Assignment Instructions
Create a 1-to-2-page, double-spaced paper describing emic and etic perspectives of the holiday of Halloween in the United States.
Include at least the following headings: Emic Perspectives of Halloween, Etic Perspectives of Halloween, and Conclusion.
To write this paper, consider the following points:
– Page 288, in the Religion chapter (Chapter 11) of your textbook, asserts that, “. . . to study supernatural beliefs, anthropologists must cultivate a perspective of cultural relativism and strive to understand beliefs from an emic or insider’s perspective” (Henninger-Rener, 2020)
– Analyze the beliefs of people in the United States regarding the holiday of Halloween. Analyze beliefs about Halloween from both the emic, or insider’s perspective, and from the etic, or outsider’s or observer’s perspective.
– While writing on this subject, consider customs, traditions, rituals, or practices that some Americans participate in to celebrate Halloween. Describe some of those customs, traditions, rituals, or practices and their significance from both an emic, or insider’s, perspective and from an etic, or outsider’s or observer’s perspective.
– What meanings do the celebrations surrounding Halloween have for people celebrating the holiday?
– Do these meanings vary among celebrants?
– Do these meanings vary across sub-cultural groups, genders, or age grades or age sets?
– Feel free to explain Halloween from the perspective of Americans who do not choose to celebrate the holiday. What meanings does Halloween have for such Americans?
– What does it mean to reject a holiday or to choose to not celebrate a particular holiday?
– What meanings does that have for the individuals themselves and what meanings might be apparent from an etic, or outsider’s or observer’s perspective?
– What about celebrations that are described as alternatives to Halloween, such as harvest celebrations in the United States, for example, offered around or near October 31st?
– What is the significance of such celebrations for those participating and what meanings might be apparent from an etic, or outsider’s or observer’s perspective?
The paper must be formatted in APA Style, with an APA-Style title page, page numbers in the upper right, headings, parenthetical in-text citations, and a reference page. The headings must be centered on the line and formatted in bold and in title case. Paraphrase or quote and cite from the textbook and from at least one additional scholarly, outside source to support your points in the paper.
