The God of Small Things Lesson Plan

The Nacirema Tribe

Kind of Activity:

Classwide Discussion

Objective:

Students will examine the politics of culture clash, both within the novel and in their own reading of the text.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.9, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.3

Structure:

For homework the night before, have students read Horace Miner's essay, "Body Rituals among the Nacirema," available here: https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html This essay is famous in the field of anthropology for pointing out the hypocrisy in the way that the Western world talks about other cultures. "Nacirema" is actually "America" spelled backwards--Miner uses the language common in...