Summary Of Body Ritual Of The Nacirema By Horace Miner
Body Ritual of the Nacirema by Horace Miner is a clever piece that describes a foreign sounding culture only to be realized that the group being described is one that is much more familiar. Through his process of describing conventional habits or “rituals” in an unconventional way, he allows the reader to look at this culture through a very unique lens. The Nacirema are the Americans and a representation of the American culture. Although this might not be immediately apparent to the reader, there are a number of hints throughout the text to help come to this realization. The biggest hint might be the fact that “Nacirema” is just “American” spelt backwards. Another major hint comes when Miner describes their geographic location as being, “between
Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner
362 Words | 2 PagesBody Ritual among the Nacirema was written by Horace Miner in 1956. This piece was crafted as an excellent accumulation of the techniques of ironic, symbolism and use of a didactic tone that made this piece a great success. An example of where irony is used in the text is the way he makes us see the tribe as foreign and exotic and we judge it, but then we realize that Nacirema is American spelled backwards and the reader see that it is not a foreign tribe - but indeed the modern American people themselves. There is also mass irony around Notgnihsaw and the chopping down of the cherry tree in which the Spirit of Truth resided, because Notgnihsaw spelled backwards is Washington. Miner is using irony because America is supposed to be built on
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839 Words | 4 PagesA Comparison of Navaho and White Mountain Apache Ceremonial Forms and Categories Goodwin, G. (1945). A Comparison of Navaho and White Mountain Apache Ceremonial Forms and Categories. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 1(4), 498-506. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3628795 While this article focuses on comparing Navaho and White Mountain Apache ceremonial forms, the author, Grenville Goodwin, offers extensive details about religious rituals of east-central Arizona's Apache division. In his analysis, Goodwin explains that there are a number of religious ceremonies performed in the White Mountain Apache division, which deal with various situations.
Summary Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema
285 Words | 2 PagesAfter reading “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” I believe the Nacirema are the Americans. First Nacirema is American spelled backwards. I also think it is America because it said “North American group living… Little is known of their origin, al- though tradition states that they came from the east.”
Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Analysis
1419 Words | 6 PagesHorace Miner, a American Anthropologist wrote an academic essay titled “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema.” In this article Miner described some of the bizarre rituals and practices of the “Nacirema” which the reader comes to find out that he is talking about North Americans. The way Miner goes into detail about how these people live makes them seem foreign. Thus making the norm for an American lifestyle seem odd because the certain type of lingo Miner uses to make this “tribe” more exotic then the actually are. His point in doing this is to show the reader how obnoxious anthropologist can be when they are explain a different culture.
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152 Words | 1 PagesThe chapter opens with a Sioux sweat lodge ceremony. Dennis Linn wants you to imagine the physical and emotional feelings, which emanate from the ceremony. The medicine man thanks God for all creatures including man. Those in the ceremony are thankful to God and ask forgiveness of all those they have hurt and extend forgiveness to those who have hurt them. The author thought it was a primitive superstition.
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540 Words | 3 PagesMichaela Macha Michaela Macha is a popular Asatru (or Heathen) poet and an active member of the community. However, she is much lesser known by the masses, as most who are not a part of the Pagan or Heathen communities will not have heard of her. My goal in this paper is to provide information and teach about Macha’s life and works. A German poet, Macha was always interested in English poetry and became drawn to Norse mythology at some point in her life, feeling a calling to the Asatru beliefs (Macha para 1).
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769 Words | 4 PagesA person’s culture is their way of life. From a young age, we learn to act within the norms of our culture and to be truly ethnocentric. What if one day someone came into your life and told you everything you were doing your entire life was wrong and stupid? Brian Moore’s Black Robe, tells the story of Laforgue, a Jesuit priest from 17th Century Québec who travels to an unfamiliar land called New France. Laforgue’s goal is to convert Algonquin Native Americans into God fearing Christians. Laforgue faces many cultural misunderstandings with the Natives along his journey; he finds the most difficulties understanding the native’s concept of death, why they value dreams, and overcoming ethnocentrism.
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932 Words | 4 PagesThese rituals also create a sense of moral community, in which people conform to, which furthers their purpose and meaning in
Analysis Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema
811 Words | 4 PagesIn the study called Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, the author calls the rituals and ceremonies the people perform “excessive”. They are insane rituals that people in America wouldn’t seem to think about doing. They sound so different, and unusual. As one reads the fieldwork, it raises a lot of questions and concerns. To anyone from another country it would seem these rituals are excessive because of the way they are performed, and the things they use to perform them.
Analysis Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner
746 Words | 3 PagesHorace Miner, the author of “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, used very interesting and descriptive choice of words to describe the routines that modern Americans go through from an outsider point of view. He gives different terms to describe mundane routines, like brushing your teeth, and exaggerate the details as something that is bizarre. Some rituals Miner described as illogical because there was a low rate of success in what they are trying to achieve. This reveals that what determines something to be socially acceptable is not through logic, but only though the popularity of the community. One of the rituals that Miner described as illogical but everyone still do the ritual was the fact that the people kept going to the “holy-mouth-man”, or also known as the dentist, even if their teeth are still decaying.
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