Ritual Observation : A Young Person 's Coming Of Age

Most common cultures have rituals, celebrations, or traditional ceremonies to acknowledge the coming of age of boys and/or girls. The Hispanic culture have a traditional “Quinceañera” for young teenage girls turning age 15 to recognize her coming of age as a woman. Jews have “Bar Mitzvah” for men or “Bat Mitzvah” for women to celebrate coming of age. Although in some cultures, celebrating coming age is nothing less than actually celebrating; but in other cultures, such as Aborigine culture, rather than having a huge celebration, young teenage boys, age thirteen, are enduring an essential evaluation. In this stage of their life, their elders test them to see if they are “man” enough to survive by themselves.

Most of the time, becoming an adult is planned. There are religious ceremonies, the gaining of a driver’s license, and other forms of new responsibility to signify the coming of age. Sometimes though maturity comes at you like a freight train. It comes at you in the blink of an eye and there is no stopping it once it hits you. You are forced to grow up and take on new responsibilities that you thought you wouldn’t have to take on until many years later. It's up to you though to decide what to do from there. You can either try and run away from the problems you have come to face or you can take the train head on and conquer what has been presented to you. I decided to face the train.

In the novel “A Long Way Gone”, there are endless amounts of evidence to be found explaining why this novel is a “coming of age” novel. So, what exactly is “coming of age”? Typically, this is a story that is made up of three different factors: young characters who experience a crisis, absent or negative adult relations, and the incorporation of an epiphany moment. The story of Ishmael Beah could not be an any greater representation of this category of story, because at 12 years old there is no peace that could be described in his childhood simply because peace was absent.

Nonetheless, they have differences between Confirmation and Bar and Bat Mitzvah. Even though it is stated that the Confirmation is a coming of age ceremony, newly converted adults can also confirm as well. To point out, running time of 12:37 in The Sacraments you can see that an adult is being confirmed by a minister. However, Bar and Bat Mitzvah are specifically for boys and girls who are thirteen years old (Esposito, 102). The ritual of Confirmation involves with anointing "the forehead with holy oil as a sign that the believer has received the Holy Spirit" (12:22). In order for boy and girl to be a Bar and Bat Mitzvah, respectively, they have to go through an intense training with the rabbi and recite scriptures during the service. After this ritual, they are considered adults and "boys are qualified to form part of the minyan (ten adult males) required for any Jewish worship service" (Esposito, 102). However, in Christianity, such groups do not

14 kids have sealed themselves in a superstore as a freak hailstorm and serious chemical weapons spill threaten to bring the world to its knees. Once brothers Alex and Dean establish a sense of security, they find that their only chance of rescue is to drive 67 miles across the now deadly state of Colorado to the nearest airport for evacuation. Dean and the others with type O bloods decide to stay behind because the poisoned air outside would turn them into savage rage-fueled monsters.

I was born on April 23, 1994 in Brampton, Ontario. I have lived in Brampton my entire life. I completed my undergraduate degree at University of Toronto, and now I am here at York University completing my BEd. I am someone who values helping others above anything else, which is why my dream has always been to become a teacher. This is something that I will accomplish, and nothing will stop me from achieving my dreams!

‘Bar Mitvah’ is an important and time-honoured rite of passage which is a ‘coming of age’ milestone for a boy who reaches his 13th birthday. The term ‘Bar Mitzvah’ literally means ‘son of the commandment.’ This celebration formally and publicly marks the obligation of the child of 13 years old (12 for girls), to observe the commandments. This ritual traditionally recognises that a young person has reached the age when he or she is no longer a minor according to Jewish law and thereby took on new religious privileges and responsibilities of an adult.

In my culture females are circumcised also are given mark of identity on their body. Also some tribe in my countries place facial scar on females and males when they are teen.

Across several different cultures, there are different ways in which people of a community recognize the emergence of a young girl into womanhood. In the United States the most common is the famous Sweet Sixteen which as in the name states: relates to being sixteen years old, getting a car, and having some sort of celebration to commemorate the birthday. Among others include the Quinceanera which is usually equated with Mexico and Bat Mitzvahs which is a Jewish girl’s rite of passage. Another rite of passage, called Kinaalda, is a puberty ceremony that holds the same importance and significance among the Navajo tribe as their creation story. Unlike American society, during the people’s lifetime there is not a time between child and adult. In the Navajo culture it seems that it is more plausible to say that the time between being a child and adult or as stated by Leighton and Kluckhohn (1947), “physical maturity and social maturity are more nearly coincidental.” Meaning unlike the American culture where the gap between childhood and adulthood is filled with an adolescence, and in the Navajo tribe this gap is not prolonged and instead this transition is commemorated by a four-night ceremony. This process begins at the Navajo girl’s first menstruation and is a way to announce to the whole community that she has become a woman. In earlier marriage customs, a year or so after the ceremony the girl would be considered ready for marriage; as a result, some felt that “a girl’s

Archetypal worship takes place within a church structure on Wednesdays (bible study) and Sundays (Sunday school and devotional service). *

_____ 5. The bar or bat mitzvah is a coming of age ceremony in _______.

     Childhood is a time where children learn about the world around themselves. They see and experience many factors that influence their everyday lives, which help them grow stronger when they become adults. In 'Girl'; by Jamaica Kincaid and 'The Lesson'; by Toni Cade Bambara the characters within the stories learn valuable lesson with help them grow to become better individuals. In 'The Lesson'; the character of Sugar undergoes a realization that society does not treat everyone equally, that not every individual has the same opportunity and equality that they should have. In 'Girl'; the main character learns that she must be perceived as a woman and not as a slut, her mother brings to her

There are a number of activities that take place during the ceremony and each part has its own purpose and significance. As a whole, the procession takes place over a course of four days and within a decent amount of time of the first menstruation. However, in the event of the child being away at boarding school they will go home immediately or if this is not an option then the ceremony must be postponed. The ordering of events take place over the course of the four days directly relate to the myth of the origins of Kinaalda. For instance, in Marie Shirley’s Kinaalda the order and the events that take place resemble closely the events that took place during the mythical origin story. For Shirley’s own ceremony the events that take

Rituals around the world all teach valuable lessons that help initiates see the value and importance of life. Each culture has different rituals that provide experiences for their youth to learn these valuable lessons of life. Many coming of age rituals are intense procedures. The Amazon's Satere Mawé youth enter adulthood through the bullet-ant glove initiation, teaching courage and endurance, and the crocodile scaring ritual that the men from the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea participate in teaches them pain and accomplishment.

When a Jewish boy is then 13 he has a Bar Mitzvah, meaning ‘son of the