Reference Information
Title: Coming of Age in Samoa
Author: Margaret Mead
Editors: Williams Morrow and Company (1928)
Chapter 2: A Day in Samoa (6 Pages)
Summary
As the title of the chapter would have you believe, chapter 2 is Mead describing a typical day in Samoa. In the morning, men go to work, boys go fishing and girls giggle and stay around the village. The evening is a time for lightness; a lot of them enjoy dancing and going around to the other villages. The Samoans (like many indigenous people) are very superstitious. She talks about superstitions they have regarding ghosts and how women pour water on fish that the men bring back to wash away their taboos.
Discussion
What I found interesting was the order in which they eat: head of the household, women and children, and then the boys. I would've thought that in this culture it would be males first and then females.
Appendix II: Methodology of this Survey (7 Pages)
Summary
Mead explains her methodology she used for studying the Samoan girls and the key areas she focused on. She spent 6 months in Samoa and studied 68 girls between ages 9 and 20. She talks about some of the things she chose to do including makeshift intelligence tests and things like that.
Discussion
Her methodology was interesting; I am very interested in seeing what conclusions she comes up with. I've read about her study she did in Papa New Guinea which was also very interesting.
Appendix V: Materials Upon Which the Analysis is Based (13 Pages)
Summary
Mead shows her findings in tabular format. She records a lot of personal information from each of the girls including things such as sexual experience and family history. The ages were approximated as there was no real record of how old the girls were.
Discussion
This was an interesting chapter to read so early on in our study of this book. I think it tells me a little more as to what I can expect from this work and the type of questions Mead is going to ask of the women in Samoa.
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