Horace Miner, the author of “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, used very interesting and descriptive choice of words to describe the routines that modern Americans go through from an outsider point of view. He gives different terms to describe mundane routines, like brushing your teeth, and exaggerate the details as something that is bizarre. Some rituals Miner described as illogical because there was a low rate of success in what they are trying to achieve. This reveals that what determines something to be socially acceptable is not through logic, but only though the popularity of the community. One of the rituals that Miner described as illogical but everyone still do the ritual was the fact that the people kept going to the “holy-mouth-man”, or also known as the dentist, even if their teeth are still decaying. Miner described the holy-mouth-man as torturing and unbelievable because the holy-mouth-man drills holes to put in some “magical” substances that somehow stops decaying of the teeth. Miner said that the clients come to the holy-mouth-man to, “to arrest decay and to draw friends.” (Miner) But then Miner continued to say that, “The extremely sacred and traditional character of the rite is evident in the fact that the natives return to the hold-mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that their teeth continue to …show more content…
The audience that believed what Miner said became the prisoners that are in the cave. They accepted the story as true without thinking of what the story is trying to reveal. While as the audience that caught Nacirema is American backwards, they were the prisoner who was set free of the cave. Those people were able to realize that the article is just the generic routines that modern American citizens go through, viewed from an outsider point of
In the article ‘Body Ritual Among the Nacirema’ written by Horace Miner he goes on to describe the culture and rituals of the Nacirema. A group of North Americans that are found “between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles.” Throughout the article he describes American rituals from an outsiders point
In the “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato breaks the story into four main scenes to demonstrate the path to enlightenment for the unenlightened reader. He uses a story of a man trapped in a cave,
Body Ritual of the Nacirema by Horace Miner is a clever piece that describes a foreign sounding culture only to be realized that the group being described is one that is much more familiar. Through his process of describing conventional habits or “rituals” in an unconventional way, he allows the reader to look at this culture through a very unique lens. The Nacirema are the Americans and a representation of the American culture. Although this might not be immediately apparent to the reader, there are a number of hints throughout the text to help come to this realization.
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.”
Horace Miner, a American Anthropologist wrote an academic essay titled “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema.” In this article Miner described some of the bizarre rituals and practices of the “Nacirema” which the reader comes to find out that he is talking about North Americans. The way Miner goes into detail about how these people live makes them seem foreign. Thus making the norm for an American lifestyle seem odd because the certain type of lingo Miner uses to make this “tribe” more exotic then the actually are. His point in doing this is to show the reader how obnoxious anthropologist can be when they are explain a different culture.
Horace Miner’s use of irony, satire, and invective help the piece succede. If the author did not use all three of these satiric devices, the paper would not make sense. Throughout the paper, the author uses these three devices which make the reader laugh. It also helps us to understand the article. First off, the article, Body Ritual among the Nacirema, the author states “...Notgnihsaw, who is otherwise known for two great strength- the throwing of a piece of wampum across the river Pa-To-Mac and the chopping down of a cherry tree in which the Spirit of Truth resided.”
Traditions have been sought after and passed on for generations; with no questions asked, whether humane or not, traditions are hard to break and diminish as they are often what a culture or community stands for. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a story about the tradition of a small village, is painted in impeccable details of peace, and serenity on a warm summer day, as everyone follows the tradition they have known since a long time ago despite the true intentions and meaning of it forgotten. The Lottery taking place annually is like no other lottery, it paints the true picture of the horror that epitomizes the tradition that none of the villagers dare to question, despite it creating separation between gender and families and ruining
In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato’s idea of the human who escaped the cave, but came back to tell about his learnings but the other people in the cave did not want to listen to him since they believed that the cave was the real truth and did not want to be educated about the outside
First off, one rhetoric that " The Allegory of the Cave" has is a metaphor. A metaphor is comparing two unlike things. The focal thought is, a few detainees were bolted into a give in and the couldn't escape. It speaks to that how much freedom is worth. In the event that you never had an opportunity to see the outside world, you just can envision what it resembles.
Also they will only base off their opinion of what they had read and will not want to know the real true form of McCandless. Therefore, people should not make up their mind by reading the article because people do not know the actual person he is. Krakauer structures his book to let the readers have an in-depth view of McCandless motives in going to Alaska. He chose to write this book because he and McCandless have a similar personality of wanting to connect to nature more and like the wilderness. Can writing a story base on your own opinion can have people’s mind be
The allegory of the cave contains a very poignant message about learning and new experiences but it’s not real. It’s written as Socrates telling a story in order to illustrate his point. The first man is forcibly removed from the cave and shown the light, creating a painful experience. Douglass’ story is autobiographical and it shows a true need for knowledge in order to be free from the bondage of slavery.
He becomes so curious to what the tunnel is, and what is inside the tunnel that he decides to follow his thoughts into the tunnel. When the main character found the tunnel he was with other men. The other men wanted to turn their findings into the City Council, but Equality did not. He says “‘we shall not report our findings into the City Council. ’” (2.10).
Rhetorical Analysis Essay Many customs can be depicted as unusual if observed by someone outside of the traditional society. Within the United States many cultural practices found in other regions are considered peculiar. American culture boasts traditions and customs that can be considered idiosyncratic by other societies. In "Body Rituals Among the Nacirema," Horace Miner effectively conveys his message through the use of irony and sarcasm.
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.
Plato tells us that the prisoners are confused on their emergence from the cave and that the prisoners’ will be blinded once they had been freed from the cave. After a period of time they will adjust their eyesight and begin to understand the true reality that the world poses. The stubbornness to develop a different perspective is seen in much of today’s society. The allegory of the cave is an understanding of what the true world is and how many people never see it because of their views of the society they are raised in.