Chapter 5 Reflection

My perception of performance has greatly changed after reading ‘Chapter 5: Performance’ in Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions by Martha C. Sims and Martin Stephens. This segment explains that performances are not always the extravagant events that we have come to label them as in our culture. Performances take place several times throughout everyday experiences. Certain “Markers” or signals open up the way for performances to take place even in casual settings. For example, I would have never thought of a joke as a form of performance before I read this text. But now, it makes sense to me why certain jokes would be labeled as such. The familiar phrase “Knock-Knock” opens up the situation for the joke teller to display or perform his sense of humor or wit. Even a simple conversation between friends can be deemed as a performance. With key phrases such as, “Did you hear…” or “Can I just say…” performances are about to take place through the telling of a story. I had never thought of such common occurrences to be identified as a performance, but with a vast definition that performance has acquired, everyone can be called great performers.

This post is in response to the Chapter 5 Reflection Question.

Chapter Four Reflection

My junior year of high school, I applied to be apart of our school’s chapter of the National Honor Society.  In order to apply, students needed to achieve a 3.5 GPA or higher and answer several questions regarding character, honesty, and community service.  Luckily, they accepted me into this organization; the only step left was to undergo the infamous induction ceremony.

         One Thursday evening, the National Honor Society had planned to hold its induction.  All the inductees wore nice attire and given a V-neck sash to wear around the neck.  We filed into the auditorium in two lines: each inductee standing next to a senior member.  The inductees branched off onto the stage while the current members sat in the audience.  The president of Geneva High School’s National Honor Society, the teacher sponsor, and the principal made speeches congratulating us on obtaining this prestigious position.  We continued with a candle lighting ceremony where each inductee would light their very own candle by taking the flame from four larger candles at the front of the stage.  Each of the four large candles represented the four characters that NHS emphasizes: scholarship, leadership, service, and character.  After lighting all of our candles, we recited the NHS pledge, and we became official members.

         This “high context” ceremony and ritual was and still is very important to many students.  The accomplishment of acceptance into NHS is not a low achievement, but in fact, one in which to be very proud.  As cliché as the ceremony was, including the candles and the pledge, we all knew and understood the deeper meaning and significance behind this event.  This ritual “made intangible values, beliefs, and attitudes… concrete and visible” (Sims and Stephens 97).  All of our efforts to uphold scholarship, leadership, service, and character were visibly recognized by our parents, the school administration, and our fellow peers.

 

This post is in response to the Chapter Four Reflection Question.

Third Encounter Project

This past weekend, I was privileged enough to attend my friend Melissa’s house for dinner. This was a very special evening because it was the celebration of her younger sister’s adoption day. Melissa’s sister, Claire, was adopted seven years ago from Guan Zhou, China on February 28^th. This past Friday, Melissa and I traveled up to her hometown of Crown Point, Indiana for this event. Every year her family puts on a big party for this celebration and there’s always a large gathering at their house. Melissa’s mom makes a ton of Chinese food for all their guests to enjoy and this weekend was no exception. The food was wonderful and tasted very authentic; except for the Americanized fortune cookie that was indeed a mandatory item. Throughout the evening, there was Chinese music playing all over the house that really set the mood. Melissa and the rest of her family spent the night telling stories of Claire the past seven years and even the story of her adoption. I heard Melissa say once, “People ask me what it’s like to have an adopted sister, I ask them what it’s like to have a biological one. I can’t imagine my life without Claire, she was meant to be a part of this family. God knew it was meant to be.” This statement touched my heart and I felt so blessed to have been invited to this honorary event. This family loved Claire so much and didn’t view her as an outsider, but as always part of the family even while she was in China.

I learned quite a few things that night about the Chinese culture, especially a lot of facts about their adoption procedures. In the country of china, there is a law that states that each family can only have on child in order to minimize their population increase. As a result, many families are forced to have several children because each time they have a daughter they have to give her up until they have a son because that is what is valued in their society. This means that orphanages across the country are filled with baby girls awaiting adoption. The country will soon find itself in a population crisis when the number of available Chinese men greatly outnumbers the available women. The Machay family definitely did their part when taking Claire into their home and family. This was a splendid celebration and learning experience that I will never forget.

This post is in response to my Third Encounter Project: Ritual, Festival, and Celebration.