Mardi Gras Term Paper

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Mardi Gras

People can, and often do, build shrines in their memory to cherished experiences in their lives. While some of these shrines are dedicated to memories of a purely personal nature, a few are related to community traditions that have grown to have especial meaning. The Mardi Gras is one such tradition, which many Americans value both for its historical significance as well as because it is a much looked forward to event of fun, color, and uninhibited celebration. Indeed, the Mardi Gras has grown to the stature of a form of American pilgrimage for many citizens and tourists alike.

What makes the Mardi Gras so singularly extraordinary among the tens of hundreds of festivals that are characterized by fun and gaiety? No doubt, a survey to determine the main factors behind the mystique and charisma of the Mardi Gras would throw up several rational and emotional descriptors such as the satirical procession of the Krewe du Vieux Carre; the carefully orchestrated theatrical parades by the Zulus and the Indians; the debutantes and the balls; the decorations; and all the historic rituals.
But the fact is no amount of adjectives can really describe the Mardi Gras. For, to use a cliche, the Mardi Gras has simply got to be experienced to understand why it has become almost an annual American pilgrimage.

Fortunately, I belong to a family of people who have personally experienced the Mardi Gras festivities. Though, as I mentioned earlier, the use of adjectives usually fails to do justice to any attempt to recapture the Mardi Gras effect in words, I will nevertheless try to describe the impact the event had on me, personally. First and foremost, witnessing the Mardi Gras is an awesome spectacle reminiscent of the most elaborate stage settings in films such as Gone with the Wind or Cleopatra. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the Mardi Gras literally leaves its participating audience with a totally stage struck feeling. The Mardi Gras, however, does not let you stay stage struck for very long for one simply gets swept away on a tide of mysterious, masked….....

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