Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Mardi Gras
Before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was famous for other things, and one of its most famous features was its annual Mardi Gras celebration. Though the basic aspects of the Mardi Gras celebration date back to Medieval Europe, most of the traditions of the modern celebration -- which occurs not just in New Orleans but in many other cities as well -- can be traced definitively back to the New Orleans areas as long ago as 1703 (Mardi Gras New Orleans 2009).
Though it is generally thought to be a celebration with roots in Christianity, a celebration similar to Mardi Gras known as Lupercalia was celebrated by the Romans, in which a circus-like festival played a major part (Davis 1997). When the Romans adopted Christianity, many customs and holidays were reappropriated, and it is at this time that celebrations of Carnival, as the holiday was known in France, became a way to let loose before the beginning of Lent (Hall of Festivities). For most people today, the religious aspects and origins of Mardi Gras are not nearly as important as the dancing, costumes, parade, drinking, and beads are as an end in and of themselves, but without the forty-day period of Lent the celebration of Mardi Gras would not have survived the centuries -- millennia, even.
the nineteenth century saw the Mardi Gras celebration banned, but when it were restored in New Orleans in the 1820s it was a great equalizing force, allowing African-Americans -- man of them still slaves -- the freedom to drum and celebrate in ways they were unable to almost anywhere else or at any other time (Carnaval 2000). The celebrations are still a great equalizer, brining together people of all classes and backgrounds in a racous celebration of life.
References
Davis, J. (1997). "Mardi Gras history." Accessed 8 September 2009. http://www.eastjeffersonparish.com/culture/MARDIGRA/HISTORY/history.htm
Carnaval. (2000). "Mardi Gras: Myth and history." Accessed 8 September 2009. http://www.carnaval.com/cityguides/neworleans/history.htm
Hall of Festivities. "Mardi Gras." Accessed 8 September 2009. http://www.novareinna.com/festive/mardi.html
Mardi Gras New Orleans. (2009). "Mardi Gras history." Accessed 8 September 2009. http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/history.html
Some never will be, due to the damage and loss sustained after the hurricane and floods. The society is New Orleans is still suffering because they have lost the order that was there, and are struggling to rebuild it, often without the support of any outside sources. It has taken too long to try to get New Orleans back to normal, and there are questions that wonder if it
Full efforts of the city's resources have begun to rebuild the image of Mardi Gras as the massive phenomenon it was. After a few years of smaller celebrations, more recent celebrations have returned to their outrageous roots, and tourists are once again flocking to the insane festivities offered in the crazy days of Mardi Gras. The 2009 celebration is looking to bring back the pre-Katrina glory, and is backed
An effective public transportation system has several positive effects including reducing local and regional energy expenditures; reducing dependence on fossil fuels and foreign energy supplies; improving the quality of life in the region as a whole; linking New Orleans with surrounding regions more effectively to stimulate clustered economic growth; and reducing income disparity by increasing access to jobs, public services, and educational institutions. An effective transportation system is also
This is a pattern that is relatively consistent over a long time period (Clayton & Spletzer, 2006). The only difference in 2005 was that unemployment claims did not rise in the fourth quarter with the drop in jobs, as they had done in the past. It is difficult to draw definitive conclusions as to where these employees went in the fourth quarter of 2005. To do so would be filled
Creoles Professionals involved in therapy and counseling with members of the Creole culture of New Orleans and southern Louisiana should be aware of the history and traditions of this group that make it distinctive from all others in the United States, and indeed from the French-speaking Cajun communities in the same region. In Louisiana, Creoles are not simply the white descendants of the early French and Spanish colonists, although in the
LIVES MYSTERY, MAGIC, DEATH LIFE NEW ORLEANS. TOPIC; Dan Baum works ensure readers understand life New Orleans life America. The people New Orleans things differently Americans. When you first lay eyes on Dan Baum's Nine Lives, you don't really know what to make of the book. That is, you are a little confused of whether or not it is a fiction book. It does have that aura of a fiction