The Nacirema: Another Look Essay -- Essays Papers

The Nacirema: Another Look Written by Horace Miner, this essay of the people group Nacirema is an interesting look at their everyday functions. The tribe Miner describes is seemingly primal and uncivilized, and yet somewhat familiar. The entire account of these mysterious people describes unusual and strange behaviors and activities. The brief overview on the Nacirema is graphic from Miner’s point of view. When the meaning of the story becomes clear, the purpose for writing it becomes either humor or disdain. In this article written by Miner, he describes the tribe of the Nacirema vividly and descriptively. The Nacirema are a tribe known for only twenty years. When they were discovered there was almost no information on them. They are a North American tribe that exists between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles (Miner). This area, with further investigation, is the area of the United States of America. The location alone causes the reader to be alert for Miner’s motives. The Nacirema are unique followers of the market system, and live in a rich natural habitat. This primitive market system takes up much of the inhabitant’s time. However the people spend a large block of time in daily ritual activity. This tribe does not worship the soul like prominent religions but they worship the body. They believe the body is ugly and prone to injury and sickness. So to alleviate the problem they perform many rituals and ceremonies. In each home there is a ritual center where these actions take place. These centers are so important that all wealthier tribesmen have more than one. The shrines are located in the family home but the performance of ... ...es, his point is well taken. If his purpose is a tongue in cheek look at our culture and ourselves, job well done. If his purpose is to criticize and discredit a successful culture, exception is taken. If nothing else is gleaned from this article, when we look at the â€Å"Nacirema†, American spelled backwards, we learn to have a more forgiving attitude when viewing other cultures we are unfamiliar with. Rituals that appear barbaric, or even silly can and most probably have a logical purpose within that particular people group. This change in the prevailing American attitude will go far to mend the fences that have been broken and heal the bonds of cooperation all without the need of a â€Å"latipso† (hospital). Works Cited Miner, Horace. "Body Ritual among the Nacirema, American Anthropolgist 58:3, June 1956. Rpt., <http://www.msu.edu~Ejdowell/miner.html>

America’s Foundation

The United States Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson was a statement that was used on July 4, 1776 by the Continental Congress to declare the independence of thirteen American colonies from Britain. It entailed in part the following; political independence of every person as provided by natural law, right of revolution. By this, it implied that all Americans were entitled to equal rights and in cases where these rights were breached, anyone was entitled to revolt against the aggressor.Another part of the declaration was a list of charges against king George who was seen as having dishonored the rights of colonialist therefore was seen as unfit to govern. Lastly, the declaration stipulated conditions under which people could change their government and Britain situation offered a perfect example. Hence it called on to all colonies to throw off British Crown and claim their independence (Library of Congress, 1861, 865). The article of Confederation The article of C onfederation was the first governing constitution of America.The article sought to unite several States in America that were initially sovereign under the British regime. It was made in drafts with the last draft made in 1977 and adopted by Continental Congress on November 15, 1977. The article stipulated the rules and regulation to govern the new found United States confederation. Hence with the Article, United States was capable of making wars and settling interstates dispute diplomatically. Furthermore, United States was able to resolve issues concerning western territories.The articles were created with a view of providing freedom, Sovereignty and independence of America. With time, it was found that these articles were unable to provide sufficient provisions that would govern the country effectively hence a need for a detailed constitution that would replace the Confederation with the Federal. This paved way for the formation of a constitution in 1788 (Jensen, 1970, p 109). The constitution The constitution is the current governing body of law in United States of America.It is the supreme law of United States and is the source of legal authority fundamental to the existence of America and all its administrative and judicial bodies within it. It defines three arms of the government; the legislative led by Congress, an executive branch led by the President and judicial branch led by Supreme Court. In its description, it stipulates each branch powers that helps eliminate conflict of power during implementation. In addition, it established the federal system of government that gave individual states various rights.It was adopted on September 17, 1789 and has so far undergone twenty seven amendments (Hickey, 1853, 483) Comparison and Contrast between Articles of Confederation, Constitution and Declaration of Independence. There are various similarities and differences in the Declaration, Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. In comparison, all the ab ove three documents sought to provide the sovereignty and independence of United States of America. They stipulated that US was a sovereign state that was capable of making laws, negotiating diplomatic relations and setting up its own army.America, therefore, was free to trade and govern itself under its own laws without any external interference. All three document emphasized on basic human right. This was stipulated through the provision for freedom of movement and expression in the constitution and the Article of Confederation. Equality and sovereignty of each state was also equally stipulated in three documents. Above all, the document stipulated the rules and regulation that would hence fourth govern United States of America.Breach of which would lead to prosecution and there after a punishment. Similarity among the documents can also be seen in their way of formation where by; representatives from various states were chosen to draft them and later sign on the document to authe nticate them. In this sense, all the above three document are similar. Contrasts Among the notable differences are in levying taxes. In Articles of Confederation, Congress could only request various states to pay taxes but looking into the constitution, Congress has the right to levy taxes on individuals.On the Executive side, the Constitution provides the president with powers to choose cabinet members and has power to check on the powers of judiciary and legislature, however, the article provided the president with no executive powers and his role was only to preside over the Congress. On amending the constitution, two thirds of both houses of congress and three quarter of senate legislature are needed to amend the constitution under the provision of the current constitution compared to thirteen out of thirteen as provided by the Article.With the Article, it recommended that sovereignty remained within States however; the constitution states that it is the supreme law of the land hence sovereignty applies within the range of constitution. Regarding trade, Article provided no control of trade within states and no regulation what so ever was done between interstate trades. This implied that there was free movement of goods and services within states without government interference. However, constitution provides for regulation of trades between states and the power is bestowed to the Congress which oversees all these regulations.In formation of an army to provide military support, Article of Confederation awarded no right to the congress to draft troops that would participate in war. Hence, they had to rely on military contribution by various states. In the Constitution, Congress has the power to raise an army that would deal with any military emergency in the country. In conclusion, it can be asserted that without these three documents in US history, the legality of United States of America could be at stake and therefore, it would have become difficult to go vern all the states under one government.References Faber H. , Faber, Doris. (1987). We the People: The Story of the United States Constitution since 1787. New York: Scribner's. Hickey, W. (1853). The Constitution of the United States of America: With an Alphabetical Analysis; the Declaration of Independence †¦ Electoral Votes for All the Presidents and Vice-presidents: the High Authorities and Civil Officers of Government from March 4, 1789, to March 3. T. K. & P. G. Collins . pp 483. Jensen M. (1970).The Articles of Confederation: An Interpretation of the Social-constitutional History of the American Revolution 1774-1781. University of Wisconsin Press. Library of Congress (1861). Catalogue of the Library of Congress. Oxford University. Pp 865. Suksi M. (1993). Bringing in the People: A Comparison of Constitutional Forms and Practices of the Referendum. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. US History. Articles of Confederation Vs the Constitution. http://home. earthlink. net/~gfeldmet h/chart. art Accessed on February 26, 2009.

English Pronunciation Exercises - U Sounding Vowels

The following series of pronunciation exercises combines words beginning with the same consonant sound followed by similar vowel sounds. Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired (b - voiced / p - voiceless, d - voiced / t - voiceless, etc.) to help students compare and contrast similar consonant formation.   Repeat each line slowly, listen for the minor differences between the vowel and consonant sounds.Repeat each line three times. Each time repeat more quickly trying to keep the sounds distinct.Find a partner and listen to each other repeat the lines.Try to invent sentences using each sound at least once. For example, The butcher put on his boots but he forgot his hat.   Dont worry too much about the sentence making much sense! long uh as in put short uh as in up oo as in shoe butcher but boot put pup poof! duh duck do Tokay tough tooth good gulp Google cook cup cool soot supper suit Zeus Wazup? zoom shook shut shoot jut jump June churn Chuck choose hook hub who Sentences to Practice with Minimal U Sounds B - The butcher wanted to cook, but he forgot to wear the right boots. P - My teacher put the pup into the magic circle and it went poof! D - Duh! I shouldnt have let the duck do the dishes this evening. T - If you think the Tokay was OK, youll find the Chardonnay tough on the tooth. G - Just gulp your beer, and youll be good enough to Google the answers on the quiz. C - The wonderful cook cooled the cup of tomato soup before he served it.   S - The man walked in and shook the soot off of his suit before he sat to supper.   Z - Zeus said wazup to Thor as he zoomed through the Greek heavens.   SH - The boy wanted to shoot the kid who had shook him and told him to shut up. J - He jut his chin out and jumped into the air on a beautiful day in June. CH - Chuck told the students that they should choose carefully, and not churn through the mess. H - Janes mom, who was the hub of gossip in town, hooked everyone into something.    Vowel Sounds eh - as in let, ih - as in hit, ee - as in see, and ae- as in catlong ah - as in car, short ah - as in gotlong uh - as in put, short uh - as in up, oo - as in through Diphthong Sounds ay - as in day, ai - as in skyou - as in home, ow - as in mouse, oi - as in boyieh(r) - as in near, ehi(r) - as in hair

H.G. Wells Novel The War of The Worlds Essay - 2269 Words

H.G. Wells’ Novel The War Of The Worlds Successfully Creates A Thrilling Climate Of Terror Which Often Reflects Late Victorian Insecurities. Discuss This Statement With Reference To The Purpose And Craft Of The Author – 1994 Words H.G. Wells’ novel â€Å"The War Of The Worlds† depends upon late Victorian insecurities to generate a thrilling climate of terror. Wells feeds off of the politics at that point in time, the ethics and beliefs of his contemporaries and also the sense of false pride and arrogance that white Victorians had considering that they were top of the natural selection hierarchy. He produces this climate of terror not only through the content of his writing, but by his use of language, structure and imagery.†¦show more content†¦Many Britons feared this idea of a technologically advanced war at the time, as Britain was in a naval race with Germany. Germany was challenging Britain’s navy because Britain’s navy was the best in the world, and one of the main causes of Britain having such a vast empire. Britain were aware of the envy that Germany had, and were therefore fearing the fact that Germany may be secretly planning a war, much like the Martians silently planned an attack on Earth. Wells’ also wrote about Victorians losing their faith in religion and the church. Some Victorians believed that god was punishing them as a world war was looming and some even doubted his existence, as there was no proof for it. To illustrate this, Wells created the curate as a highly religious character who had faith in god and also questioned why god had brought this war upon them. The following quote illustrates this, when the curate said â€Å"The end! The great and terrible day of the Lord! When men shall call upon the mountains and the rocks to fall upon them and hide them--hide them from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne!†. 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Differences Between The Faulins Tale And The Canterbury...

If you and 29 of your friends went on a trip and all told stories, whose story would win? In the case of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, this was the question at hand. The Canterbury Tales explains the religious pilgrimage of many individuals to Canterbury, and the stories they told along the way. With them traveled a Host, who served as the judge of the contest. He determined who the winner would be based off of how clean the story was and if the story was morally sound or not. The prize for winning the storytelling contest was a free dinner. Based on the rules set by the Host, The Franklin would have won the contest. The first criteria that each story must meet, is that it must be clean. Both of these tales reflect on†¦show more content†¦Even when Arveragus has to be away from Dorigen, their love survives as well as their faithfulness. â€Å"The Merchant’s Tale† on the the other hand is not so clean. This story depicts the marriage of an o ld knight named January, and his young and beautiful wife, May. Throughout the entirety of the story many aspects are not clean. The first example of this is shown the night of the wedding. We are in holy wedlock, and we may. And blessed be the yoke that we are in For nothing we can do will count as sin. A man is not a sinner with his wife, He cannot hurt himself with his own knife; We have the law’s permission thus to play.’ And so he laboured till the break of day. (372-373) January was very adamant about his final wedding guests leaving so that he can be alone with May. In the time after they left, they took part in actions deemed not clean. As time went on in the story, May started to have very strong feelings for an attendant in the house named Damian. Their love was a secret from January, and only expressed within letters to one another. Until one day it was expressed in a much more extreme way. Catching a branch, and with a spring she thence - Ladies, I beg you not to take offence, I can’t embellish, I’m a simple man- Went up into the tree, and Damian Pulled up her smock at once and in he thrust (386) As clearly stated in this quote,

I Go Along free essay sample

The story I Go Along, by Richard Peck, is about a boy named Gene who has changed his attitude while going on a class trip to see a poet. Throughout the story, the title is relative in various ways to the context of the story itself and represents many themes, such as dependence and conformity and most importantly, the idea that it is vital to make decision based on your own thoughts instead of following the crowd. By looking at the title of the story, I Go Along, the readers can directly obtain a sense associated with dependence and conformity. This sense is quickly explored at the beginning of the story as Gene goes along the crowd as everybody in the class puts up their hands (para.8) when his teachers asks them to go to a poetry reading. Genes reaction of raising his hand without thinking, going along with the class demonstrates that he plays a role as a follower instead of a leader in his everyday life. We will write a custom essay sample on I Go Along or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The title of the story successfully makes a connection with Genes dependent and conforming nature, which makes the title more relative to the context of the story. If you dive into the story more deeply, however, the title of the story can also represent more ideas, such as if you always follow or go along with the majority, then you would never realize what you could accomplish and achieve. One most obvious and direct example from the story that illustrates this idea is when Gene pulls his ball cap down to his nose and laces his fingers behind his head and kicks back in the seat ( para.57). Although Gene is recommend to switch to the advanced English class, which is a higher level he is capable of achieving, his reaction displays his careless attitude as a member of the lower class. Gene, who does not make his own decision and often adopts the crowds idea causes his own loss of chance of achieving something greater. At this point in the story, the title I Go Along is responsive to the attitude Gene has, as who tends to follow the majority. The title of the story can represent many different themes and ideas, of which each is significantly related to the context of the story. By analysing these various subjects, such as dependence, conformity, and the concept that making independent decision could lead to greater accomplishment, the readers will not only witness how effective Peck has been in using the story title to connect with the story itself, but come to understand the message the story is trying to convey from a deeper

Village or Town free essay sample

Olesia Tararai Instructor Izmentinov Writing for Academic Purposes Section 2 1 March 2010 Some people enjoy living in a big city, while others like living in a small village. Discuss both choices and defend your preference. A Small Village or A Big City? Our society is observing a village decline and a fast development of large cities. Some people have the idea that the best place for living is in a big city. However, many others disagree with this point of view, considering a village to be a perfect place to live. Obviously, both have good reasons to claim which place, a village or a city, is the most suitable for a person. People who support the idea of a perfect life in a city give many expedient reasons. Firstly, a big city gives a great variety of opportunities. For example, an educational level in cities is highly developed. There are a wide range of prestigious schools to choose and there are more colleges, universities and academies. We will write a custom essay sample on Village or Town? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page What is more, large cities offer a lot of extra curricula activities like sports clubs, art and dance schools and more. Secondly, big cities provide a person with a good medical treatment. Rapidly growing, a number of medical institutions is sufficient for the needs of city inhabitants. Finally, in a big city a person is provided with all facilities she or he needs for a well-being. Other people believe that villages are the best place to live. Firstly, they point out the safe and clean environment of the countryside. Absence of heavy traffic means absence of polluted atmosphere. With clean environment farmers can grow ecologically clean vegetables. Secondly, villagers appreciate a friendly atmosphere in a small town. Because of a small population, everyone knows everyone in villages. This fact unites people. They have a feeling of living in a closely knit community. Finally, countrymen see a village as the best place to live. Deciding between two places to live, I would choose a big city. Firstly, being born in a city, I spent my whole childhood among multistory uildings. Having become older, I cannot imagine myself without a variety of stores, supermarkets, shops and institutions of entertaining industry. Secondly, I can find a lot of opportunities to realize myself in a big city, for example prospects for career advancement.