Preview

Analysis Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
313 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema
Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Summary Body Ritual Among the Nacirema is an article written by anthropologist Horace Miner, that depicts a society whose focus is solely on the enhancement of the human body. In the text, the characters are the their Nacirema people, who live in northern America. The Nacerima people center around this idea that the human body is ugly and that it is prone to sickness and aging. Horace Miner describes several rituals the Nacirema people partake in to better their physical health and appearance. Some of these rituals take place in a shrine, the rituals consist of brushing teeth and excreting. Other rituals are services the Nacirema people go to a specialist to get done. Horace Miner describes these services as
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner
    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner

    n the article, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner, the author’s purpose is revealed through judgemental and magical word choice.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Horace Miner Felt When Entering The Nacirema
    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Did Horace Miner Felt When Entering The Nacirema

    I could only imagine how Horace Miner felt when entering the Nacirema village. At first glance he must have had culture shock when learning about the daily mouth cleansing and the temples where some enter and never return. I came to realize that western cultures share many of the same daily rituals just like the Nacirema. This non-material culture has many reglionist beliefs such has the use of witch doctors, medicine men, shrines and oddly enough the Nacirema woman bake their heads in oven. In evaluating the culture of the Nacirema we can break down each of the beliefs and compare them to…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Analysis Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner
    • 195 Words
    • 1 Page

    Analysis Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner

    In the article Body Ritual Among The Nacirema by Horace Miner, he makes fun of people’s weaknesses, mistakes, foolishness, and wrong behavior. He uses confusing vocabulary words to make it hard for use to know who the article is talking about. Miner refers Nacirema as to America. He wanted to make Nacirema seem magical and silly by describing them as born with behaviors. Miner also, believes that Nacierma do bizarra thing because he does not understand the meaning behind their behavior. One of the behavior is the belief in the ugliness of human body. In society, we are told what is pretty from what is ugly. This is determined by models, hairdressers, barber shop, spa, and infomercial. As a society, we have the power to decided what is right…

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Summary
    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Summary

    In this paper I discuss what point Horace Miner was trying to make is his paper titled "Body Ritual among the Nacirema". Horace’s paper is about America but in the perspective that America is a tribe of third world country or such. I go through the individual topics, which mostly make fun of American’s vanity, and I describe what he is really talking about. I try to summaries Horace’s paper and put it in “American” terms.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Body Ritual Among Nacirema
    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analysis Of Body Ritual Among Nacirema

    The Nacirema are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawark of the Antilles. Little is known about their origin but people believe that they came from the east. These people concentrate on the human body, which is their main concern which makes the Nacirema unique in their rituals and ways of thinking. The Nacirema believe that the human body is ugly in the sense that it’s not perfect because it’s weak and prone to catch diseases. They believe that the only way to rid of these characteristics is through rituals and ceremonies.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner
    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner

    The most interesting topic that was covered this quarter was in Week 2, Chapter 2: Culture and Society. This was also when the class read the article Body Ritual Among the Nacirema by Horace Miner. This whole week was so intriguing and diverse, one in particular term made a large impression on me, and this was “rituals” as explained by Barken (p. 36) This term and act initially brought a sense of familiarity among all cultures, ethnicity groups, and societies, because each one of us performs a ritual daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. These may vary from extreme acts, or conform to the social normality of going to the dentist every six months for a checkup. The mutual properties of this term is what I found to be the most interesting. From…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of The Naciremea Culture
    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page

    Summary Of The Naciremea Culture

    According to the article, the people of the Naciremea people believed in their physical appearance, pregnancy prevention, and health care needs. They believed their bodies was ugly and needed rituals and ceremonies to avert being healthy. The author used religious language to try to get people to understand how cultures are look upon differently. Naciremea is America spelled backwards. When I first read this article, I was in total disbelief and confused as why people live the way the author described.…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Miner's 'Body Ritual Among The Nacirema'
    • 173 Words
    • 1 Page

    Miner's 'Body Ritual Among The Nacirema'

    In “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” Miner writes about the rituals within a tribe. The tribe he talks about is America. Nacirema spelt backwards is America and it is located between Canada and Mexico. This article discusses about Americans and their everyday activities relating to their body and health. Although Miner’s analyses of Americans are absurd it is quite true. He disguises the bathroom as “cleaning shine”, medicine as “magical potion” and a psychiatrist as a “listener.” Cultural norms are certain behaviors that a society accepts as an entire. As it is accepted within the society it becomes a norm. There are different norms according to each culture. I found this article most interesting because Americans have many cultural beliefs…

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Summary
    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Summary

    The first thing I noticed about the article, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema by Horace Miner is that Nacirema is American spelled backwards. That caught my attention right away and I thought to myself how interesting. Then as I started reading further into the article, I realized that the Nacirema people are us. What I found most interesting about the Nacirema people is how obsessed and focused we are on our health and body. There is always a fad diet that guarantees amazing results or a new cross fit workout that will mold our body like those on American Ninja Warrior. I was bothered by the statement that said “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” (McCutheon, 1). After I read this sentence…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Nacirema Tribe Research Paper
    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nacirema Tribe Research Paper

    The Nacirema tribe has many strange rituals in regards to the cleanliness or beauty of the body. They believe the human body is ugly and debilitating. Everything they do is in response to that thought process. They spend a large portion of their day in rituals to cleanse their body. They go to medicine men or witch doctors in order to perfect their body. One such horrific ritual is that they go to a medicine man that performs the decorative body rite.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compare Nacirema and Voodoo
    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Compare Nacirema and Voodoo

    Broadly speaking, Horace Miner, the author of “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, criticizes Nacirema’s uncivilized culture. In the article, Miner describes how the tribes perform the strange sadism rituals to very extreme level. The holy-mouth-man uses a variety of tool to enlarge the client’s mouth and put magical materials into the holes. What makes Miner more uncomfortable is that women even bake their head in small ovens for an hour. He thinks that “the magical beliefs and practices of Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go.” And Miner calls the Nacirema a masochistic and magic-ridden people.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Analysis
    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Analysis

    Body Ritual among the Nacirema” tells the story of the “unusual aspect” lifestyle and the rituals of the Americans. Miner uses a unique approach to describe not Nacirema but the Americans by using an outsider's view, a person who does not understand American's lifestyle. Nacirema is American spelled backwards Miner writes about is every household having a “shrine room” and those individuals with more power contain more than one. He remarks that the shrines rituals ‘are not with family but are private”and the box or chest which contains “magical potions”. The “shrine room” Miner describes is the bathroom and the box with magical potions is the medicine cabinet. The most important potions are described to be obtained from the medicine man who writes it down on a piece of paper in an “ancient and secret language” then is taken to the herbalist. Miner is talking about the American culture the medicine men are doctors the ancient writing are the scribbles on the prescription forms that somehow the pharmacist can understand. This helps us (Americans) realize different things about our culture and see how others view our culture.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Nacirema Culture Research Paper
    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Nacirema Culture Research Paper

    The research article about the Nacirema culture focused on a heavily religious society. In which the indualives shape their whole lives around it. Most people in the culture have at least one shrine dedicated to their physical health. It’s custom for all of the household members to pray to the shrine at least once a day. Praying is a secluded activity in the Nacirema culture and it is believed to reinforce the individual’s relationship with the divine. There is a major emphasis on the mouth and how it relates to a person’s social interaction and relationships. The mouth was so empathized that the Nacirema people visit the “Holy-mouth-man” once or twice a year, who inspects their mouths of any evil spirits using special instruments. The ancient traditions of the Nacirema culture seems to have influenced western culture.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nacirema Ritual
    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Nacirema Ritual

    “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner discusses the ritual practice of Nacirema people, which is an ethnic group of people in America. In freshman year, I had a chance to take freshman seminar class about religion, so I know that even in one religion they have various way of ritual practice. The ritual practices are usually formed very early in the acient period of time, so most of them are unreasonable and superstitious. It is very interesting to read an article about the ritual practice of Nacirema people to understand more about a culture in the religious aspect. I was surprised to see that in every religion they usually have an image of God to worship, but Nacirema people does not. They worship to holy-mouth-man, medicine man,…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Extreme Rituals Of The Nacirema People
    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Extreme Rituals Of The Nacirema People

    The Nacirema people value developing a religious connection with their deities because every family possesses at least one shrine in their home. They garnish and decorate their shrines with charms and other accoutrements and commune with them on a daily basis. The Nacirema people also put a lot of faith in their Medicine Men and Listeners, as a means of communing with the Divine through their rituals as a means to heal the sickly.…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics