On the Death of My Sister: A Crystallized Account of Family Grief and Bereavement
This thesis explores the multifaceted experiences of an unexpected death in an Evangelical family. By crystallizing three methodological approaches to research, the thesis uncovers the experiences of the grief process from quantitative, qualitative, and rhetorical frames. A content analysis of personal messages written in sympathy cards, a qualitative study of a grieving Evangelical family and Burke's Pentad are placed in dialogue with each other as this thesis culls out the multiple truths that are present in the complex beauties of grief. Finally, the thesis puts a unique perspective on the mixing of methods in the author's first person autoethnographical account drawing out the co-constructed nature of both individualized and familial grief.
autoethnography, crystallization, mixed methods, grief, bereavement family communication, tragic loss, Communication
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