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The significance of the rite of passage in African tradition and culture
Intro to rites of passage
Intro to rites of passage
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A rite of passage is described to be “Ceremonies such as christenings, puberty rituals, marriages, and funerals, which we hold when¬ever a member of society undergoes an important change in status within the lifecycle of the group” (Crapo, 2013, p. 159). A rite of passage that is common in my heritage culture today is a Quinceañera. Research indicates this transition is a celebration in combination of rite of passage from youth to womanhood when she turns fifteen years old (“The secularization of Quinceanera”, 2016). The meaning of this event usually starts off with a mass that has a total of fourteen young girls, each young lady signifies a year of her youth. Following the mass is a celebration where the fifteen-year-old is escorted by
I shouldn’t have a quinceanera , what’s so important you turning fifteen having a huge party having a big dress , food , make-up , and hair done . every one turn fifteen and some people don’t make a huge party and go all out just for you turning a age , it’s not a big deal turning fifteen you still a teen you're not an adult yet , your still a kid.
The Quinceañera is a celebration in Latin America that is very comparable to our Sweet 16 celebration, also know as the fiesta de quince años. The origination of the word comes from the feminine term of fifteen-year-old in Spanish. The overall celebration marks the transition from childhood to becoming a young woman. In earlier times this celebration was meant to be a teaching point for young women to learn how to cook, weave, and the art of becoming a mother. Depending on the family specifically, some can carry a religious tone, and some can be more traditional and casual.
Julia Alvarez in her book, Once Upon a Quinceañera, explores the quince tradition from cultural, historical and personal angles. Herein, she seeks to clarify some of the myths and ideas that surround this tradition from the notion that quinceañeras are from old Aztec traditions to the idea that this rite has been passed down from one Latino generation to another. She discovers that most contemporary quinces are firsts for many families and are different from those of the past. Consequently, the tradition depicts a group that is experiencing transformation who seek to establish their roots in a past that is somehow bleak. Many have often described the US has a melting pot of cultures. Therefore, Americans from different cultures find themselves amalgamating their values with those of the American society, thus affecting the overall culture of their communities. In Once Upon a Quinceañera, the author demonstrate and applies the cultural myth of melting pot.
Envision stepping into the room, seeing your guess smile and talk quietly, the atmosphere of the room glowing, and feeling the warmth grow inside your chest as you know you planned a successful Quinceanera. The day a girl of the hispanic culture turns 15, is the day her fantasies come to life; and she becomes a women. Quinceaneras carry lots of quarks, small details, and ideas; but with these simple steps it can be perfected.
Ever since I was young I wanted to have a Quinceanera. I always wanted to wear a long and fluffy dress and a shiny crown on my head. I always saw many girls on t.v or family members have their own Quinceanera, so I decided that I wanted to have mine as well. Quinceanera are family traditions, in Mexico it’s when a young girl is about to become fifteen years old they have a Quinceanera, which represents that you are turning into a young woman.
All birthdays are special. Birthdays celebrate life and the passing of time. In a young Mexican girl life, there is no birthday more important then her quinceañera. The quinceañera is a celebration of a girl’s journey into womanhood. The story of my fifteenth birthday is contributed for a better understanding of how special it is to celebrate a girl’s transformation into a lady, and how it differs from any other birthday she celebrates.
Do I even want to have a sweet sixteen? I’ve never seen myself as the quintessential “princess”, in a flowing dress and mile high tiara. I could just wait until my eighteenth, then I’d be considered an adult, at least in American society. Do I even want a Quinceanera? It revolves around the church so much it’s practically the sun and the earth. Besides, could I even have a Quinceanera? My family would have to travel all the way to Mexico.
In the poem, "Rite of Passage," by Sharon Olds, the speaker, who is a mother, goes into detail about her son's birthday party celebration. Let us first begin by analyzing the title of the poem, "Rite of Passage," Encyclopedia Britannica describes a rite of passage as a ceremonial event, existing in all historically known societies, that marks the passage from one social or religious status to another. Given the plot of the poem about a young boy having his peers over celebrate his birthday, one might be automatically compelled to say the rite of passage is for him, however with a closer analysis of the poem in its entirety, one can argue the title and the plot hold deeper meaning.
A rite of passage is defined as a ceremony marking a significant transition or an important event or achievement, both regarded as having great meaning in lives of individuals. In Sharon Olds' moving poem "Rite of Passage", these definitions are illustrated in the lives of a mother and her seven-year-old son. The seriousness and significance of these events are represented in the author's tone, which undergoes many of its own changes as the poem progresses.
The second family that I interviewed was the Lyles family. Both Bro. Scotty, the father, and Mrs. Yolanda, the mother, participated in the interview and three of their children were in the room. Bro. Scotty was born and raised in Alba, Texas on the very same tree farm that he owns and operates today; he is also a deacon at our church. However, Mrs. Yolanda was born and raised in Guatemala. As a child she was raised Catholic, and is part of a large and growing family. She is one of eight children. Their family as well as anybody else in that culture celebrated their daughter’s 15th birthday with a Quinceañera which marked the transition from childhood to young womanhood. This was traditionally the first time the girls would wear make-up, nice
anit 1 of the textbook explores various rites of passage, which are ceremonies or events that mark an important stage in a person’s life. Rites of passage are important stages in someone's life. These include marriage birth, puberty, having a first party, leaving home, and death.
When one thinks of a ballet they hear soft rhythmic notes and see elegantly dancing ballerinas softly tip-toeing around the stage. This is also what people in early 1900’s expected to see when they planned to attend a ballet. However, a couple of motivated artists in 1913 literally planned to change the design of ballet, music and dance forever. On May 29, 1913 a ballet named The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris, France. The original title as it translates from Russian to French is; Le Sacre du Printemps, meaning the rite of spring, but the literal translation from Russian to English means “Sacred Spring”. The ballet and music were composed by Igor Stravinsky, with the help of Nicholas Roerich, who proposed the general idea behind the ballet to Stravinsky. Roerich wanted to put into motion the ideas behind pagan pre-Christian rituals in Russia. Together the two created the story line behind the ballet; a sacred pagan ritual where a young female dances herself to death and is then offered to the “Gods” of spring to make them happy. The music was composed by Vaslav Nijinsky and the ballet was produced by Sergei Diaghilev for the Russian Ballet. This ballet was so different from what the spectators expected to see that it caused a riot. The Rite of Spring turned the tables of ballet in every sense: the dance, the music and the general idea of ballet was modernized by the group of artists who created and produced it.
Narratives are transmitted through myths, where they tell a story to us about ourselves. These messages are reenacted and performed through rituals, which embody the narratives that we hold close in a culture, containing the core set of values, morals, and traditions that make a society unique. Through this physical performance, narratives enact changes within us through rites of passage, specifically, taking place in the transition state. Narratives and belief systems both function as tools to organize a culture and aid its participants in making sense of their world. By exploring and appreciating the significance of narratives in a culture, we are able to learn about a way of life, both our own and of ‘exotic’ or foreign
In the film “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)” there are many different beliefs, symbols and ritual that has different meaning to different characters. There are many rituals that takes places in this film that can be categories into van Gennep's rite of passage theory. Van’s theory groups religious rituals into tree different group stage called “separation, liminality, and incorporation” (Nye 2008). Furthermore. The separation stage can be when the person that’s undergoing the ritual separates from his usual life, for example, when Frodo was given the duty of moving the ring from Shire (his home town) to Rivendell (home of Elrond). This falls under the separation category because he is leaving his own town for the first
Exhilarating moments. Life or death decisions. Intense pain. Tear jerking memories. Obtaining note worthy achievements. All these moments happen in the lives of people every day. Different people turn these into rites of passage to become an adult. Some families or groups require their youth to have to go through a rite of passage to earn their parents or leading adult’s respect. The few in my life I had to complete rites of passage for are my father, mother and I.