I. A salute to Claude Lévi-Strauss (11/28/1908-10/31/2009), the 100-year old hepcat anthropologist.
Along with my sister Linda, who is a practicing anthropologist/archaeologist, and our mother, who is a very engaged reader and thinker, I've practically always enjoyed anthropological ways of seeing the world. Anything that gets at what underlies cultural codes is cool by me.
II. Together with related fields, Anthropology makes its way into writing classes. Here are a three typical writing prompts (the resultant writing is usually really interesting, and entertaining):
A. Write about a personal belief, superstition or supernatural event (based on your own life or that of someone you know).
B. Write abut a personal ritual or routine and its meaning. (Includes religion, sports, holidays, etc.).
C. Write about a time when you found yourself somewhere you shouldn't have been.
III. An anthropological way of looking at things informs comedy and satire. Take any, say Monty Python or Larry David's humor (Curb Your Enthusiasm, etc.), and what you get is close and sometimes absurd scrutiny of human behavior, spotlighting manners, beliefs, customs and taboos, making them the butt of jokes, as it were. Oh, you betcha.
Today's Rune: Joy. Also, A salute to the Obama-Biden victory one year ago!
4 comments:
A. Write about a personal belief, superstition or supernatural event (based on your own life or that of someone you know).
God exists and is not a human life form.
B. Write abut a personal ritual or routine and its meaning. (Includes religion, sports, holidays, etc.).
I have woken every morning so far breathing, it means that I am still alive and on the planet and that so far today, my cadaver is not going to a gross anatomy class.
C. Write about a time when you found yourself somewhere you shouldn't have been.
One morning in in 1974 I dropped two hits of purple microdot acid and was tripping balls off all day. Then later that night I went to a Joe Walsh concert in a small theater in NYC, where I dropped two hits of mescaline.
A few hours later I found myself out of gas on the Brooklyn Queens expressway. I walked, strolled really, across 12 lanes of traffic thinking that there was a gas can on the other side. There wasn't. So I strolled back across those 12 lanes of traffic.
In retrospect I don't think I belonged at that Joe Walsh concert because when he asked what the audience wanted to hear, without thinking I said "Rocky Mountain High," which he replied..."that was written by someone else..."
When I was in high school freshman social studies class, my teacher had us read an essay by Sen. S.I. Hayakawa, who was a psychologist by training. He wrote in "anthopogese" language about the strange rituals of the "Nacerima" (read it backwards). They had special rooms they locked themselves into for special secret rituals, like scraping their skin with pieces of metal. When he described our "strange rituals" out of context they sounded as mysterious as those of other cultures.
Hi Erik, this is a challenge!
A. residents of my Grandparents nursing home, regularly reported seeing an angel just before one of them passed.
B. I always have to lay in my bed with complete silence and 3 Hershey Dark Chocolate Kisses anytime I read the last chapter of any book.
C.My timing is impeccable and lucky! No unfortunate instances!
Hey y'all, nicely done. Thanks for the responses, much appreciated'
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