Assignment: Rites of Passage
For this assignment I want you to read and explore Tim Rouf’s resource page on Arthur Van Gennep’s explanation of Rites of Passage here.
http:
www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1604/carites.html
Also explore the articles on rites of passage at The Balch Institute here:
http:
www2.hsp.org/exhibits/Balch%20exhibits
ites
ites.html
(Also look at Rites of Passage discussion in our text, which is located in the religion chapter and elsewhere.)
Then I want you to think back over your life and write about a formal and societal rite of passage you have experienced. In this paper I want you to do the following:
1. Tell me when the rite of passage occu
ed.
2. What was the setting?
3. What was the purpose?
4. What was the culture that the rite was a part of? What is its history?
5. How were Van Gennep’s categories represented in the rite?
6. What was your status before the rite and how did it change afterward?
7. Was it a powerful or life changing experience for you?
This is not to be a "soul searching" exercise. It is about an event which changed your societal status. Confirmation, ma
iage, graduation, basic training, childbirth, are all examples. E-mail me with your suggestions for what you want to do (if different from the list here) so I can tell you if you are going in the right direction.
This paper will be 1000 words minimum and you will use five sources. The sources will be cultural or historical in nature. DO NOT use Wikipedia, Encarta or other internet encyclopedias for this project. Â I will mark off for this. Use your sources to find background and history on the rite you have selected, and possibly on rites of passage in general. Use MLA or APAÂ citation format for your paper.
In a concluding paragraph tell me what you think about the nature of rites of passage in American society today. Do we have more of them? Fewer? Do they have to be religious in nature or do we have many secular rites as well?