Aisha Reed Professor Navarette Sociology 10, 11 February 2013 Nacirema is American It is very difficult to think outside the box and let go of one’s cultural norms. It is very easy to point the finger in disgust and fall victim of ethnocentrism when it comes to an unfamiliar culture. The article Body Ritual among the Nacirema, by Horace Miner, brings to light a group of North American people, named Nacirema, that culture includes the obsession over rituals that are done to the human body. These rituals might seem different but try and take a culturally relative perspective and ask yourself, “Why?” Nacirema’s culture is highly developed and they are extremely committed to reaching economic goals. A substantial amount of money and time are spent on ritual deeds that are suppose to improve the appearance and health of the body.
I think that the article really describes the Nacirema’s culture well and helps the reader understand the diversity of their culture. After reading this passage, I feel a couple questions were unanswered: first of all, if they realize that tooth decay still occurs, then why do they continue their savage practices of mouth-rite? Another outstanding question I am left standing with is why exactly do they require gifts for so many things?, even the deathly ill must give a precious gift to be treated by a medicine man.. Cultural relativism is described as trying to understand a culture under it’s own terms (page 38 in the text). In cultures such as the Nacirema’s, we must really use this cultural relativism to fully understand the meaning of their cultural traditions, ceremonies, and customs.
His swift action is also seen as an admirable trait as he sends Creon off to the Delphic oracle to find out the cause of the plague immediately. As a result the audience are automatically inclined to grow a liking towards Oedipus, as he shows the quality of a pious/dutiful man. However Oedipus’ strengths, unwillingly becomes his weaknesses when his hamartia becomes evident; his lack of information about his identity. Oedipus’ intelligence and assertiveness holds no match against the paramount nature of fate. His insults of Tiresias’ and his blindness, accusation of both Creon and Tiresias plotting against him, and the vicious handling of the old shepherd to extort information from him show his complete frustration in his determination to find the truth.
Analysis of Riverside City Campus "The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of the powerful influences of ritual and ceremony." This was said by Bromislaw Malinowski, a British anthropologist, in Horace Miner's essay," Body Ritual among the Nacirema." In the essay, Miner shows the reader how an outsider views American culture, through sociological concepts of ethnocentrism and values. James M. Henslin, defines "ethnocentrism" as "the use of one's own culture as a yardstick for judging the ways of other individuals or societies, generally
Horace Miner Reaction Paper The "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema," by Horace Miner, takes an anthropological view on an unnamed culture. Upon reading, it becomes quite clear that Miner is speaking of the United States, but writes to create the illusion that the American culture is unique and widely unexplored. Even the word "Nacirema" is a hint towards the actual subject of the paper; If spelled backwards "Nacirema" spells the word, American. Miner does this to convey a message that American culture is not as well understood as many would think and that the vast majority of our cultural nuances and rituals would be perceived as odd or peculiar to foreign onlookers. Miner discusses the cultures need for privacy, the fight against aging, and
Journal 03: America Tony Hoagland’s poem “America” uses specific nouns and metaphors to tell readers that America is too obsessed with material objects and self-satisfaction. Hoagland uses these nouns and metaphors to hide truth from the naked eye, specific diction is also used in combination with these metaphors to expose corruption in American society. In the opening lines, Hoagland writes, “Then one of the students with blue hair and a tongue stud / Says that America is for him a maximum-security prison / Whose walls are made of Radio Shacks, Burger Kings, and MTV episodes.” Hoagland almost lists the details of American trends by mentioning hair color and piercings, and by describing businesses like Radio Shack which sell 70-inch flat screen televisions, which are completely unnecessary, and fast food restaurants like McDonald’s that give super-sized food portions. These allow readers to immediately see the ridiculous
The Eye of the Beholder Horace Miner's "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" focuses on the different aspects of the Nacirema culture in regards to the way its inhabitants view their bodies and overall physical appearance. In the passage Miner wastes no time in explaining the unique yet questionable rituals conducted by members of the Nacirema tribe. He also blatantly utilizes a sense of satire to express his own disapproval of the daily practices of a tribe very similar to the American people of the nineteen fifties. In an attempt to sum up his writing, it is safe to say that Americans are thought of to be disgusted by the human body and will go through extremely odd measures to correct its flaws. In the passage, Miner uses satire to deliver
Dr. Breed had a very distinctive meaning or definition of the term pure research. Kurt Vonnegut made it very clear that the character Dr. Breed in the novel “Cat’s Cradle”, wanted the fact that he was different to be known. He hated the fact that people thought that scientists “look for the better cigarette filter or a softer face tissue”, he believed that a scientist are paid to increase and enhance the level of knowledge and truth there is in the world.
Swift’s repetitive creation of his extreme mental images, which appeal to one’s senses, gives the reader a false opinion about him, but subsequently becomes beneficial to his overall essay. The use of imagery in “A Modest Proposal” definitely is exceptionally vivid, and as a result, stirs up an emotional response in the reader (pathos). Swift’s intention to using imagery in his essay is to not only get dramatic reactions from his readers, but to also persuade them so much that they are agreeing with his point of view. In his essay, he offers many different descriptive images in which portray the dehumanization of children and women using words such as “breeders,” “flesh,” “carcass,” and “meat”(1026-1027). One of the disturbing images that Swift creates for his audience dehumanizes children by referring to them as pigs which would be roasted then worn as fancy gloves for females, and as boots for men.
Paulos Liu AP Language and Composition Link 12/16/12 The Corruption of Man In the United States, individualism is supported and valued, while still encouraging the importance of tolerating other cultures. Yet within this society, there are pressures to conform, and to not only tolerate, but to become another. In the novel, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley creates a world that, instead of encouraging toleration, brainwashes their individuals to create a homogenous society. Through Bernard and Lenina, Huxley comments on the corruption of the individual, and ultimately the society as a whole, because of the natural urge for acceptance. Huxley, through the rise of Bernard to a popular status, expresses the fall of an individual through the