After reading “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” I believe the Nacirema are the Americans. First Nacirema is American spelled backwards. I also think it is America because it said “North American group living… Little is known of their origin, al- though tradition states that they came from the east.”
At one time Louie snatched the bird by the legs and killed it by its neck and they were very excited to feast but then depressed when they smelled it. Louie, using his brain thought of a way to use it, “Louie used the pliers to tear the bird open... The men recoiled: the bird reeked… At least they finally had bait… Louie tied a small hook to a fishing line and baited it with albatross meat.” (Hillenbrand, 113)
A significant motif of The Painted Bird is the comparison between the primitive aspects that the boy experiences in the countryside that contrast his upbringing in civilization. The child’s strongest memory of his past life is his “appendix operation when [he] was only four years old” (Kosinski 10). There he had access to modern medicine and recalls “the glossy hospital floors, the gas mask doctors placed on my face” (Kosinski 10). This directly contrasts with his experiences in village life. During his time with the village healer, Olga, the boy witnesses the many rituals she uses to heal people.
These mask reminded me of different rituals that is practiced in the Haitian culture. However, I believe that these mask were used in Africa for very specific rituals to contact certain Gods for different personal reasons. In addition there was an African sculpture of a woman with a fabricated wig. Once of seen this sculpture I envision all of the less fortunate women in Africa that have to struggle day in day out to make ends meet. This sculpture is very powerful because it reminds people of the struggle that women had and still have today.
Creatures that look like birds but with the head of a woman, called Sirens do this to them. The pieces have different
Harpies are known for being disgusting vicious bird women. There are four well-known harpies: Ocypete, Nicothoe, Aello and Celaeno. The first harpies were known for being beautiful, wind and storm goddesses, but over time became vile creatures. Harpias (Harpies) snatched away children and peoples souls. During the reign of King Phineas, Harpies were sent to snatch away his food to punish him.
Those masks were those that resembled death and their gods. The god of fire (Xiuhtecuhtli) was used within these rituals by mask. Xiuhtecuhtli was "thought to be the creator of all life." The Mask of Xiuhtecuhtli was made with a base of cedar wood and decorated with pieces of turquoise atop it. The turquoise was hand-cut and shaped to resemble the 3d
It is old-style, but holds monumental value to a prehistoric culture. Consequently, the mask didn’t belong to the Aztecs, due to its age. It belonged to the Olmec culture that began to thrive between 1500 and 1200 B.C.E. It’s important because it is a prime example of several Olmec features, such as upturned
In the book the Lord of the Flies the masks that Jack’s group uses helps them overcome their fear of killing the pig by hiding their true feelings. When Jack volunteers himself as the leader of hunting he doesn’t realize that he would have to overcome new challenges. Masculinity “masks” and the clay masks they wear in the Lord of the Flies are basically just “things trying to look like something else” (Golding 63). Jack explains to his group of hunters that the masks they were going to wear are so they can look like something they are not or to hide what is keeping them from killing a pig. This shows that they are trying to push away their true selves and by looking like something else they can make a character of who they choose to be based on the reason they put the “mask” on.
He utilizes the mask when he says that “I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford…” (Fitzgerald ##). He wants everyone including Nick Carraway, the narrator, to know that he is a valuable and worthy person. However, it backfires when Nick Carraway says “I knew why
“If you have to ask what it symbolizes, it didn't.” -Roger Ebert Symbolism is a valuable and heavily used tool in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Throughout this book a conch shell becomes a vital part of the culture of a group of shipwrecked boys. Like religion it brings the boys together, gives them order, and when it is forgotten ultimately causes savagery.
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Nhat Nguyen Professor Carter ENGWR 302 11/08/2016 Extra Credit The Mask You Live In I have seen “The Mask You Live
In the study called Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, the author calls the rituals and ceremonies the people perform “excessive”. They are insane rituals that people in America wouldn’t seem to think about doing. They sound so different, and unusual. As one reads the fieldwork, it raises a lot of questions and concerns. To anyone from another country it would seem these rituals are excessive because of the way they are performed, and the things they use to perform them.
The use of masks in theatre, both functionally and symbolically can be dated back to hundreds of decades ago, along with speculations that the earliest masks came from the Neolithic period. While it is yet unknown which civilization first created or developed masks, it is clear that the existence of these masks are not without justifications. The non-theatrical use of the word “mask” is often referred to as the concealing of “something from view”, usually the human face (Oxford Dictionary Online). However, in many different types of theatre, masks do not solely function for the purpose of concealing. The function of masks differs for different forms of theatre, and is dependent on the relevant attributing background factors.
