Ethnographic research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethnographic - Research Paper Example According to oral history passed on over generations, the Maasai culture is said to have begun in the 15th century (Strang 2010). The Maasai people have interacted with the Cushites who have been their neighbors hence adopting most of their lifestyles. The interaction led to assimilation of some of the Cushitic groups in East Africa leading to the Maasai’s extension of their boundaries further south to Tanzania. Their culture has been a source of tourist attraction in both countries. It has also attracted scholars and anthropologists who have studied the culture deeply to come up with its social and cultural roots and understand its activities. Their strong cultural bonds have helped in the endurance of the Maasai culture in the dynamic world due to impacts from Western cultures. The Maasai has the age-set as the central unit of their society. It consists of small boys and girls who have undergone the set rituals to become adults. The boys in the same age-set start taking care of their cattle at tender ages making most of them skip school. To encourage them and ensure survival in different situations, they are frequently beaten to help them gain courage that is useful while herding cattle in the wild. The girls are allocated duties such as milking and cooking (Strang 2010). They learn most of their roles from their parents as soon as they stop breastfeeding. As for the boys, they are initiated into morans (Warriors) from the ages of 12-25 years. Circumcision is a rite of passage that involves both genders. Boys have to undergo painful circumcision procedures that ensure they become strong men in the future. Society elders who use locally available tools; hence, lack anesthetics in the procedure perform the ritual. The boys are believed to undergo the pain in silence and fight it on their own. Failure of endurance leads the marking of the individual making him known to the community of being a coward. During the circumcision

Effects of Entire les Murs On Traditional French National Identity Essay

Effects of Entire les Murs On Traditional French National Identity - Essay Example This report stresses that someone who views this film for the first time may be obliged to have a negative attitude towards French culture due the fact that pupils are a force to learn it at schools. The fact that this teacher enjoys French does not mean that everybody will like it and failure to understand that will cause someone who might have been willing to learn the French culture to have second thoughts about it. If a certain pupil does not understand this language, then definitely he/she will assume that their culture is not that pleasing as well hence dislikes it. This paper makes a conclusion that the Entre les murs is a good representation of the French education system that has its guiding rules from the western ideas. However, these ideas have caused problems by affecting other cultural groups without taking into consideration their rights. Although public education is free in France and it has been every citizen's right to access it, the way it is made available violates other people's culture and rights. This is because the education system is public centralized and incorporates compulsory French language classes that are not liked by many. This film widely focuses on ethnicity and the failure of the French education system to incorporate other people's ethnicity into their system. If that were not possible, then the education system would try to avoid making the French culture compulsory to foreign students who were interested in learning in France.