In this book, A Boy Called Slow, Sitting Bull

							Writing Challenge #2

A rite of passage, which marks a time when a person reaches a new and significant
change in his/her life, is something that nearly all societies recognize and often hold
ceremonies for. These ceremonies are held to observe a person's entry into a new stage of
life and can be anything from a high school graduation ceremony or a birthday party, to a
funeral. Most rites help people to understand their new roles in society. They can also
help others learn to treat people in new ways after they experience certain rites of
passage.

Most rites of passage fall into three main phases: separation, transition, and
incorporation. In the separation phase, the participant is taken away from his/her familiar
environment and former role and enters a very different and sometimes foreign routine
that they are forced to adjust to and become familiar with. A rite that would fall into this
category would be birth. The infant leaves a very safe and secure environment in their
mother's womb to an extremely different one in the real world. Death can also be a
separation rite, depending on a person's belief about what happens after someone dies.
Societies have devised ways to mark these separations and aid in the transitions that will
take place. For instance, the naming of babies marks the significant event of birth.
Funerals and the many different funeral customs mark the separation that takes place
when a death occurs. Funerals can also help those left behind to make the necessary
changes needed to adjust to being separated from loved ones.

The transition phase is the time that the participant learns the appropriate behavior for the
new stage they are entering. This phase can include the time when a person becomes
engaged to be married. At this time, they are learning about the new stage of life they will
soon enter -- marriage. They are also adjusting and preparing for it, or making a
transition. The transition phase may also include the time that children enter adolescence
and leave their childhood behind. This is the time when people learn and grow and
prepare to be an independent adult in the real world.

The last phase, incorporation, takes place when the participant is formally admitted into
the new role. Marriage is a good example of a rite that would take place in the
incorporation phase. After people are married, they have taken on a very new and
different role, having prepared for it in earlier transition and separation rites.

Write a memoir about a rite of passage that you have experienced either for yourself or
someone else. Focus on the transition experience and meaning of the event.
2-3 pages double-spaced.