Venezuela’s Culture Essay Example for Free

Venezuela’s Culture Essay The culture of Venezuela is primarily a mixture of Spaniard, African and Indian traditions which was common known as criollo (Creole) (Palmerlee, 825). Their culture also has a strong influence coming from the United States appearing in the middle of the twentieth century. But the influences coming from the original Indian inhabitants were neglected because of the long Spanish colonization. The principal Venezuelan folk type is the llanero, or plainsman, which is similar to the gaucho of Argentina, the cowboy of the United States, and the vaquero of Mexico. The llanero’s folklore, songs, dances and legends are popularized throughout the country. Venezuela’s national song and dance is the joropo, a gay and syncopated invention of the llaneros, danced with a lively, jig-like movement (Kohnstamm, 230). It employs such native instruments as the maraca, a rattle made of dried gourd shells; a small harp; and the cuatro, a small, four-string guitar. The tono llanero, or melody of the plains, is a folk dance which embodies Venezuelan popular feeling at its purest. Other popular dances include the pasillo, similar to the pasillo of Columbia; the merenque, which came from Santo Domingo; and the corrido, from Mexico. The tanquito, a Venezuelan version of the Argentine tango, is also very popular in the country. As of this date, Venezuela has no traditional dress mainly because of the different cultures they inherited from the numerous races they had in the country. But some of them use the dresses that the indigenous people (like the tribes who lives in the Amazon areas) used along time ago. A good example of this is the Liqui-liqui this is usually worn by Venezuelan men. A traditional Liqui liqui is made up of white linen cloth, it has a full length trousers and a long sleeve jacket with a rounded Nehru-style collar, which is fastened and decorated by a junta, it also has around 5-6 buttons. It can also have a pocket. This dress is traditionally worn with an alpargata (it is an open-toed kind of sandal) and can be accessorized with a llanero hat. According to some stories, Liqui liqui was also worn by the rich and famous of Venezuela. A good example of this is the mayor of the Caracas district of Chacao, Leopoldo Lopez which he wore Liqui-liqui in wedding celebration last March 2007. This can also be worn by the women but instead of pants they use a skirt. A joropo dress is also used by the women of Venezuela; it has a very colourful skirt that they used to wave back to their partners during the dance ball. The Roman Catholicism is the predominant faith in the country. It is estimated that 95 percent of their present population adheres to the Roman Catholic faith (Dydynski, 376). However, religious freedom is guaranteed to all faiths, and no mention of the Roman Catholic Church is made in the constitution. In 1980’s the Protestants catches the attentions of a few Venezuelan but the Evangelist and Adventist has more followers than the Protestant. There were also few Mormons and Jewish. But most of the indigenous religion practices were vanished because they were introduce and converted to Catholicism. Although there were some of it survived and still active in their culture society, one good example of this is the culto of Maria Lonza. According to their stories and legends, Maria is a witch or healer which was born with an Indian father and a Spanish mother. She symbolizes the other two figures, black henchman, el Negro Felipe, and of an Indian cacique (chief), Guaicapuro which makes them the Tres Poderes or the Three Powers. Though the country is composed of different races and ethic groups, majority of Venezuelans practices the Catholicism, which they owed from their Spanish colonial heritage. They held mass everyday but has an obligatory worship day which is every Sunday, it was said that in this ritual they believe that the simple bread and wine will be turning into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. They believed in the sacrament of baptism and confirmation, most of the Venezuelan children carries a name of a saint and celebrates their saint’s day and their own birthdates separately. They practice a straight nine days prayer for their beloved who had just passed away; this was usually attended by the immediate family members and close friends of the deceased person. Every December 25th they celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ which was commonly known as Christmas. They also commemorate Ash Wednesday were in they put ashes in form of a crucifix in their forehead in preparation for the Holy Week. One of their famous rituals is the Devil Dance (Baynham, 378). They celebrate this annually during the Corpus Christi. They do this by dancing in a drumbeat along the streets of Venezuela with a bloody red costume and a devilish mask. In this said rituals the devil or the evil spirit fights back against the good spirit and he also visit the graves of their ancestors, but of course the good spirit will won the battle after an exhausting antagonism on the part of Satans henchmen for the whole day. It usually run 35 miles of dancing before it will end up at the foot doors of the church to hear mass. According to the people of Venezuela this rituals attracted many tourists all over the world and sometimes they would participate during the dance. In 1999, the Constitution of Venezuela declared that the Spanish and other 25 surviving indigenous languages belonging to three linguistic families: Caribans, Arawak, and Chibcha as the official languages of Venezuela. Wagyuu, Piaroa, Panare and Nhengtu are some of the 25 surviving indigenous languages. They also consider English as their second language since this is now widely used in their culture promotions and business negotiations particularly in their Oil and Petroleum Industry. Arabic, Chinese, Italian, and Portuguese are also commonly spoken foreign languages in Venezuela. Summary Venezuela is composed of different races and ethnic groups; this is very evident in their culture. Joropo is their national song and dance, according to historians they got this from the llaneros or the plainsman (the cowboy version of Venezuelans). Other popular dances include the pasillo, similar to the pasillo of Columbia; the merenque, which came from Santo Domingo; and the corrido, from Mexico. The tanquito, a Venezuelan version of the Argentine tango, is also very popular in the country. As of this date Venezuela has no national costume, instead they use the different dresses coming from the indigenous people in Venezuela. A good example of this is the Liqui liqui, this is fondly worn by the Venezuelan men with alpargata (an open-toed kind of sandal). Most of the women wear a joropo dress but others also wears the liqui liqui but instead of the pants they traded it with a layered skirt. Taking from their Spaniard colonial heritage; Roman Catholic dominates the population of Venezuela although there were no restrictions from their constitution with regards in choosing their religion. One of the popular rituals they have in Venezuela is the Devil Dance, where in the evil spirit fights over the good spirit. It is a 35 miles of dancing and ending the day with a mass this is celebrated during the Corpus Christi. Most of their traditions and rituals are coming from the Catholic doctrines. In their 1999 constitution it was clearly stated that Spanish is their national language together with the other 25 surviving indigenous languages. They also consider English as their second language. They use this language to communicate with their investors and tourist visitors. Works Cited Baynham, Angela. Insight Guides Venezuela. 4th Upd Sub Edition. Insight Guides, 2003 Dydynski, Krzysztof. Lonely Planet Venezuela. 4th edition. Lonely Planet Publications, 2004 Kohnstamm, Thomas. Venezuela. 5th edition. Lonely Planet, 2007 Palmerlee, Danny. South America. 10th Edition. Lonely Planet, 2007

Technology and the Rainforest :: essays research papers

With all the technological advancements, the rain forest has been greatly effected. Not only have the trees been cut down but also there have positive aspects to the technology concerning this precious resource. Peter White, a chief writer for National Geographic magazine once said, " The tropical rain forest may well be nature’s chief liberty of experience from which all of humanity can learn, not only how to do things but also what a vast variety of things may be possible"(24). We all can learn from this for, the rain forest is a key to our environment and with all the technology destroying it and barely replacing it we all should think about what is happening and what can be done to save it. With the great progression of technology through this century the rain forest has rapidly been destroyed. Being the home of nearly 50% of all species, the rain forest is a resource that should and must be saved. It is once thought that the tropical rain forest once spanned the great space of 1.5 billion hectares. But as the time goes on slowly that number diminishes. In the year 2000 it is theorized that there will only be 900 hectares left on this world (Palmer/4). Even though there is not any rain forest in the United states, the rain forest greatly effects us in ways not known to all. Many medicines are found in the rain forest and many of them treat common diseases. Malaria for example is a disease that has it’s treatment coming from quinine, taken form the cinchona tree in Peru. Also when you have surgery, d-tarbocuranine is greatly relied on as a muscle relaxer. It is made form curare, derived from an Amazonian liana (Palmer/23). This research shows that the m! edicinal aspect of the rain forest is definitely needed for the advancement of technology itself. Much of the new technology being made in the times that we are living in now, relies on the rain forest. The packaging in which all the new stereos and CD players are shipped, come from the trees. These trees are cut down into small pieces to make cardboard for the selfish needs of humanity (White 28). A massive amount of women have been on birth control and one of the major components of the pill is diosgenin. This is made from wild yams found in Mexico (Palmer 23). This draws the conclusion that the technology that we have now might not be as advanced with out the rain forest. But at the same time the technology that we are developing are having the adverse effect on the source of the advancement. Rain forest depletion is a real problem in the world

“The Lady or the Tiger”: What Really Happened?

Dustin Powers Mr. Lamon AP Language 3 December 2012 â€Å"The Lady or the Tiger†: What really happened? The Lady or the Tiger, a captivating short story of love and loss, teases your imagination by integrating the rising action at the end of the story only to leave you to make your own interpretation of how the falling action concludes. The author uses a third person omniscient narrator so to make it seem as though the he doesn’t even know how the story truly ends. The finale to the short story has been conversation of much debate.What is behind door he opens? Does he die on the princess’s accord? What happens, no one essentially knows, but him dying is the only logical ending that could subsist. The tale starts out with a fascinating introduction by classifying the king as â€Å"semi barbaric† â€Å"florid† and â€Å"untrammeled,† but on the contrary the narrator begins to describe him as â€Å"†¦somewhat polished and sharpened by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Although it is not directly stated where the tale takes place, one can pin point the story to Medieval Europe c. 00-400 AD, a very tumultuous time. Influenced greatly by the Roman Empire, as they were a prominent society at the time, the European continent was at a crossroads between the liberalism of the Latin culture, and the less enlightened methodologies that were prerequisite to the changes at the time. This setting is what the root of the king’s brutality and the passing of these traits develop. The fictional account tells of the king’s daughter being â€Å"†¦as blooming as his most florid fancies, and with a soul as fervent and imperious as his own. As unlikely as it seems the princess seems to create a bond with a young man that is of â€Å"lower station† than she. This short lived relationship of a few months was cut to an abrupt end by the Barbaric King. Never once does the story mention th e princess make any attempt of arguing the innocence of her lover. This abandonment can only be explained by her savage nature. It says that she could have possibly never loved him in the first place, and that maybe she was just using him to fill a void her over protecting father created by sheltering her from finding a ompanion. With the slightest possibility that the arrogant and haughty princess had come to truly love this man then she would know for a fact that he would be safe of this cruel justice, because as the decision was left up to fate then there would be no question of what was coming out of the door. If she truly had any admiration for her lover, and trust of his innocence in his love then she would allow him to make his choice uncompromised by her instruction. She would allow him to open the door to the chamber with the â€Å"fair maiden†. But she did not.With a slight notion to her right she indicates which door needed to be opened. Turning to face his fate th e young man opened the door to his right leaving his destiny in the hands of the demented princess. Possibly scared of his innocence and fate’s compassion, considering the true love he possessed for her, she directed him to door with the lion. This is just a sadistic favor of disposing this inconvenience for her father. Once again if the princess did actually truly have feelings for him then she had proven to be very jealous of the lady behind the door.While if she had not had those impulses toward him the animosity she had toward the damsel was strictly out of the hatred of the young girls lust over one of her possessions. Either way it was not left unknown that she had much discontent with her by saying, â€Å"Often had she seen, or imagined that she had seen, this fair creature throwing glances of admiration upon the person of her lover, and sometimes she thought these glances were perceived, and even returned. With the princess in possession of the knowledge of the locat ion of the tiger she had the power to control the future of both the young man and the young woman. The real or unreal passing of glances between the two would be the end of him, because the jealousy she had towards the maiden would cause an â€Å"If I can’t have you no one can† mentality. The princess couldn’t bear the thought of them being happy together so she sends him to the tiger.

The Report Will State The Facts And Issue About Global...

3.Introduction The report will state the facts and issue about global warming all over the world. The report will focus on the impact of global warming and consider what actions can be taken by Greenpeace to fight global warming. Global warming, which will trigger hurricanes and tropical storms, has a negative effect on human beings and wildlife. According to the report, thanks to global warming, a million species have already become extinct and approximately 150,000 people will die by the end of the 21st-century  ¹. What’s more, sea level will rise nearly three feet by 2100, which will threat people in coastal area ². In addition, global warming will elevate occurrence of strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters ³. This report will showcase some key facts and data concerning global warming, considering the effect on human’s life, animals and the environment. In addition, this report will list different ways in which we as an environmental organization can tackle the problem of global warming.  ¹25 Alarming Global Warming Statistics (2014) on, http://list25.com/25-alarming-global-warming-statistics/2/  ²National Geography (2006) on, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0323_060323_global_warming.html  ³National Geography (2010) on, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1206_041206_global_warming_2.html 4. The facts Global warming statistics:  · A large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cause globalShow MoreRelatedEssay On No Right Way To Deny Climate Change975 Words   |  4 PagesHistory of Global Warming’s Politicization in The United States The North American Drought of 1988 marked the very first time global warming crossed over from scientists to mass media coverage. 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