Body Rituals Among the Nacirema Abstract This study examines Horace Miner’s essay “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema. While using the participant observation approach‚ he gives us a new perspective on the daily behaviors within this group of people. Exploring ethnocentrism and how we view cultures outside of our own. Horace Miner was a professor for the University of Michigan. He sought out to teach young people the importance of cultural anthropology. ("Horace Mitchell Miner - Wikipedia‚ the free
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of Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” Abstract This paper is a summary of Horace Miner’s paper “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”. It talks about how every culture has a set of rituals they practice religiously‚ and in particular‚ the unusual rituals and beliefs of the Nacirema people from an outsider’s perspective. Amanda Carson Sociology 111 Writing Assignment #1 January 25‚ 2015 Summary of Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema Every society‚ tribe‚ or group
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Horace Mann was born in Franklin‚ Massachusetts on May 4‚ 1796. As a child‚ he received a very little amount of education and the education that he did receive was largely self-taught. However‚ he managed to graduate from Brown University at the top of his class in 1819. After graduating‚ Mann studied law alongside a lawyer in Wrentham‚ Massachusetts‚ taught classes at his alma mater‚ and studied at a law school in Connecticut. After graduating‚ he took a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives
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Julia Soca May 8‚ 2012 ESL reading I have a friend name Mary who was married to a pauper man. At the beginning‚ they were insight to solve things together. However‚ that woman was the only one working in the family‚ and has three children with the guy. One day‚ the husband had an inconceivable headache while Mary was at work doing double shifts. Later one‚ she came over‚ and gave him a Tylenol and the pain vanish right the way. On the other hand‚ the husband was very
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At first I wasn’t too surprised by the behavior of the Nacirema. Medicine men making potions and priests making sure water is holy are all things that I have heard about before. What really took me aback was the holy mouth man. I was shocked at the torture these people go through because of their beliefs in certain magic rituals. I’ve never had a cavity before‚ so just the thought of someone grinding holes in my teeth makes my mouth hurt. However‚ I guess if I was raised believing that these sort
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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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Many of the practices Miner mentions in the article aren’t really strange to the Nacirema culture. But an outsider views the practices as odd. For example‚ Miner mentions about a shrine box‚ which translate to a medicine cabinet being strange to the outsider. The charms and magical potions in the shrine box being the medicine needed cure the ills and maladies of an individual. Medicine had a purpose of curing those maladies for many with similar ills. But the outsider views pulling out these magical
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What I believe that Horace is trying to say through “Adversity has the effect of electing talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant” is that challenges bring about innate talents in individuals which would have otherwise been undiscovered. Through personal experiences and the novel “The Scarlet Letter” I can certainly justify why this quote is not completely accurate. Adversity is merely a stimulant‚ but a person’s own character is what drives him to be successful. One of
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The article “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ was very interesting because it mocks our society as a whole without blatantly stating the similarities. The reader is supposed to view the Nacirema as being quite outrageous in their way of life; the magical beliefs and superstitions. However‚ if you step back and look at the bigger picture of the article‚ is the Nacirema really any different from us? This statement‚ “The focus of this activity is the human body‚ the appearance and
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After reading the article‚ I conclude the author is trying to teach or inform us about the Nacirema tribe and their way of life. By writing about their civilization the reader can learn how they live through rituals and what they practice. Miner discusses about Nacirema’s exotic customs‚ ritual activities‚ the shrine‚ their magical practitioners‚ oral care‚ harsh physical ceremonies‚ witchdoctors‚ breast rituals‚ thoughts on intercourse‚ and magical power. Once I read about these aforementioned topics
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