look at the “Nacirema’s” cultural behaviors regarding physical appearance and health without any insight or knowledge of the specific beliefs or values of that culture‚ they might seem bizarre and even incomprehensible. By showing behaviors and “rituals” performed by this unknown tribe‚ Miner allowed others to see that the way studies were representing distinctive cultures was narrowminded and defective. Without the proper comprehension of the basis of any society‚ huge cultural misunderstandings
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Article 1: Body Ritual among the Nacirema The narrator writes about the strange rituals that people from the Nacirema tribe performs. After reading the article‚ you understand that the Nacirema tribe represents the American people. Another way you can tell that the Nacirema tribe is about the American people is because “Nacirema” is actually America backwards. The narrator uses many different references to explain our everyday doings as rituals. Some of the references in which he put were Medicine
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Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Edward Hamilton Sociology Professor January 15‚ 2014 The “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ is an article that examines the various rituals that manifests within industrialized societies‚ specifically referencing to the United States. In the article Miner joked about the invasion of privacy and the obsession of becoming immortal. Miner provides gives outstanding evidence that the characteristics or an attitude of the human
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Body Rituals of the Nacirema tells a story of a tribal group’s lifestyle and the rituals of it. Miner is actually talking about the American culture. As most of us know‚ Nacirema is American spelled backwards. In this article‚ Miner’s intention is not to express the extreme human behavior with the Nacirema‚ but the way it affects our perception of an unfamiliar culture. If we were to look at the Nacirema’s behaviors with regards to appearance and hygiene without the slightest bit of knowledge about
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n the article‚ “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ the author’s purpose is revealed through judgemental and magical word choice. The author’s purpose is shown through his judgmental word choice. For example‚ to describe going to the dentist he uses the words‚ “ritual torture”‚ “augers‚ awls‚ probes and prods” and “gouge.” All of the words that Horace Miner used to describe going to the dentist sound negative and foul. The words make people judge the Nacirema for doing these ill sounding
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Reaction Paper In his article Body Rituals among the Nacirema‚ Miner effectively convinces his reader of the ridiculous nature of America’s obsession with the body’s health and visual appeal by allowing his readers to form an opinion about themselves without realizing they are their own subject. At first glance the reader may be convinced he is reading about magical beliefs and extreme practices of a little know civilization. Miner effectively employs an academic tone as he opens the paper with
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In the article “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ he writes about a North American group known as the “Nacirema”‚ who were described by Professor Linton in the early twentieth century. In the article described‚ the “Nacirema” are a cultural group who seem to be obsessed with rituals they perform in regards to the human body on a day-to-day basis. These people believe that the human body is ugly and debilitating and are described to waste great portions of their days performing the
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economy‚ wealth‚ and body-focused rituals performed to keep oneself looking aesthetically pleasing‚ not unlike our own American culture. Found between Canada and Mexico‚ the people of the Nacirema tribe perform these rituals to keep death and disease at bay‚ while also improving the looks and social life of the worshipper. Common practices mentioned in the article include washing themselves with purified water‚ visiting multiple physicians to improve the state of the mouth and body‚ and fasting to make
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The Body Ritual of the Nacirema discusses the habits of Americans and medical professionals to someone outside the culture. The article is meant to make the Americans health habits seem like a new discovery. In the article it examined health habits that Americans follow‚ it also examined the bathroom habits of the Americans‚ and it also examined the medical professionals that treat them. But the distinction of the habits of the Americans in the article is that the author worded them as if they were
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professor from the University of Michigan‚ Horace Miner‚ wrote an article in The American Anthropologist that has become a mainstay of learning for anthropology students. Miner published the article to show a fictional exotic society called “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” as an example of how one’s own limited perspective might affect the perception of a foreign culture (Miner‚ 1956‚ p. 503). The article uses subtle humor to make the reader more comfortable in examining cultural behaviors‚ physical
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