Rituals

Ancient Eastern Literature

The theme that emphasized most of the readings from this week’s interpretations would be Ritual. It seems the characters in some of the stories are comfortable doing the same things all the time when it comes to the situations of their lives. Ritual as a theme is perfect because even if something that someone may not notice is happening constantly, it does not mean it is not some form of a ritual. I will start with "Confucius" he states that "Everything we do in life is a ritual, whether we greet each other with a handshake or mark life's important moments, such as birth and death, with special observances." (Greenblatt 2012, p.1333).

 In the Poem "Plums are Falling," The main character is a woman who follows every woman's Ritual, which is to have a husband. The ritual would be learning how to cook and clean. Present yourself in a way so a man would want to marry you. These are things that are instilled in some some young girls heads from a young age.  Even though we might not think of getting married as a ritual does not mean that the large wedding would not be classified as a ritual. It is something that most women look forward to. It states in the poem, "many men want me, let me be bride of one." (Greenblatt 2012 ,line 10).  This is something that the main character felt was her destiny, event though many men wanted her did not necessarily mean she should be  bride for one. It was probably taught that, that's what a women is supposed to look forward to.

I would suggest the teacher have the students do a Venn diagram to compare the words routine and Ritual. Both of the words are similar but very different, daily rituals are meaningful practices and are internally motivated. A ritual is a carefully selected way of doing something that has a sense of purpose and a positive side effect in addition to the straightforward completion of the task. 

Here is a great link for students to get a better understanding of rituals and routines. Click here for more info!

The element of pop culture that could connect these students to the theme described is have the students get a better understand of children that have ADHD. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a mental health disorder that can cause above-normal levels of hyperactive and impulsive behaviors. People with ADHD may also have trouble focusing their attention on a single task or sitting still for long periods of time. Both adults and children can have ADHD. There are a lot of students that suffer from doing ritual behaviors that are not healthy for them. Here are five Productivity Rituals that the students can do for a week and then write a short paper on their experience with the rituals. Here is more information for the exercise. Lets Get Started!