I was steaming across the Pacific Ocean onboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-61). The sky was as dark blue as the ocean and it was hard to tell where the ocean stopped and the sky began. The captain announced over the 1MC that we would be crossing the Equator and the International Date Line in 3 days and we would be having a Crossing the Line Ceremony which is a very old maritime tradition dating back to the 19th century. It is very rare for a ship to cross the Equator and the International Date Line, a ship normally only gets to cross the Equator. It was explained to me that the ceremony was for all new sailors to participate in only if we wanted to. See, a new sailor is called a wog and after they cross the Equator they are called a Shellback. When a sailor crosses the Equator and the International Date Line they are called a Golden Shellback. The ceremony would involve being hit on your butt with a piece of fire hose that was soaked in sea water while you crawled on your hands and knees on the flight deck which was coated with a slip resistant non skid, being verbally deg...
“Across the Western Ocean” is an American folk song arranged by composer Celius Dougherty. Although the song is American, the lyrics of the song detail the dangerous voyage the Irish immigrants of the early-to-mid 19th century had to undertake to come to the United States. “Across the Western Ocean” was arranged by Dougherty in 1948, and published in his compilation “Five Sea-Chanties” (“Five Sea Chanties”).
The novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko follows a young man, Tayo through his journey beginning when he returns home to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation, from World War Two; and is very ill. During the narrative Silko introduces us to Tayo's life before the war, which gives insight to reasons of why Tayo is ill. Through out his illness Tayo goes through many ceremonies both literally and metaphorically to try to cure his ailment. One of the ceremonies that is performed, is lead by Old Ku'oosh, the medicine man, where he performs a cleansing ceremony for someone who has killed someone in battle, even though Tayo doesn't recall killing anyone. However, he adds that this ceremony, which he has been performing for many of the returning war soldiers, has not worked for all of them. He then recommends another medicine man with the tools to cure and perform ceremonies, for the old ceremonies, since the white man had arrived, have not been able to cure the new diseases. Along with the medicine man ceremonies he also goes to American "white" doctors, which also acts as some what of a cleansing for him. In his case vomiting is can also be used as a ceremony for Tayo because he uses it to cleanse his body of the poisons and evil, both physical illness and mental illness. The ceremonies that Tayo goes through whether traditional through a medicine man or contemporary like visits to the psychiatrist and stays in the hospital, all add to his recovery, either through physical or mental cleansing.
It is gratifying to know that you are finally on an Honor Flight; a much deserved token of respect for your service! Hopefully, it proves to be a source of wonderful memories for years to come.
His mother left him at age 4, and then he watched his brother die at war right in front of him. Tayo in Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko is experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after his return from the War. Tayo’s life has never been easy but as he tries to return to a normal and productive life after returning from WWII, despite his PTSD, he is greeted with a multitude of social pressures and moral burdens that will only resolve when he accepts who he is.
The inherent desire to belong to a group is one that is fundamental to human nature. In his article “Evolution and Our Inner Conflict,” Edward O. Wilson writes, “A person’s membership in his group – his tribe – is a large part of his identity.” Wilson explores multilevel group selection and the proclivity for people to define themselves based on their belonging to the group. He goes on to say that people often form these groups with those who look like them and belong to the same culture or ethnic group. In the novels Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko and The Puttermesser Papers by Cynthia Ozick, the identities of the protagonist are predominantly shaped by the ethnicities and heritages that they identify with. The identity of Tayo, the protagonist of the novel Ceremony is largely shaped by his ethnicity as both a Native American and part white. Tayo’s background leads directly to his own identity as an outsider and is central to the storyline. In the novel The Puttermesser Papers by Cynthia Ozick, the title character Puttermesser’s identity and subsequently her story is also influenced by her Jewish heritage.
Have you ever wondered what the “rite of passage” means or how would one consider if they had gone through a rite of passage? It could be something big that could change someone’s entire foundation, such as getting married or if that person enters to the next world leaving behind everything from the world that the individual knows of, afterlife. The novella, “The Body” written by Gordie Lachance, elaborates on this one event during his childhood, with his childhood friends, as a rite of passage between himself and his friends. This event is surrounded by the corpse of Ray Brower, a young boy around the same age of Gordie, Teddy, Vern, and Chris. It was an easygoing, playful journey where they believed that at the end of this
Finally, to my delight, the day had come when I would be flying my maiden flight for British Airways. This was the new & most sophisticated airline, the Boeing 777-300ER from London to New York. The journey would usually take 7 hours but the crew has to report for the flight preparation 2 hours prior to the flight. After all the final checks with the ground crew, we gave the green signal to invite the passengers on-board. Once we had all the passengers and their luggage loaded, we taxied to the runway. The weather was miserable in London this morning and there was an excessive amount of water on the runway. Once we a...
The Commander of the division to which I belonged, as soon as soon as we were on board the ship, appointed me to boatswain, and ordered me to go to the captain and demand of him the keys to the hatches and a dozen candles. I made the demand accordingly, and the captain promptly replied, and delivered the articles; but requested me at the same time to do no damage to the ship or the rigging. We then were ordered to ...
A Jewish Marriage Ceremony In Hebrew, marriage is referred to as Kiddush (sanctification) or nisuin (elevation) - a nisuin Marrying a Jewish partner is important mainly for the sake of the children, because whether a child is Jewish or not is determined only by its mother. Before the wedding, the bride-to-be goes to the Mikveh, the special. immersion pool where women go to cleanse themselves from impurity. usually menstruation and to start fresh.
"Greasy Lake" by T.C. Boyle is a tale of one young man's quest for the "rich scent of possibility on the breeze." It was a time in a man's life when there was an almost palpable sense of destiny, as if something was about to happen, like a rite of passage that will thrust him into adulthood or cement his "badness" forever. The story opens with our narrator on a night of debauchery with his friends drinking, eating, and cruising the streets as he had done so many times in the past. What he found on that night of violence and mayhem would force him to look at himself hard. This is a story of one man's journey from boyhood to maturity.
Change is one of the tallest hurdles we all must face growing up. We all must watch our relatives die or grow old, our pets do the same, change school or employment, and take responsibility for our own lives one way or another. Change is what shapes our personalities, it molds us as we journey through life, for some people, change is what breaks us. Watching everything you once knew as your reality wither away into nothing but memory and photographs is tough, and the most difficult part is continuing on with your life. In the novel Ceremony, author Leslie Silko explores how change impacted the entirety of Native American people, and the continual battle to keep up with an evolving world while still holding onto their past. Through Silko’s
During the Capstone experience, I had three professional goals that I hoped to accomplish. Processional goal #1: To view the evidence-based practices that BHCH employs in taking care of the patients. I also reached my objectives by reading about postpartum hemorrhage and identifying the tools that would help to recognize postpartum hemorrhage in pregnant women during my Capstone period. Profession goal #2 view health care policies about cultural sensitivity and safe health practice. In fact, I familiarized myself with the demographic and listening to a translator speaking to a Spanish patient. Professional goal #3 View safety goals that help to reduce medical errors. I was able to attend meetings with the interdisciplinary team on several
the mohel says a prayer to ask God to watch over the child during the
A man by the name of Malcom X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today” (Malcolm X). The preceding quote is pertinent for all of us students here at ISU, but sometimes we can’t just remember a quote, we need something solid and tangible that is more of a constant reminder. Here at ISU we have just that in a piece of art titled Procession. Procession has a rich history, it is interpreted in an interesting way, and it is very important to every student at ISU.
Scissors, Paper, Rock! For my first cultural event, I attended the University Performing Dancers rendition of “Scissors, Paper, Rock!”. This dance performance took place in University Hall here on campus. This performance is considered a cultural event because the game Rock, Paper, Scissors is an ancient game that many different cultures have claimed to invented.