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Nacirema Research Paper

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When dropped into a foreign location it is easy to pinpoint the differences between the area’s native culture and your own. The rituals and traditions that the foreign culture contains may seem bizarre or even grotesque in some ways, however, not many people stop to consider the rituals in their own culture that could seem strange to other people. We tend to overlook the oddity of our daily rituals because they feel so natural to us. If we go a day without performing these specific rituals, we feel incomplete and unfit to be out in public. People typically assume that the rituals and traditions they are accustomed to are the common rituals across the globe. They are sorely mistaken. If the citizens of two countries are observed and questioned …show more content…
The shrine contains a charm box where charms and magical potions are store, as well as a small font beneath the charm box. The rituals that occur in the shrine, bathroom, are not done as a family but rather as individuals. Reading about the rituals in the bathroom described in such an abstract fashion is comical. The charms and magical potions stored within the charm box are medications and other similar objects. Miner describes the nacirema (American) going to a doctor of some sort, telling the doctor their symptoms, and receiving a prescription of which the pharmacist fulfills. The prescription medication is then taken until it has served its purpose, however, even then it is not discarded. Thinking of this simple yet rather accurate observation, it causes me to think of the multiple prescription medicines my family keeps. The reason as to why my family seemingly hoards these medicines after they have already served their purpose is beyond me, however, I never questioned it before reading this story. Thinking about it now, it seems completely irrational. Considering the medicine was prescribed for a specific set of symptoms and ailments which corresponds to a certain strain of bacteria or chemical imbalance, it would be nearly impossible to encounter the exact same circumstances a second time. Perhaps the medicine is kept because we think that if we do encounter the same symptoms another time, we

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