Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Book Reading #31: Coming of Age in Samoa

Reference Information
Title: Coming of Age in Samoa
Author: Margaret Mead
Editor: Harper Perennial, 1928 (1971)

Chapter 10: The Experience and Individuality of the Average Girl
Summary
This chapter discussed the specific group of girls that the author followed, explaining their personal experiences and roles in society. The author noted that these girls tended to know more about the biology of life and death and very little about the common courtesy and organization of the society. In addition, there seems to be no desire to protect children from shocking experiences or to keep them ignorant about more "mature" matters.

Discussion
This chapter gave a lot of specific information about a girl's life in Samoa. In general, though, the chapter was very long, drawn out, and difficult to get through. I did find it interesting that in one place in the chapter, the author noted that the prettier children in the group of girls she was studying tended to have more character and a more charged attitude towards their parents.

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