Life and death aren't any distant from each other as Thich Nguyen Tang, a Buddhist monk, claims: "death is not the end of life, it is merely the end of the body we inhabit in this life, but our spirit will still remain and seek out through the need of attachment..." This explains why many things fall into the realm of the "strange and unusual". During the time of my aunt's sickness I myself witnessed strange and unusual events.
I found out my aunt had cancer when she was 53. What happened was my cousins kept the fact that she had cancer from the rest of the family, and the only ones who knew the truth were the ones living under the same roof; her immediate family. I'd visit her weekly and every time I saw her she'd seem very healthy as always, but sometimes her family kept me from visiting her because they said she wasn't feeling well. I didn't think too much of it until the next week. She looked so much skinnier and her head was shaved. When the thought of cancer wandered to my mind, "Impossible, maybe shes becoming a full fledged Budhist or something," I thought to myself. Later that day I heard my little cousins mention something about cancer. That's when I had to believe the unbelievable.
It was quite a shock, the aunt who raised me when I was a kid has cancer. She lost so much weight in a week's time caused by a chemotherapy she went through, which caused things to get worse for her. I know I shouldn't be blaming anyone, but my cousins took her to the doctor when she felt uneasy and the doctors said there was nothing wrong. If they found out that she had cancer while it was still in its early stages, life may be different this day.
I've started to believe in the super natural because of the events that have taken places during the few time she had left with us. My aunt saw white things hover over her while she layed in bed near death, but what made me believe her the most was that she said she was going to travel on the 16th. It was as she said, at 9:56pm of Friday July 16th 2010 my aunt passed away. On the Chinese Calendar it says that it's a great day for traveling, which was something she told us she was going to do. Also, right after she passed away,my 11 month old baby cousin, Khloe started crying hysterically and no matter what we did she wouldn't stop crying, and she kept constantly puking in between her cries. A week after my aunts death there were about 4 family members who heard a chant while they were all at separate locations. They were the words we chanted right before her death, "nam mo ah yi da phuc". About 2 months post that incident, Khloe came walking out of her room and pointing backwards saying "pho, pho" which means grandmother in Vietnamese.
Unusual events like such haven't been occurring 3 months after her death. I can't say whether her knowing the day of her death was a mere coincidence or if she really knew her death date, or the hearing of the chant was imaginary. But I have heard that once a person dies, they don't truly leave earth till 3 months time.
Citation
Tang, Thich. "Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth." The Wordsworth Encyclopedia of World Religions(1999): 756 Urbandharma. Web 20 Apr. 2011.
That's interesting I didn't know that once a person die they don't truly leave the earth in 3 months time. I thought grandma in vietnamese was "ba noi" and not "pho pho" because isn't pho the food? Anyways I heard similiar stories where people somehow knew when they were going to die or had a dream about it. You made your story stronger by adding logics and facts to it, so good job! Other than that this was an interesting story to read about.
ReplyDeletewow, good job on the citation, I have never seen this on anyone's assignment. your story seems creepy, but I love the coincidences. Great work.
ReplyDeleteI like how you started your essay off with a quote because this increases your credibility to many people. It shows that you know information about this topic, and that you did a little preliminary research before writing. This increases the logic appeal, the logos, of your essay to your readers. You appeal to your readers emotionally, using pathos, by describing your aunt with cancer. We all know of someone who has cancer, and how horrible this experience is. You appealed to the readers ethically because you shared something that is personal, your aunt getting cancer, which makes you a credible and trustworthy source to the readers. You did a great job utilizing all of Aristotle’s Appeals to Audiences.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! I think that you hit all 3 Aristotelian appeals. You showed that you had a knowledge of the cultural norms and adding the citation at the bottom so we know that your ideas were probably sound. You also appealed to emotion because for some people, the death of a close one by cancer is very emotional to them. Even if a reader has not had this experience personally they might still be able to empathize with you. I did find that your story was a bit hard to follow because there was not much transition between each paragraph. But overall I thought that it was a very interesting story to read, and you did a good job of keeping me interested in the story you were trying to tell!
ReplyDeleteIt occurs to me that Asian scary stories are always the scariest. Just like Asian movies that they remake of. Your story got to me pretty quick, I was a little spooked by the time I reached the second paragraph. That part where you said "My aunt saw white things hover over her while she layed in bed near death" reminds me of the grudge. AND THAT IS SOME FREAKY SHIT! Good story, but maybe I should've waited til morning to read this.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the quote at the beginning for it introduces what is about to come next as well as making the overall story more credible when you quote from a cultural person and believer. Also using a factor such as death is always interesting for it is the unknown. No one really knows what happens after death or the leading steps to death. So this story in the end cannot be truly denied for we will never find the answers. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThe introduction of this story is marvelous. The opening quote quickly goes to work into the whole point of this story, preparing the reader. I enjoyed how you told the story of your aunt getting cancer, how obviously it is extremely unfortunate as I have had a family member die from cancer. The use of emotion helps strengthen ethos because it can work into readers own emotion and ties to cancer. The fact that you told about how some people believe a soul doesn't leave this earth until 3 months after their death, and after 3 months no one experienced anything, ties together very well.
ReplyDeleteI think you are the first person to use quote at the beginning of the story in this blog, and that's an amazing start! You appealed to the readers emotionally (pathos) by the way you said it in the story "It was quite a shock, the aunt who raised me when I was a kid has cancer", and I can relate to that as my aunt also had passed away due to cancer too. Great job on describing the coincidences, logically. Good job, Alex!
ReplyDeleteWow! These are some strange occurrences...I liked your inclusion of your initial hypothesis that your aunt may have been becoming "a full fledged Buddhist." It ties the reader to you personally, an appeal to ethos. I wanted more details about the white things she saw floating above her, and what happened after Khloe saw "pho."
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting story. It is amazing that four people at four different locations heard the chanting that is very intriguing. I really liked how you started your paper off especially the quote. It was a very good story and quite easy to keep reading.
ReplyDeleteGreat story the beginning was good with the quote to start off with. The story was logic and believable because so many families deal with cancer and relate easy to it. The emotion was strong by the way your Aunt had cancer I'm sorry. Also when you brought up Buddhist in the paper help to be more believable nice story.
ReplyDeleteYour story is very spiritual and the way it is introduced by the quote makes it believable. I like how you set up your first paragraph because it kept my attention and I was able to get an understanding of what your story was going to be about. It’s sad but also mysterious because of the different examples of strange and unusual events you mentioned which is a great use of pathos. This was nicely written.
ReplyDeleteThe coincidence of the significance of the day your aunt passed away, how she even predicted that day, along with the fact that she did pass away seem too coincidental to be a random gamble in the universe, if you know what I mean. Your younger cousin's reaction seemed really unfortunate at first and then when you mentioned how she later started to ask for your aunt, her grandma I might assume, it all seemed really weird but sad.
ReplyDeleteI liked that you didnt 100% chalk it up to supernatural but instead had a more logical approach to telling why things happened the way they did it helps sell the story to the reader. I also enjoyed the quote from the wordsworth encyclopedia it made the story much more interesting. and backed up the appeal to logos even more.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for your loss, Alex. She sounded like a wonderful lady. This was a great story, written very organized and clear. I loved that you included a quote the Buddhist monk, I think it definitely made your argument 10x stronger. I knew where you were going with your story from the get go, which was necessary. Great job.
ReplyDeleteThat was a sad story, but it was a good one too. I like the quote from the Buddhist monk that you added in. How your aunt predicted that she was gonna leave on that exact date was pretty creepy as well.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase that was chanted, "'nam mo ah yi da phuc'", what does that mean exactly?
Prediction of events is something I've always had trouble wrapping my head around, it's usually vague enough to appeal to the general public. This case however was so precise I'm forced to at least entertain the notion that certain people can in a way "channel" auras and energies. This was a particularly emotional story, connecting the reader successfully to your tale.
ReplyDeleteI like this story! Its kind of a mix of spirits and almost prediction of future events. This story was good and ethos was strengthened by explaining that family secret. Its something a lot of people can connect with, something that only goes on under the roof and no one else knows. I liked that quote at the beginning as well, it helped set up the story and made since of the reference to the Chinese calendar. Your description and organization were great!
ReplyDeleteVery well done! I really like the idea of it, that you don’t leave the earth until after 3 months after dying. There is no reason to not believe your story with the facts and events you present. You did not have to know anything about the Buddhist religion to understand this story; you gave just enough background and facts. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis story was interesting but did not hold my attention well. You made it very credible and was written well. The fact that this happened to your family makes it almost relatable as well.
ReplyDeleteI was really into your story, and I really liked it. The part where she know the day she was going to die was a little scary for sure. I thought you had the pathos in your story were very effective.
ReplyDeleteThats cool that you had a citation! That gives a big boost of credibility to your story! Also that it happened to your family makes it even better because more people makes it even more believable! Good story and I believe it!
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting story. I enjoyed reading it a lot. However, I am not quite sure about the word "pho". As I know, It might be a kind of food, not grandmother in Vietnamese. And the phrase "nam mo ah yi da phuc" is not right. It is "nam mo a di da phat". Anyhow, good job!
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