People come from different backgrounds which mean they will celebrate holidays differently even though they might be of the same religion. The world is huge has a variety of people whom speak many different languages and have different styles, which is why it is a good reason to keep an open mind to learn something new. David Sedaris is a well-known comedian writer who by some calls him the funniest writer alive. He has also written many best sellers such as Naked and Talk pretty to me. Jesus Shaves is a short story by Sedaris in which cultures cross between students in a French class. The Students come from different backgrounds even though a lot of them share the same religion they practice it differently. There are a lot of elements in Jesus …show more content…
The conflict was the language barrier, which the students were trying to explain the Moroccan woman what Easter is. They all celebrated the same holiday but each describe Easter differently and their French grammar was very bad when they explained. One student with his bad grammar in French try to explain what Easter is by saying, “He weared the long hair, and after he died the first day he came here to say hello to the peoples” (473 Sedaris). Each student had a different point of view on what Easter symbolizes and how it is celebrated. . The teacher explain how Easter is celebrated in France by saying, “here in France the chocolate is brought by the big bell that flies in from Rome” (473 Sedaris). A student argued that a bunny is the one that distributes the food and not the bell. The tone of the short story was sarcastic, humorous, and witty tone because the Sedaris is well known for it and he incorporates it in Jesus Shaves. The main character explains why the rabbit is the symbol of Easter and not the bell in a humor way. The main character said “a rabbit has eyes, rabbits move from place to place, while most bells can only go back and forth” (473
To help many readers understand that other cultures do not celebrate or recognize the same religious traditions, the Polish, Italian, and Moroccan classmates are thrown into the classroom and add to the plot. Most readers and Sedaris audience may already have a thorough understanding of what Easter is from a religious perspective already and may be surprised that some people don’t know what Easter is. To many, Easter is one of the most important Christian religious celebrations, which is dedicated to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Knowing the important of easter, when the Moroccan student explains that she has never heard of Easter before, the other classmates try to express what it is by using and sharing their own cultural experiences. The Polish students tries to explain the events that took place and the reasoning for the holiday, while others try to express their ideas about who Jesus was. The Italian student then brought up what traditional foods are eaten on the holiday, sparking a debate between the narrator and the class about the Easter bunny and the flying Easter bell from Rome. The story gradually comes to a conclusion, with Sedaris realizing that Christianity itself has quite a few
From the excerpt from the novel, “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character is Estrella, a young Spanish girl with a powerful desire to learn to read. Although she is persistent, her teachers refuse to educate her because they are more concerned of Estrella’s personal hygiene. This leaves Estrella resentful because of the barrier between herself and knowledge. Estrella remains silent until a man named Perfecto Flores teaches her how to read by using his expertise in hardware and tools to represent the alphabet. Viramontes depicts the heartfelt growth of Estrella through her use of tone, figurative language, and detail.
The book Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes shows you the story of Estrella and her family and the struggles they face as migrant workers. Among all the symbolism in the book the one that stand out the most is Petra’s statue of Christ, which symbolizes the failure of religion and the oppressive nature of the Christian religion especially in minorities. Throughout the book, Estrella’s mother, Petra relies on superstitions and religion to get her through the hardships in life. In tough times, she turns to the statue and prays for guidance. Her thirteen-year-old daughter Estrella is the first of her family to realize that she needs to stop relying on religion and take control of her life. This brings in a wave of self-empowerment, not only for Estrella but eventually for all the characters as well. In the book, you’re able to see how religion exemplifies the failures of religion in minorities and how it hinders the growth of the characters while helping some of them.
In the first chapter of God Behaving Badly, David Lamb argues that God is unfairly given a bad reputation. He claims these negative perceptions are fueled by pop culture and lead many to believe the lie that the God of the Old Testament is angry, sexist, racist, violent, legalistic, rigid, and distant. These negative perceptions, in turn, affect our faith. Ultimately, Lamb seeks to demonstrate that historical context disproves the presumptuous aforementioned. In addition, he defends his position by citing patterns of descriptions that characterize God throughout the Old Testament. “Our image of God will directly affect how we either pursue or avoid God. If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is really harsh, unfair and cruel, we won’t want anything to do with him” (Lamb 22). Clearly, they way Christians choose to see God will shape their relationship with Him.
In the book “The Art of Biblical Narrative” by Robert Alter, there is one chapter (Chapter 3) titled “Biblical Type-Scenes and the Uses of Convention” (Alter 47). Alter describes several different stories (but similar in some ways) in the Old Testament that can be difficult to interpret in today’s culture. Alter describes how reading any book (more specifically the Bible), requires use of conventions, which he describes as “… an elaborate set of tacit agreements between artist and audience about the ordering of the art work is at all times the enabling context in which the complex communication of art occurs” (Alter 47). In other words, an agreement of how the writing is done; it can be pretty complex as well. He states that there are stories in the Bible that have the same stories of narrative, but there are different characters, they often are told several times in the Bible. Alter uses several of examples, like how patriarch is driven by famine; or where someone is found and is invited to eat with them, or a betrothal (engagement) near a well/body
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17
“The other Jesus”; a book that reveals the true meaning of being a Christian and gives another view on the characteristics on Jesus, Garrett shows the beauty of the Gospel and how it differs from other religions views on Jesus. In studying the Christianity of the American society he gives his own personal rendition of how this chase for the true meaning of Jesus started: “When, after twenty-five years of wondering, I came back to church, I finally encountered the Other Jesus. I discovered an authentic message of love and acceptance, the one that the Other Jesus seems to be exemplifying in the Christian Testament….I discovered believers who were trying to live lives that reflected the change this Other Jesus had wrought in them. I discovered people who practiced faith as well as preached it.” (Garrett. 8)
This fragment is taken from THE NEW TESTAMENT (King James version). More importantly, the fragment appears in THE GOSPAL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, which is the first gospel out of four. While there is no speaking character in the fragment, it is possible to witness several characters in it. First, there are the wise men who came to visit and see baby Jesus. Second, when they entered the house, they saw Jesus with “Mary, his mother.” In this fragment, one can notice the significance of the wise men (Magi). Seeing that, the wise men function as evidence to display Jesus’s godliness and his relation to God, by seeing him they “fell down, and worshiped him.” Due to God’s intervention in the wise men’s dreams, they have changed their actions, understanding
In the Didache, a document that “indicates how the earliest Christian communities used the teachings of Jesus and reenacted Jesus’ most prominent practices with the first disciples,” we observe the development of a basic pattern of celebration and regulations. Justin Martyr describes the procedure as follows:
This fact alone speaks volume to me. Lingenfeller sums it up this way “Jesus did not only come to serve but He was a learner; he learned the language, he learned the trade of carpentry in addition to His study of scriptures and He worshipped, and Jesus was found in the temple, listening and asking questions as recorded in Luke 2:46. In fact, Jesus took time to study the language, culture and lifestyles of his people for thirty years before he began his ministry.” And this is what Elmer is trying to drive home; take time to learn. Paul instructs us on what to do when dealing with other cultures “We should have the same attitude as Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). And I basically hear this author echo this as well.
From the very beginning of the film there is conflict, externally in the Palestine of the Roman era, and internally in Jesus. This dual struggle is shown in the beginning of the film when we see Jesus as a carpenter making crosses for the crucifixion of fellow Jews. Jesus himself says he is driven by fear, fear of the Romans and fear of what he feels God is doing inside of him. This internal conflict begins to explain the distance between him and those around him, with this weighing on him he decides to seek consolation and answers away from where he lives and in the
Christianity and Judaism are the few examples of religions that are originated from Western Traditions. These religions take different approaches to representational art and iconography which is found in their religious festivals. The Christian celebration of Easter and the Jewish Passover differentiate in their approaches to these icons in the history, the celebration and the symbols used during the commemoration of these holidays.
some of controversy over many parts of the book, and relates to what the rest of the essay will
...the story he is inviting the reader to condemn the mistreatment of women and lack of freedom in the family particularly under the institution of marriage. The attitude of the author gives the story a condemning tone. The tone is appropriate for the theme which is a strained relations in the family and specifically in marriage relations.
In his short story, “The Prophet’s Hair,” Salman Rushdie make use of magic realism, symbolization and situational irony to comment on class, religion, and the fragility of human life. The story is brimming with ironic outcomes that add to the lighthearted and slightly fantastic tone. Rushdie’s use of the genre magic realism capitalizes on the absurdity of each situation but makes the events relevant to readers’ lives. In addition, the irony in the story serves as a way to further deepen Rushdie’s commentary on class and religion. Finally, his use of symbolization focuses on the concept of glass, and just how easily it can be broken.