Native Americans in the United States and Short Story Essay Example for Free

Native Americans in the United States and Short Story Essay Nacirema The â€Å"Body Ritual among the Nacirema† is a short story about a native American tribe. It wasn’t until more research on my part that I realized that this tribe did not exist. In fact it is a folk tale told in Miner’s own words. In true form Miner gives hint to this short story the Nacirema culture to that of the our culture today. Nacirema is in fact spelled â€Å"American†(Culture). The Nacirema has a hero named â€Å"Notgnihsaw† spelled â€Å"Washington† backwards. There are many similarities to this story as our American culture. Out of similarities Washington is our hero. He was the first President of the United States. Legend has it that Washington â€Å"threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River†, much like the Nacirema threw their native beads across their Pa-To-Mac River. Another story has Washington chopping down a cherry tree. But did Washington actually chop the tree down? â€Å"For he could not tell a lie†. As Americans we have rituals and cultural identities Every household has its â€Å"shrine† much like the Nacirema. Not all shrines are made alike. Is the â€Å"shrine† our homes, our churches, or our bathrooms? Shrines come in all walks of life. Miner gives the perception that the working class go to work and make money. If you have very little money your home is small much like a tent. The more money you make the bigger your home is which is made of brick and mortar. He discuses a specific â€Å"charm box† built into the wall (medicine cabinet). Within this box is collection of magical potions (medicine) where all members of the tribe have faith that he/she cannot live without. â€Å"The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts. However, the medicine men do not provide the curative potions for their clients, but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language. This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm. †(Miner) This indicates folks going to the doctor that write the prescriptions to filled by the pharmacy. Miner talks about how members bow theirs heads in front of the box much like that of washing our hands. The Catholics have a similar ritual of dipping of the fingers in the â€Å"holy water† and doing the sign of the cross(Holy water) or kneeling before entering the pew(Religion:Manners in). The Nacirema have a morbid fascination with their mouths. If it â€Å"weren’t for the rituals of the mouth, they believed their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed. † If these things would have happened they believed their lovers would disown them. † â€Å"The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. †(Miner) This is much like the flossing or brushing of our teeth. The floss or bristles on our tooth brush we use is similar to the â€Å"hogs hairs. † The â€Å"magical powders† is that of the tooth paste we brush our teeth with. Miner maintains that the Americans right of passage in ways to throw off the readers. Themes as visiting the doctor, surgical operations, and sex are talked about. I initially didn’t take this story serious in reading it. After thorough research to get a better understanding of the writing I got a eye opening. This story reminds me much of a recent short story â€Å"A Modest Proposal†. Both has similarities of rituals and tales of people. I come from a family of rituals with last names that carry on from family to family or given the middle name of your mother first name. We are all meeting the needs of our own tribes whether it be the Americans, Nacirema or Vietnamese into how each is stereotyped.

The Horrific Holocaust :: World War II History

The Horrific Holocaust Nearly six million Jews were killed and murdered in what historians have called "The Holocaust." The word 'holocaust' is a conflagration, a great raging fire that consumes in its path all that lives. In the years between 1933 and 1945, the Jews of Europe were marked for total annihilation. Moreover, anti-Semitism was given legal sanction. It was directed by Adolf Hitler and managed by Heinne Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann. There were many other great crimes and murders, such as the killing of the Armenians by the Turks, but the Holocaust stood out as the "only systematic and organized effort by a modern government to destroy a whole race of people." The Germans under Adolf Hitler believed that the Jews were the cause of all the German troubles and were a threat to the German and Christian values. Dating back to the first century A.D. the Jews and Christians were always at war. The Jews were considered the murderers of Christ and were therefor denounced from society, rejected by the Conservatives and were not allowed to live in rural areas. As a result, the Jews began living in the cities and supported the liberals. This made the Germans see the Jews as the symbol of all they feared. Following the defeat of the Germans in WW1, the Treaty Of Versailles and the UN resolutions against Germany raised many militaristic voices and formed extreme nationalism. Hitler took advantage of the situation and rose to power in 1933 on a promise to destroy the Treaty Of Versailles that stripped Germany off land. Hitler organized the Gestapo as the only executive branch and secret terror organization of the Nazi police system. In 1935, he made the Nuremberg Laws that forbid Germans to marry Jews or commerce with them. Hitler thought that the Jews were a nationless parasite and were directly related to the Treaty Of Versailles. When Hitler began his move to conquer Europe, he promised that no person of Jewish background would survive. Before the start of the second world war, the Jews of Germany were excluded from public life, forbidden to have sexual relations with non-Jews, boycotted, beaten but allowed to emigrate. When the war was officially declared, emigration ended and 'the final solution to the Jewish problem' came. When Germany took over Poland, the Polish and German Jews were forced into overcrowded Ghettos and employed as slave labour. The Jewish property was seized. Disease and starvation filled the Ghettos. Finally, the Jews were taken to concentration camps in Poland and Germany were they were

Marriage is a private affair; Sequel Essay

As Oekeke awoke, he shifted in his bed with a pain coming from his chest. It wasn’t a pain that made you clench up and scream, he knew from that moment something was very wrong. He tried to open his at last, from when he awoke his eyes were still weary but it seemed as though he was stuck in time. His heart pumped faster and his mind was propelling from left to right to across the back and back. All he could think of was his family, but with such confusion he could hardly focus on the realty of his situation. It was a sensation he’d never felt ever before, and as he saw his life flash by him he knew the only thing he could do was to wait it out. The old man finally grasped control of his life covered in sweat and disorientation. He asked himself if it could have been a near death experience or just a really vivid and messed up dream that only comes around every couple of years. He knew one thing for sure and that was to get to his sons house right away and end the path of negativity. His body was weak but his mind was made up and with that he left all that had just happened behind and left. Just as Okeke rushed to his vehicle, the rain started to pour down as if it were trying to stop him. In the back of his mind he was still left with questions that would once in a while come up. It was too late now as his mind was set on seeing his family. The dark, gloomy sky filled his pain with even more remorse. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from exactly, it wasn’t leaving anytime now. The storm brewed as Okeke drove without any intent of stopping and slow his speed. A sudden sharp pain hit his heart like thunder to ground. His face grew weary and tense and the ever growing pain made the man’s vision sluggish like the fog. He was broken, still his left hand on the wheel. A sudden faint object leapt over the front of his hood, nearly colliding with the car, startling Okeke to gain control and pass his pain for the time being. As the hours passed he finally arrived to Nene’s and Nnaemako’s, crawling out and nearly breaking into their house. Nene helped him in, while in tears Okeke explained his sorrow and experience he had and while all this was happening his pain slowly started to fade away. Okeke finished by saying that everything will be alright and even if they do have their different mind and culture, there will always be a way to solve the issue through choice and absolute strength. The man, finally relaxed in his sons arms, slowly slept back into his nightmare. His son, wife and kid all shared a final breath with him. Okeke slowly lifted his right fingers to his  left ring finger and took his ring and opening his son’s pam and placing it in. Their eyes filled with tears and they were all at peace now a real family. A faint vision appeared flashing in quickly and Okeke was left in a bed which seemed to be in a hospital, from what he could tell. There was mirror hanging on the wall to his right and he looked at it and jumped out of bed seeing how old he looked. He started screaming and ran out but two nurses stopped him and brought him back to his bed. With the confusion and everything he was lead to believe, the nurses told him that he has Alzheimer’s and that once every couple of years he remember everything for a while. This was the first time in 10 years that it’s happened, he was short of breath and asked them what his visions and dreams were all about. They told him that his body is trying to fight the disease. He asked if he had kids and that part was true and they just finished visiting him a few hours ago. They told him that it seemed like a very deep and emotional moment they spent with him and it was like the world was at peace. Okeke laid back in his bed and told them that, that was enough and he said he was ready to go. He knew he was ready and that moment made him re-evaluate everything, like he’d encountered it before, but he was having a hard time remembering it.

Competitive Strategies And Government Policies - 1968 Words

Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Group B Eco/365 November 20, 2014 Jack Foyil Competitive Strategies and Government Policies In today’s world there are constant changes that are difficult to keep up. People struggle for this reason as well on daily basis. This type of issues has come to the attention of the management from different companies around the world, the competitive environment and government policies have affected many other industries as well. Consequently, they feel that similar changes may be applicable in their food and beverage industry. There are new companies entering to the market which have to overcome some issues such as mergers, globalization, the price set up, and the sustainability of profits. It is†¦show more content†¦But the customer are always looking to try new products in the market, something they really like, and it is how new companies win customers, from another companies that have decades selling traditional products. This occurs quite often with restaurants, beverage store and fast food restaurants. As a result, some new companies’ owners have move d to acquiring other competition or just merging with them. Growth and profit are the reason for companies to merge. In acquiring or merging with another company it helps gain customers in different markets along with not having to build a new company from scratch. Therefore, merging with another company helps limit competition. However, as with most everything else in our country, there are rules and regulations that prevent some mergers. According to Colander (2010), merges need to be reviewed by the Justice Department and merges cannot result in a high percentage of market share. This is to prevent monopolies from occurring. When companies feel that they have grown as much as they can here in the United States they look toward globalization. Globalization has occurred for some companies but not others. Globalization like merging helps develop branding of the companies name other than in the United States. With high branding a company can continue to maintain profits along with increasing it. Especially, if the company knows how to work and respect the country they are in. For