Horace Miner writes about the Nacirema‚ a culture steeped in magic and superstition. Their ways of life are portrayed as uncivilized and barbaric. The Nacirema perform rituals and rites that are strange to us here in the civilized world. The description and portrayal of this tribe make it very hard for the reader to connect or even begin to understand such a strange people. Miner starts of the article creating an atmosphere of wonderment; “if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior
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Miner: American Vs. Nacirema Horace Miner expresses both irony and ridicule towards the American culture in his article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”. He uses a sociological approach that is rather witty‚ using a fictitious North American group called the “Nacirema”. The views of this culture are much like our own‚ depicting the importance of societal status‚ wealth‚ health and appearance. Miner introduces the readers to a society living between Canada and Mexico‚ originated by a founder called
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Body Rituals Among the Nacirema Assignment “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema”‚ by Horace Miner‚ is an essay written about the American people‚ from an outsider’s perspective‚ which he calls Nacirema‚ American spelled backwards. He disguises what he’s talking about by spelling many nouns backwards and giving things different names. Miner writes about American rituals in a foreign way that comes off as barbaric and heinous. He starts off talking about George Washington and how he founded America and
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Body Rituals of the Nacirema Tribe By Sir Horatio Galbraith People in the Nacirema culture spend a considerable portion of their days in ritual activity. The focus of some of these activities is the human body‚ the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the minds of the tribe’s people. While such a concern is certainly not unusual‚ the way the tribe operates can be considered quite unique. The fundamental belief of the people appears to be that the human body is ugly and
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The Nacirema people‚ living in the territory between the Canadian Creed‚ the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico‚ and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles‚ are a group of Northern Americans who have chosen to live their lives in a strange manner. There is a main premise to their choice of lifestyle and that is to rid the body of its ugliness and natural tendencies towards debility and disease. (p. 503). The Nacirema people have devoted their lives to deterring these features of themselves through ritual
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"Body Rituals among the Nacirema" is a document written by Mr. Horace Miner. Miner was a graduate of the University of Chicago‚ with a degree in anthropology. Throughout his life‚ Miner was dedicated to his studies ranging in anthropology to sociology. He was very interested in the study of anthropology‚ but Miner disagreed with the way that other cultures were represented. He thought American anthropologists believed that the American culture was "normal" and‚ that the other studied cultures
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2014 Writing Assignment 1 Horace Miner’s article “The Body Ritual” accurately depicts the obsession the United States has with self-image‚ while disguising Americans as a tribe called the Nacirema. The article shows how someone outside of the United States could potentially view America’s culture as strange with all of our rituals and self-obsession. “The Body Ritual” can provide examples of many topics presented in Sociology and people’s lives today such as
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study on the Nacirema Tribe. In the study he talked about their body rituals‚ and revealed to the world every strange ritual these people had. After reading this study‚ I decided to do one for myself. So I visited the Nacirema tribe. The things I observed still puzzles me. I noticed that everyday around the same time at daybreak‚ young Naciremas are awaken by an unusual noise coming from some sort of object. I have never in my life heard such an agitating sound. The young Nacirema then changes
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Death Rituals Generally‚ many Native Americans do not have a set idea about life after death‚ but some believe in reincarnation as humans‚ ghosts‚ animals or a combination of these Autopsies are acceptable Each tribe has different burial traditions Example: Navajo Indians When discussing a fatal illness or disorder‚ speak in third person; never suggest the patient is dying because that would imply that the healthcare provider wishes the patient would die. Also‚ if the patient does die‚ then the provider
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The Nacirema are a culture of vast ethnic diversity‚ yet the majority still share numerous similarities despite their unique trace origins. In the Nacirema culture there are many conventional values that most individuals try to adhere to‚ albeit the varying degrees of adherence due to their unique sub-cultures. The most prominent values are: treating all adult(18yrs) individuals equally with regards to making decisions about their leaders and allowing individuals to follow their own spiritual beliefs
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