During a strenuous trek in the mountains, a teenage boy dies of starvation. A girl wearing an elegant gown completes a dance with her father. Both of these things come from rites of passage. Why are they so different? Rites of passage are almost as diverse and widespread as individual cultures. Depending on cultural values, initiation into adulthood varies immensely. Unquestionably, all rites of passage start with the same purpose. The goal is to bring a child into adulthood. However, the process might be redundant or even harmful. Some rites of passage should continue to be practiced, like the Quinceañera and Bar Mitzvah, because they have strong benefits and cultural value while others, like hazing and cutting should not because they can harm and possibly kill people.
The Quinceañera, which turns a 15-year old Latino girl into a woman on her birthday, is important and should continue being practiced because it contains strong cultural values. These cultural values along with messages about faith and sexuality are some beneficial outcomes of the Quinceañera. In the end, these benefits make the event worth the cost. For example, in On La Quinceañera, Jan Risher says, “The Reyes family said the expense was worth it, even if they will only now begin saving for college” (2). This is an example of a person who was satisfied by these outcomes. While some people argue that the Quinceañera is too extravagant and expensive for a rite of passage, the fact is that the actual benefits last for a lifetime. For example, in On La Quinceañera, Risher says, “Sometimes a defining point, even a choreographed one, helps bring home the fact of one’s place in the world” (2). This is a great example of one of the long-lasting benefits of this rite o...
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...out of Step, Smith-Spark says, “Prof Mtuze said a problem for many boys was that they had lost touch with the ideas behind the rites. This meant they competed to be the first to achieve manhood and viewed anyone who admitted pain as a weakling” (2). This confirms the inaccurate purpose of this event. In the end, this rite of passage isn’t worth practicing since there a lot of things that could go wrong.
As you can see, there are a lot of different things that could happen with rites of passage. From the single objective of transitioning a child into an adult, there are a lot of ways to branch out. Some of those branches result in harm and some of them provide a lot of benefits. That’s why it isn’t possible to decide if rites of passage in general should continue to be practiced. But in the end, most adults wouldn’t be true adults if it weren’t for rites of passage.
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.
To reach maturity it requires loss of innocence. It’s a coming of age experience that changes the outlook on life forever. For example, when Antonio saw Lupito’s death scene he couldn’t believe what had happened, he said “I had started praying to myself from the moment I heard the first shot, and I never stopped praying until I reached home.”(Anaya 23), he was terrified of what he had seen and didn’t know
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
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
Could you imagine having a wedding at the age of fifteen? The purpose of a Quinceanera is to celebrate a girl’s fifteenth birthday to mark her passage to womanhood. Like a wedding, Quinceaneras are a long process, and this process takes a financial and emotional toll. A Quinceanera ceremony is very costly for an event that is only a couple of hours long, and it can cause emotional damage if the ceremony does not go as planned. Although they are a popular Hispanic tradition, Quinceaneras should not continue because of the emotional damage and the unnecessary expense that they can cause.
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.
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.
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.
As children we wished to grow up and become an adult sooner so we can have more rights, but the way to adulthood varies with different cultures. Since different cultures have different ways of becoming an adult the meaning of being an adult is different. A person leaves childhood and enters adulthood in many ways there are cultural, religious, or social events. A common way in many cultures is by a rite of passage or ceremonies; a rite of passage is a ritual or event that shows that a person is now an adult. A rite of passage usually reflects certain things that are important in a culture such as values, and beliefs. Rites of passage can be described as specifications that need to be met and occur around the same time as things such as puberty, and marriage. Common types of these ceremonies are usually found in religion; some examples of these ceremonies include baptism, and a Bat Mitzvah. All of these things are considered rites of passage for a person to become an adult in their respective religions.
. Fantasy theory relates to the work of Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and Invisible Cities through themes of liminality, symbolism and distortion. Liminality can be perceived “the transitional period or rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility”(Dictionary), Both books are dealing with an individual or collective coming of age. These coming of age tales can also be observed as rite of passage. “Arnold van Gennep, described rites of passage as a threefold process with phases of separation, segregation, and integration” (Rites of Passage). The initiate (that is, the person undergoing the ritual) is first stripped of the social status that he or she possessed before the ritual, inducted into the liminal period of transition, and finally given his or her new status and re-assimilated into society.
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.
These important events are about moving on, and are often called Transitions are a normal part of life and are a part of growing and developing.
“As a child I assumed that when I reached adulthood, I would have grown-up thoughts.”- David Sedaris. The transition from a child to an adult could be a very intimidating time, this is because not only are people expected to know more but the increase of responsibility sometimes terrifies people. Many reasons on why some prefer childhood over their now adulthood varies on responsibility, the things people are required to know, and the the idea of having a parent or being a parent.
Additionally, there is more to a puberty ceremony than just changing into an adult, because there is much that goes on in the four day ceremony. It is in our tradition that the meaning of this ceremony is similar to the change from adolescence to an adult. I interview Gj Gordy from the Good Shepard Mission in Fort Defiance, Arizona. She stated that, “Yes. There is a lot that goes in the kinaalda, there is no time to rest or be lazy. You always have to do something or prepare things for the next event because for the four days it is all about you so, if you mess up then you mess up your ceremony. That is why we have to get everything perfect and right so in life we won’t mess up and we’ll get it right the first time around” (Gordy. Interview). Many ceremonies events are all different for each girl. Some families have different evens that they want their child to do but, mostly all follow the same even. For example the first day the girl will get her hair combed, dress in nice clothing and jewelry, be molded if it’s her second ceremony, run in the morning and evening, start to grind corn and start to prepare for her alkaad (ceremony cake). The second day consist of running, corn grinding and continue her preparations. The third