Weaving (through Rites)

Once again, I find that in my past research projects I have combined two of the W’s. Weaving and the previous Wiggling have taken place almost simultaneously. I will try to make Weaving into a more identifiable entity for this post.

Part 1 – Organize

Big find recently. The very term I am working with was coined by Arnold van Gennep in his 1909 book The Rites of Passage. That threefold focus I knew at the start of the inquiry is found in Gennep’s work.

The three stages:

Separation – a focused detachment from a previous way of living, cutting away of ‘childish’ things.

Transition – longest/most intense period. Learning about life, responsibilities, working with mentors.

Ceremony/incorporation – a public declaration that tests have been completed and the new adult is ready to take on full responsibilities in the community.

So, the purpose all along has been to identify modern rites in the West. Time to classify what I have found and see if one list has more entries than others.

Religious focus	Baptism, confirmation, bar mitzvah, christenings, first communion (perhaps occurring as a child), vision quest
Group focus	Graduation (high school, college), completion of Boy Scouts
Personal focus – teen years	Quinceañera / Sweet Sixteen / major birthday, start/end of puberty, débutante balls,
Personal focus – 20+ years	Moving out of home, first major job, marriage
Negative rite	Gang initiation, hazing
New/modern rite	Deliberate mentorship of young teens by older adults

Part 2 – Analyze

What does this suggest? What does the initial analysis of this information say? Can I test it with my other findings? Yes. In the West, we only focus on the last part of the rite. The ceremony itself, proclaiming to the community that this individual is an adult. Nearly all of the words in the above chart are a singular event.

This information, by itself, is merely a report. I need to avoid reports. I have hung onto this quote from Gordon (1999), from a reading in the first week of class. It serves as a constant reminder: “The research assignment acts as a reporting exercise when student involvement is limited to information gathering, which is usually demonstrated by reading, taking notes, and writing a summary. Reporting has masqueraded as researching for so long that the terms are used interchangeably.”

This is the part of ‘what if?’ What if full rites existed in the West? Men could be confident that they were prepared for the real world. They would not be afraid of it. They would not waste adult hours on immature pursuits. They could actually mentor and TEACH others how to have a full life. Crime would go down, the number of desirable mates for women would increase. Lessons from the past would not be lost, and culture would be remembered and modified to keep up with the times.

Part 3 – Synthesize

To avoid reporting my information, I feel drawn to make the second part of my inquiry question the focus of my presentation: what would a modern FULL (all three parts) rite look like in the West? Design a rite from scratch…do I have enough research and insight to attempt that? Well, I could borrow ideas from organizations that are currently active. In this annotated bookmark list, I have found ten websites that describe current and active organizations that truly seek to turn boys into men, and fun/interesting articles that really directed my research.

http://www.delicious.com/arjayen/Rites

Note: my annotations are located below each link on this list.

I do not feel that I need to revise my original question. I can simply state that the normal, mainstream Western rites are incomplete. That gives me room to address the second part of my inquiry. Further research will be focused on that aspect.

What kind of project can I make from this? I find myself suddenly forgetting this needs to be applicable to STUDENTS. I started a PowerPoint rough draft, and realized I was directing it more towards PARENTS. I will keep two ages in mind for this product. Either middle school students interested in designing/joining a rite, or older teens on the cusp of graduation, to serve as a ‘checklist’ that they are truly ready for the real world.

Gordon, C. (1999). Students as authentic researchers, accessed online on Sept 18, 2011 at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume21999/vol2gordon.cfm