Resources
Barthes, Roland, et al. Mourning Diary: October 26, 1977-September 15, 1979. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2012.
The Mourning Diary is a book of very short journal entries written by Rolan Barthes, a French writer, professor, and philosopher, weeks after his mother's death. I found this piece a very motivational and impactful element of my project. I say this because it allowed me to see the benefits of journalling during a grieving process. I found the book very inspirational, and I believe it pushed me to have journalling be a part of my project.
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Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking. 4th Estate, 2021.
The Year of Magical Thinking is a memoir written by the author Joan Didion as she navigates life after her daughter falls ill and her husband suddenly passes away. I read this book very early on in my grieving process when I was still contemplating the format for my Writing 420 Project. I found great courage in Didion as she found the words to describe the feelings she was having when he abruptly lost her husband. I used her memoir as the spark that made me comfortable in writing a narrative.
Franklin, Rebecca. Personal Journal. 2024
My Personal Journal is a collection of three notebooks. I consistently wrote my thoughts, feelings, and reflections throughout the first four months after my father's death. I was heavily inspired by the novel The Mourning Diary, and was in awe of the author's ability to be vulnerable so early in his grieving process. I seek to create a similar format. I wanted to add my journals to my resources because they were places where I sought refuge and were a free space to uncover many topics in my piece.
Fisher, R.-L. (2017). The Topography of Tears. Bellevue Literary Press.
The Topography of Tears was introduced to me through The Anatomy of Grief. The book investigates the different types of tears a person can create. Fisher captures tears of happiness, sadness, and grief of herself and others through the lens of a standard light microscope. The author had no aspiration to create a scientific experiment but only to evoke the unseen emotion behind her tears and grieving process. The book allowed me to appreciate the uniqueness every tear shed and helped facilitate comfort in my own process of crying.
Holinger, D. P. (2020). The Anatomy of Grief. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv14rmqbk
The Anatomy of Grief is a book by psychologist Dorothy P. Holinger that uses humanistic and physiological approaches to describe grief's impact on the bereaved. In particular, Holinger focuses on what happens to the bereaved's brain, heart, and body. Throughout my research process, The Anatomy of Grief was the first resource that truly resonated with me and helped me process my feelings of grief on a personal level. I took the greatest inspiration from the third chapter, Language of the Bereaved, particularly the process of crying and the power of tears.
Kübler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2005). On grief and grieving: finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss. New York, Scribner.
When I started my research process, the book On grief and grieving: finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss, forwarded by Maria Shriver, came to the surface in every book recommendation for grieving people. Additionally, when I looked up the five stages of grief, this was the recommended book. I used this book as a kick-off point to understand the modern interpretations of the five stages of grief and as inspiration to write my piece. Additionally, this book contains information about the updated 6th stage of grief.
Kübler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2005). On grief and grieving: finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss. New York, Scribner.
After reading the forwarded version of the book, I reverted back to the original version of Kübler-Ross's book with Kessler. The book was a great foundation for a better understanding of the beginning research surrounding the five stages of grief. I referenced the book most frequently when discussing the primary stages. This excludes the sections that Maria Shriver forwarded.
Lawrenz, L. (2023, May 17th). The Stages of Grief: How to Understand Your Feelings. Healthline. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.healthline.com/health/stages-of-grief
When I started by grieving process, this was the first source I seeked out to understand my emotions after my father passed away. The article reintroduced the concept of the five stages of grief to me and mentions Kübbler-Ross. The article breaks down the five different stages of grief with different examples of how each stage could be interpreted.
O'Connor, M. (2022). The grieving brain: new discoveries about love, loss, and learning (First edition.). HarperOne.
The Grieving Brain is a novel written by Mary Frances-O'Conner. It combines personal narrative storytelling, accessible science, and practical knowledge to help people understand the grieving process and how to navigate loss. I truly loved this book and found the content extremely helpful as I grieved. O'Conner mentions the Dual Process Model of Grief and critics Kübbler-Ross, which really resonated with me, and I wrote about it in my project. Additionally, I found various topics very helpful as journalling prompts throughout my project.
Rando T. A. (2000). The Six Dimensions of Anticipatory Mourning., Clinical Dimensions of Anticipatory Mourning: Theory and Practice in Working with the Dying, Their Loved Ones, and Their Caregivers (pp. 51- 101). Champaign, IL: Research Press.
Therese Rando shares in her book The Six Dimensions of Anticipatory Mourning., Clinical Dimensions of Anticipatory Mourning: Theory and Practice in Working with the Dying, Their Loved Ones, and Their Caregivers, the framework entails the Six R's a person goes through when going through an immense loss. I used the framework represented in this book to connect the five stages of grief to a modern interpretation of how a person goes through their bereavement process. The Six R's framework was the second grief framework I learned about and has helped me understand the different elements a person could go through, which inspired me to write about it in my piece.
Worden William J., P. A. (2018). Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy : A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner: Vol. Fifth edition. Springer Publishing Company, Chapter 2: Understanding the Mourning Process and Chapter 3, Mourning Process: Mediators of Mourning.
Worden's book Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy : A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner describes many methods to understand the process a person goes through after a significant death. I particularly focused on Chapter 2, covering the Four Tasks of Mourning, and Chapter 3, which focused on the Mediators of Mourning. From the beginning of my research process, I was recommended to read about Worden and I continued to follow his research until the end of my writing process. I found his work very inspirational and found immense comfort in the Mediators of Mourning.