Monday, October 19, 2009

Premature Burial

Not mine.

A student asked about the term "graveyard shift" this morning which led to a bit of interwebTM investigation. Yes, "accidental burial" signaling devices were once in vogue. For a fascinating starting place to research the topic of premature burial, I recommend this article from Snopes.com.

Ah, the macabre. What a wonderful month is October! Today, we read "The Raven":



Enjoy Monday.

10 comments:

Jamie Eyberg said...

I am glad we have gotten better, I hope, at making sure we are dead, although I wouldn't mind a bell on my grave. I want a big one that way they can hear it from a ways off and the town people can say, "There goes that Jamie guy again, ringing his own bell."

K.C. Shaw said...

You are an awesome teacher. I had to discover Poe on my own, as I recall. None of my English teachers were interesting enough to introduce us kids to anything fun. It was all Scarlet Letter, all the time.

Rebecca Nazar said...

I think The Simpson's version of "The Raven" is way cool. Mmmmmmm Poe.

Alan W. Davidson said...

Hmm...Poe, one of my favourites.

Aaron Polson said...

Jamie - If we don't ring the bell, who will?

K.C. - When I was in school, I used to ignore the teacher and read all the Poe (and the like) in the text. Shame on me.

Scarlet Letter...now that's scary.

Becca - I always show the Simpsons! James Earl Jones does a magnificent read.

Alan - The Raven has such wonderful rhythm and sound.

Katey said...

Can I tell you how many awesomely weird prevent-premature-burial devices I discovered while researching grave-robbing for that last book? The Victorian mania for it was somewhat after my book took place, but no one can resist mentioning it.

So. Cool.

Love the youtube vid. Someone put serious love into that.

Barry Napier said...

Watching this, I swore it felt like he was going to come out of the screen and kill me. Creepy...

Aaron Polson said...

Katey - I posted it at my school blog for students to watch. Hopefully a few can see the love. (research can be fun, can't it?)

Barry - I'm impressed...spooked me, too.

Fox Lee said...

I still recall when I found out where "saved by the bell" came from. Olden times were terrifying!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Google! Accidental burials, grave robbing, and what was it that Cate was researching? Faeries pulling buses, I think it was.

I don't think that I had a teacher introduce me to Poe, either. Tess of the D'Urbervilles, anybody? Your students are lucky to have you!

-Mercedes