying process.
• Forensic Psychology: Death Notifications Importance It is very important to surround the surviving relatives with compassion and understanding during the initial shock that follows the dreadful news. The purpose of delivering death notifications in person is to provide compassion.
• Exertional Heat Stroke and Sudden Death The heat leads to the malfunctioning of the Central Nervous System, which is manifested in the symptoms of EHS. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, it is vital for an athletic trainer to recognize […]
• Buddhism: The Concept of Death and Dying Life is permanent but death is the transition of a human soul to either one of the six Buddhist realms. The purpose of this paper is to explain the concept of death from the Buddhist […]
• Self-Reflection on Life Values, Goals, and Death I want my life to be full of genuine relationships despite how challenging it is to find and cultivate such bonds in modern society.
• Death and Dying: How to Accept the End of Life Ideas Loss-related grief hurts and is frequently intolerable, and it can be challenging to maintain a good outlook on life when one is in pain.
• Atkinson’s Death Penalty Article: Rebuttal Argument Regardless of unrealistic and irrelevant assertions about therapeutic jurisprudence, the death sentence is an efficient deterrence and punishment mechanism when seen within the context of vigilante justice and as a part of the current legal […]
• Restorative Justice and the Death Penalty Draft thesis: The death penalty, when viewed under the retributive justice framework and as a part of the existing justice system, is an effective deterrent and punishment measure irrespective of impractical and irrelevant restorative justice […]
• The Death Definition and the Need for Euthanasia If the concept of the soul is to be believed in, then one’s death is simply a process that detaches the soul from the body.
• Capital Punishment and the Death Penalty Furthermore, the defense and, in the United States, the prosecution has the right of vexatious challenge, which allows it to confront several participants without providing a reason.
• Heracles’ Death in Women of Trachis and Modern Perspective The concept of a good death changes over time, and what was considered a good and glorifying death in ancient times may be terrifying today.
• Psychology: The Aftermath of a Death Thus it is necessary to analyze the emotions and experiences of others in order to have a general idea of the problems that occur in different people.
• The Wisdom of Silenus: The Meaning of Life & Death When thinking about this idea, it is difficult to take any specific point of view about it because the meaning of life primarily lies in the process of a lifetime; making any goal the meaning […]
• Can There Be Agreement as to What Constitutes Human Death From a biological point of view, death is considered a natural fact of the termination of life due to the exhaustion of the body’s vital resources.
• Low Vitamin D and Risk of Premature Death Categories of clear communication index, including the Main Message and Call to Action, Language, Information Design, State of the Science, Behavioral Recommendations, Numbers, and Risks, will evaluate the general consumer publication.
• Experience With Death in Personal Life Facing death is an ordeal because it leads to nervousness, prolonged sadness, and pain of loss. Third, facing death is an ordeal because we feel the pain of loss.
• The Black Death: Causes and Reactions This paper discusses the causes of the Black Death, human contribution to the spread of the disease, and describes the responses to the Black Death.
• Media Journal Assignment: Elijah McClain’s Death The death of a young Elijah was quite a shocking revelation about injustice that is taking place in the country. It demonstrates the social solidarity of people on the injustice that has taken a place.
• “Death on Demand Is Not Death With Dignity” by Debra Saunders The author uses the example of Brittany Maryland, who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and moves to Oregon as assisted suicide is legal there.
• Protests Over the Death of George Floyd The suspect was cooperating with the officers who instead treated him harshly and pinned him to the ground against the police conduct.
• Impact of Divorce vs. Death of Loved One On the contrary, suffering as a result of divorce is similar to experiencing a loved one’s death in many aspects. In my view, the impact of divorce and the death of a loved one should […]
• Social Causes of Suicide: Sex, Race, Ethnicity, Age Group, and Mechanism of Death Suicide is one of the top ten main causes of death in the United States, making it a major issue. The suicide rate in the West is higher than in the South, Midwest, and Northeast.
• Euthanasia: Nurses’ Attitudes Towards Death The weakest part of the article is that most of the participants did not clearly define the concept of euthanasia, which casts doubt on the reliability of the sampled data.
• Health Policy to Solve Premature Death Inequality Further, the policy will teach the community about the dangers of drug and substance abuse and how it relates to premature deaths.
• Newspaper Coverage of Adolf Hitler’s Death It marks the end of the era of the terrible events of the Holocaust, the seizure of Poland, the extermination of millions of people.
• Impact of Intentional Death Problem Moreover, the negative consequences of euthanasia are the devaluation of human life, violation of the equality of people before the law, medical duty, and the structure of the doctor-patient relationship.
• Tyler Skaggs’s Death Reminding About Opioid Crisis The case of Tyler Skaggs serves as a reminder of the problem that is crucial in the United States nowadays the opioid crisis.
• Attitude Towards Death Essay: Life-Span Development Therefore, I try to maintain respect for this phenomenon and thereby try to enjoy every moment of life so as not to regret anything on my deathbed. It became an increasingly sensitive topic to me […]
• Medical Error as Causes of Preventable Death One of the notable examples of significant damage to patient health due to a medical error in our hospital was the case of LIS caused by rapid correction of hyponatremia.
• The Investigation of Rigor Mortis: Method to Determine the Time of Death One of the methods to determine the time of death is the investigation of rigor mortis. Considering the state of the body, it is possible to determine the time of death using the progression of […]
• Death and Stages of Grief However, such an understanding can be questioned due to the invention of life support devices and the development of the death of the brain concept.
• Experiences of the Death of Spouse In order to elaborate the appropriate one, it is crucial to address Maslow’s Human Motivation and Hierarchy of Basic Human Needs.
• Regulated Cell Death Induced by Membrane-Interacting Peptide Amphiphiles Media from the cells will be removed and replaced with the fluorescent dilution media and incubated for 45 minutes. For visualization, the PA solution with 1 wt% of a fluorescent analog will be used.
• Death Perspectives in Epicurus’ Theory Starting with the assumptions that fear of this phenomenon is one of the most important stimuli in the life of people and ending with the suggestions that death is not bad for the deceased, thinkers […]
• Understanding of the Death Concept by Children The death component of irreversibility involves the child’s ability to conceptualize that death is permanent and the dead never return to life.
• Researching of Why Human Beings Fear Death From the religious perspective, some people know about their sins committed on earth in their life and are afraid of the punishment for those sins as opposed to people who believe in God and His […]
• Atherosclerosis: St. Louis Cardinal’s Death The function of the arteries is to carry oxygenated blood from the heart to other parts of the body, while the function of the veins is to transport deoxygenated blood from other organs to the […]
• Circumstances and Facts Behind the Death of Pamela Langley This memorandum highlights the circumstances and facts behind the death of Pamela Langley and the subsequent trial of the accused, Mr.
• Women’s Life Stories: Maori Sudden Infant Death Keeping in mind the analysis of both – modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors in relation to SIDS, it becomes obvious that equal attention is to be paid to biological and behavioral variables along with social […]
• Wrongful Death: How to Prove Legally That Death Was Wrongful The plaintiff sued the vehicle’s driver, County and the driver’s defendant on behalf of the decedent’s estate and as a family member.
• Mr. B’s Death: Valium Case However, this was not the case as the patient was only monitored for the blood pressure and the saturation of oxygen without monitoring the pulse rate and the breathing rhythm.
• A Psychological Perspective on Death and Mourning The psychological perspective in health psychology is interested in trying to explain how biological, environmental, and psychological factors have influenced and affected health psychology and also the prevention and treatment of illness and diseases.
• Death Rates and Causes: Global Health Assessment Furthermore, it has been recognized that both methods of research are applicable within the cultural context as well within the context of beliefs and perceptions of the individuals the conducts the research and individuals that […]
• Heart Disease: Cell Death During Myocardial Infarction This process is known as the non-reversible cell injury because of the changes in the cell structure and functions when the cell membrane is damaged, and the cell dies.
• The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Ordinal variables show a “clear ordering of the categories”. In a ratio scale, the size interval represents a ratio or proportion of the total values.
• A Root Cause Analysis for Mr. B’s Death Without the tools, the doctor could neither measure the response to the sedation appropriately nor sense when the situation of the patient was worsening.
• Alzheimer Related Morbidity and Death Among New Yorkers Generally, Alzheimer disease is a form of dementia, which inflicts a loss of memory, thinking and behavior. The proportion of ethnic and racial diversity in the US is increasing.
• Vibrio Cholerae: Death by Diarrhoea Although it is widely believed that Vibrio cholerae is a human pathogen, implying that human beings serve as the natural host, it has the capacity to persist and survive in the absence of a human […]
• The Book “On Death and Denying” by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross According to Kubler-Ross, the stage of denial is the first in the grieving process. According to the Bible, Job says, “shall we not accept the good things that God does and adversities?” This is an […]
• Death & Mourning Rituals in China The unique beliefs put into the basis of Chinese philosophy, particularly those concerning the phenomena of death and dying may have a significant impact upon the patients’ attitudes and decision in the end-of-life care and […]
• The Death of a Loved One: Methods of Coping for the Elderly Prior to the start of the study, Mr.G.stated he did not remember the information the researcher had discussed and did not remember signing the consent.
• Abortion-Related-Maternal Death in Dominican Republic There is need to focus the effort in pressuring the lawmakers to respect the rights of women. The Dominican law prohibits women from abortion even the life of woman and the child is in danger.
• Problem of Death and Bereavement: Case Studies The life of a newborn child, no matter how disabled or handicapped it may be, is guarded by the ‘sanctity of human life’ doctrine, and the wishes of the parents or the prospects of the […]
• Death From Preventable Injuries: Predicting When Emergency Surgery Is Needed as Early as Possible The first attempt to quantify this occurred in 1999 when, at the instigation of a presidential task force, the Institute of Medicine extrapolated findings from three states to estimate that from 44,000 to 98,000 people […]
• Trauma and Death in World Literature and Films The themes of trauma and death unite the novel “The Day of the Locust” by Nathaniel West, the short story “Grief” by Scholastique Mukasonga, and the short film The Neighbors ‘Window by Marshall Curry.
• The Death of Hybrid Bodies in Literature and Cinematography The death itself is not always physical, it is the mental process of rejection or accommodation to the surrounding world, as the beast’s metamorphosis and integration into the human life paradigm is also a certain […]
• Hindu Death Rites and Provision of the End-of-Life Care Hindus have a particular perception of death and what happens to a person in the afterlife, shaping the appropriate for them end-of-life care.
• Global Inequity in Preventable Maternal Death Hence, in the framework of the international governance lens, discussions on the alienation of global inequity within the prevention of maternal deaths are relevant and reasonable to provide.
• The Role of Cocaine in the Death of Len Bias The primary focus of this paper is to analyze the existence of cocaine, its consumption, and connected public opinion at the end of the 20th century studying life and death of Len Bias, a renowned […]
• OSHA: Death Caused by Ladder Falls The first one is selecting the wrong type of ladder, which stems from the lack of understanding of essential tools. The most common cause of ladder accidents is the incorrect use of them.
• Suffering of Death Organs: Organ Donors and Transplantation The author begins the article by discussing how the past cessation of breathing used to be one of the recognized signs of death and how the development of the iron lung and later the artificial […]
• U1 IP Medicolegal Death Investigation There is one more problem: the bigger the interval between the death time and the body found, the more inaccurate will be the estimation.
• Line-of-Duty Death (LODD) or Critical Injury A group of persons with knowledge on the insurance policies of the company should be appointed to render assistance to the family in the filing of claim forms.
• The Chinese Belief on Death and Dying These distinctions are visible due to several cultures act of subjecting to an influencing experience of death in the African perspective, the keeping with the nature of the Bible or its times, the people from […]
• When Butterflies Die: Alvarez and Her Idea of Death Considering a loss as a chance to take a closer look at ourselves, Alvarez interprets the old idea of drinking the honey and throwing away the bee, applying it to people’s subconscious and suggesting to […]
• Greek Attitude Towards Death and Afterlife The thoughts about death and the beyond can send shivers down the spine of a contemporary person and the attitude of ancient Greeks to death was practically the same.
• Death in TV-Series “Six Feet Under” The paradox that is based on the conventional fear of death and the perception of death almost as one more member of the family cannot but leave a significant sign on each member of the […]
• The Duty to Die. “Going to Meet Death” by John Hardwig This approach is considered with the fact of how these loved ones should, on the one hand, bear all those condemnations and disagreements with life and words about soon death along with a perpetual presence […]
• Wit by Margaret Edson How to Face Death Through the story, the writer explains the tragic life of the Professor and how she recalls the story of her life which she spent without anybody to care and love for.
• Denial of Death in Major Religions I will agree at this point that the God that both the Christians serve and the Muslims is the same God because both religions believe that this supreme God is not comparable and will never […]
• The Western Corpse: Are We a Death-Denying Society? This belief in the body as merely a shell is also assisted by the fact that the corpse in modern times is no longer prepared for disposal by the loving hands of the friends and […]
• The Death of George Washington He is considered to be one of the most prominent politicians in the history of the United States. The twentieth century was marked with increased attention to the death of George Washington.
• Death Sentence to Muslim Terrorists: Should We Murder People Who Had Done the Same Before? In my opinion, the aim to punish is not the most important in this, but we should try to avoid the same crimes in the future, and that is the aim of Mankind.
• Aging and Death Relations The growth of damages in the organ elements that are required for the creation of new cells of the body leads to death.
• The Concept of Death as Depicted in the Iraq War It is a fact that the most prominent and evident aspect of the war is the phenomenon of death. The reactions of people to the thought of death depend on how death is represented through […]
• Ancient Conceptions of Death and the Afterlife Although the specific elements of the religion of the mostly pagan society of the composer of Beowulf around 1000 AD is fundamentally different from the Christian religion of Alfred Lord Tennyson who wrote Morte D’Arthur […]
• Final Wishes Before Death The better your visualization and your solutions to the problems that you have envisaged, the better is the peace that reigns in your home after you pass away.
• Death and Dying in Christianity and Buddhism Birth and death are part of everybody’s life: birth is the beginning of living, and death is the end of it.
• Death-Denying Culture Among Patients The author has argued that society has become a death-denying society where prolonging life becomes a test of the machines and technology that is bent on prolonging death.
• Healthy People 2020: Death Causes & Health Indicators Healthy People 2020 is a science-based governmental program designed to track progress on the national goals for improving public health in the United States. The scope of Healthy People 2020 is broad.
• Death Causes and Health Indicators in Georgia, US The analysis of the leading causes of death across the country identifies the most problematic health issues on the national scale.
• Overview of Sudden Death Infant Syndrome The cause of death in SIDS remains inexplicable in spite of a thorough examination of history and a detailed postmortem. In the United States of SIDS is the leading cause of post-neonatal infant mortality.
• Low-Carb Diets as a Cause of Premature Death There are various claims and misconceptions in the field of nutrition due to the fact that it is highly difficult to identify the core influencing factors.
• Emily Dickinson and Death as a Theme in Her Poetry Using the theme of death, the author says that she has to cut her connections with the world and anticipates death.
• Philosophical Perspectives on Death and Dying These are fear of premature death, fear of the idea of death, fear of the dying process, fear of the death of significant others, fear of the unknown, fear of being destroyed, fear of the […]
• Death in the Work of Danticat, Marshall and Roumaine The despair of Celianne in “Children of the Sea” as she throws herself into the ocean is felt by the male narrator of the same story when he embraces death and by Grace’s mother in […]
• Terri Schiavo’s Patient Rights and Death Euthanasia is the process of stopping the medical maintenance of a patient’s life when the patient/herself does not want to suffer anymore and the doctors are sure that no improvements in the patient’s condition are […]
• A Matter of Life and Death Compositional Elements Through the usage of color scheme, props, and the setting of the last mise en scene, A Matter of Life and Death facilitated the propagandist message of Anglo-American understanding within the pursuit of individual happiness.
• Ethics of Organ Donation After Human Death In reference to this case, the ethical dilemma is related to the fact that the hospital administrator needs to disregard the necessity of informed consent for organ donation.
• Dying With Dignity: Euthanasia Debate On the other hand, the supporters of the law claim that assisted death is not a suicide, and it allows more end-of-life options for terminally ill patients. The majority of people are concerned with control […]
• Determining Manners of Death Such deaths can occur as a result of the following: Life-threatening infections; Lack of supervision from staff; Falls and injuries; Neglect of basic needs and unsanitary conditions at facilities; Errors in medication.
• Manners of Death in Police The authors of the report also provided diverse sets of data sorting the incidence of death in custody in the state of California by various features such as the demographic characteristics of the victims, the […]
• Manners of Death in the United States However, there are many people in the entire world who happened to face lightning strikes and survived. For instance, lightning strikes and drowning deaths might be staged by criminals to confuse the police in a […]
• Spirituality Issues: Death and Dying The African culture maintains that it is only in the land of the living where rewards and punishments are inevitable. It is the last stage in the human life cycle and a transition to “life […]
• Medicolegal Death Investigation System in the US The paper below will cover various issues of the medicolegal death investigation system in the United States of America. The key points that will be addressed in this research are exploring the background information about […]
• Medicolegal Death Investigation: Coroner System A coroner carries out the investigation related to the case, defines the causes thereof, and confirms the incidence of death. The medical examiner system implies that a person with a medical degree should carry out […]
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Essay about Death | Death Essay for Students and Children in English

February 7, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay about Death:  We shall all die. I am trying not to be prophetically catastrophic or something in my passing exposition; it is basically an articulation of truth. Each living will die over the long haul.

There is plenty of conceivable outcomes to delay demise. A man may live twenty years or a hundred years; however, no man can live, for instance, 200 years. Hence, passing is predictable for us all, and there is no way around it.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Death for Students and Kids in English

We provide students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic of death for reference.

Long Essay on Death 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Death is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

We are largely mindful of death, and we know it will come to us, every one of us. To a significant number of us passing cuts a chill down our spine ridden with dread, however to others it is ridden with quality and fulfilment of achievement. Luckily or tragically, we are completely sentenced to death. But there is an interesting thing; we don’t have the knowledge of how the inevitable will strike to have a conversation. Not just how we don’t even have a clue on where and when it will happen. We just know this is inescapable.

The most ordinarily showed system for understanding the way toward lamenting and getting ready for death is the DABDA model. It states that that person who is dying will progress through five stages. The stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and pain, and acceptance. The DABDA stages are based on a theory of a Swiss psychologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Researchers of the University of Michigan founded that, It is true that the brain is capable of acting for some time after we die. In that time brain shows a flashback of life in a dramatic scene to the person. But it differs man to man. Some people see a ray of light. Some people see a spiritual scene. That is controversial over the world.

Actually, we are all afraid of the loss of life for a proper reason, for it helps us continue to be alive. Who knows, perhaps if we weren’t afraid to die, we would be all too keen to do it in case of little problems like that.

We know death is a predictable thing, but still, when your loved one passes away, you will be broken naturally. In that time, the person needs to cry out loud to express the misery. We need to gather support to cop up the situation. We can feel good remembering the good cherished memories. And in the end, we have to embrace the present situation of life. Otherwise, life will be difficult to lead.

From a survey of 2017, we state that around 150,000 people die per day worldwide. Most of them know they are at the end of their lives. But here I want to share a myth about death. The myth I want to introduce, actually is not a myth. You can say it’s empathy or condolence for that person. The myth says positive thoughts can delay nearly came death. But It doesn’t affect. The development of explicit feelings doesn’t change the way that demise is a natural cycle, achieved by a mishap, or sickness measures that have arrived at a final turning point.

Our worldwide philosophy and religious views help us to lead a good life. That all philosophical facts of life start with Karma. And It stays with the soul afterlife. Philosophy says a soul never dies and takes birth with a new body and identity. We couldn’t find any logical fact about death, afterlife. But we can state that death is an entire genre of mystery.

Short Essay on Death 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Death is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Everyone dies one day: is a popular dialogue of Game of Thrones TV series. And this is true. We know each living will die after the long race.

The most ordinarily showed system for understanding the way toward lamenting and getting ready for death is the DABDA model. It shows five stages of the dying process: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and pain and acceptance.

We all know death is inevitable. But when it comes about our loved one, we can’t control ourselves most of the time. But still, we need to embrace our life. And if we can’t cop up, we should have a consultation with a psychologist. Some people are afraid of death. It is called Thanatophobia, and it can be cured with love and faith.

According to Philosophy, Soul doesn’t have any end. And there are many souls which are commonly linked by DNA or any other factors. Sometimes they have the previous memory. And then the process is called transmigration. There are so many transmigration cases all over the world.

We don’t have any proper logic and information about the afterlife, transmigration and death. But after all these discussions we must say that death is a hell of a mystery.

10 Lines on Death Essay in English

1. Death is the permanent cessation of all biological features that sustain a living organism. 2. One of the main obvious indications of death is the point at which the eyes cover over, as liquid and oxygen quit streaming to the corneas. 3. Most of the time, the brain shows a flashback of life to the dying person before dying. 4. Thanatophobia is called as the fear of death. 5. People need to consult a psychologist if the death fear is getting worse. 6. When Thomas Edison died in 1941, Henry Ford captured his dying breath in a bottle. 7. According to philosophy, A soul never dies. 8. If a soul remembers his past life memory, it will be called transmigration. 9. Scientists said the DNA or any factor links all souls of all over the world. 10. Nearly 150,000 people die per day worldwide.

FAQ’s on Death Essay

Question 1. Does Dying hurt?

Answer: Pain is not an expected part of the dying process. In fact, some people experience no pain while dying. If someone’s particular condition does produce any pain, however, it can be managed by prescribed medications.

Question 2. What is the first stage of dying?

Answer: The first stage is shock and denial. This is a state of disbelief and numbed feelings.

Question 3. What happens after death?

Answer: The afterlife is a presence some accept that the basic piece of a person’s character or their continuous flow keeps on having after the passing of their actual body.

Question 4. How many people die each day?

Answer: Nearly 150,000 people die per day worldwide.

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