1. Read a book by Elisabeth KublerRoss, then write a paper on the "stages of dying." Discuss how the survivors pass through similar stages when a loved one dies.

2. Read Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Explain the significance of Liza's role as the Spirit of the Future, and the comparison she makes at the end of the novel between herself and Scrooge.

3. Research heart disease, particularly cardiomyopathy. Is there a cure for this disease?

4. List the different Christmas traditions that are mentioned in With You and Without You. Discuss how holidays are difficult for people who have lost loved ones.

5. Money is a problem for the O'Haras after the father's death. Find statistics that show income levels for households before and after the death of one of the wage earners.

6. Read several elegies, such as Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Adonais," John Milton's...