Question

How does body ritual among the nacirema help you understand historical context ? What have you learned from reading it ?

Answer 1

It is important to find the perspective of studied cultures instead of making conclusions based on your current perspective.

Context requires a historian to think about the conditions, values, and norms of a time period in which an event occurs. 

In the Body Ritual of the Nacirema, it would be easy to judge the behaviors of the group when coming from a 21st century, culture bias. However, upon realizing it is about America (it is spelled backwards), you can see how the behaviors can be explained when put into context.