basically i think my english comp. teacher is a bit slow in the head so here is my essay for you to grade.
Primitive/Modern Tattooing
"A tattoo, or dermal pigmentation, is a mark made by inserting pigment into the skin for decorative or other reasons."[1] Tattoos may be made on human or animal skin. Decorative tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding. Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, wore facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples, and among certain tribal groups in the Philippines, Borneo, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia and China. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular all over the world. There is a diverse history and culture behind the art of tattooing. The purposes, processes, and artwork of tattooing are just as varied.
Tattoos have served as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, punishment, amulets and talismans, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts. The symbolism and impact of tattoos varies in different places and cultures, sometimes with unintended consequences. Today, people choose to be tattooed for cosmetic, sentimental/memorial, religious, and magical reasons, and to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups. In the United States, many prisoners and criminal gangs use distinctive tattoos to indicate facts about their criminal behavior, prison sentences, and organizational affiliation. This cultural use of tattoos predates the widespread popularity of tattoos in the general population, so older people often still associate tattoos with criminality. At the same time, members of the U.S. military have an equally well established and longstanding history of tattooing to indicate military units, battles, etc., and this association is also widespread among older Americans
"Some tribal cultures traditionally created tattoos by cutting designs into the skin and rubbing the resulting wound with ink, ashes or other agents; some cultures continue this practice, which may be an adjunct to scarification. Some cultures create tattooed marks by hand-tapping the ink into the skin using sharpened sticks or animal bones or, in modern times, needles. Traditional Japanese tattoos (Irezumi) are still "hand-poked," that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made and hand held tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel."[2] Luckily, modern tattooing procedures do not require anything as painful-sounding as a "bone-cutting tool." Today's tattoos are created by injecting the skin with a needle that is dipped with ink and attached to a tattoo machine. This tattoo machine allows the needle to move up and down very quickly, usually about 200 vibrations per minute, and inject ink into the dermis layer (secondary layer of the skin.) Ironically enough, the technology used in the modern tattoo machine is not that different from the prototype invented in 1891 by Samuel O'Reilly. It still hurts, it still resembles a dentist drill, and it still creates a permanent tattoo on the body that can mean whatever the wearer wishes. Maybe on reflection tattooing procedures really have not changed all that much since 12,000 B.C.
A tattoo design is called "flash" and it can consist of any sort of artwork from simple symbols or letters to detailed sketches or caricature. Flash can be composed of one color or many. Tattoo parlors display a large assortment of flash on their walls with the larger ones having as many as 10,000 to choose from. In addition, clients may bring in their own design or they may work with the artist to develop custom flash.
The widespread popularity of tattoos is undeniable. Designs defined by elegant simplicity or cheerful good humor to those of serious and elaborate composition now frequently appear on fashion runways, art exhibits, and on the bodies of serious professionals, and "free spirits". Tattooing is indeed a true art form, marked by creativity, depth of meaning, and a rich past. Whether the images represent the person's heritage, whimsical character, memorialize a loved one, or hark back to ancient traditions of a mysterious culture. Tattoos in general still hold deep meaning for those who wear them.
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[1] Modern Language Association (MLA):
"Tattoo" The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 11 Jul. 2007. .
[2] Tattoo designs and more "How Tattooing is done"
http://freetattoodesigns.wordpress.com/2006/08/31/how-tattoing-is-done/
Primitive/Modern Tattooing
"A tattoo, or dermal pigmentation, is a mark made by inserting pigment into the skin for decorative or other reasons."[1] Tattoos may be made on human or animal skin. Decorative tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding. Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, wore facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples, and among certain tribal groups in the Philippines, Borneo, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia and China. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular all over the world. There is a diverse history and culture behind the art of tattooing. The purposes, processes, and artwork of tattooing are just as varied.
Tattoos have served as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, punishment, amulets and talismans, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts. The symbolism and impact of tattoos varies in different places and cultures, sometimes with unintended consequences. Today, people choose to be tattooed for cosmetic, sentimental/memorial, religious, and magical reasons, and to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups. In the United States, many prisoners and criminal gangs use distinctive tattoos to indicate facts about their criminal behavior, prison sentences, and organizational affiliation. This cultural use of tattoos predates the widespread popularity of tattoos in the general population, so older people often still associate tattoos with criminality. At the same time, members of the U.S. military have an equally well established and longstanding history of tattooing to indicate military units, battles, etc., and this association is also widespread among older Americans
"Some tribal cultures traditionally created tattoos by cutting designs into the skin and rubbing the resulting wound with ink, ashes or other agents; some cultures continue this practice, which may be an adjunct to scarification. Some cultures create tattooed marks by hand-tapping the ink into the skin using sharpened sticks or animal bones or, in modern times, needles. Traditional Japanese tattoos (Irezumi) are still "hand-poked," that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made and hand held tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel."[2] Luckily, modern tattooing procedures do not require anything as painful-sounding as a "bone-cutting tool." Today's tattoos are created by injecting the skin with a needle that is dipped with ink and attached to a tattoo machine. This tattoo machine allows the needle to move up and down very quickly, usually about 200 vibrations per minute, and inject ink into the dermis layer (secondary layer of the skin.) Ironically enough, the technology used in the modern tattoo machine is not that different from the prototype invented in 1891 by Samuel O'Reilly. It still hurts, it still resembles a dentist drill, and it still creates a permanent tattoo on the body that can mean whatever the wearer wishes. Maybe on reflection tattooing procedures really have not changed all that much since 12,000 B.C.
A tattoo design is called "flash" and it can consist of any sort of artwork from simple symbols or letters to detailed sketches or caricature. Flash can be composed of one color or many. Tattoo parlors display a large assortment of flash on their walls with the larger ones having as many as 10,000 to choose from. In addition, clients may bring in their own design or they may work with the artist to develop custom flash.
The widespread popularity of tattoos is undeniable. Designs defined by elegant simplicity or cheerful good humor to those of serious and elaborate composition now frequently appear on fashion runways, art exhibits, and on the bodies of serious professionals, and "free spirits". Tattooing is indeed a true art form, marked by creativity, depth of meaning, and a rich past. Whether the images represent the person's heritage, whimsical character, memorialize a loved one, or hark back to ancient traditions of a mysterious culture. Tattoos in general still hold deep meaning for those who wear them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Modern Language Association (MLA):
"Tattoo" The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 11 Jul. 2007. .
[2] Tattoo designs and more "How Tattooing is done"
http://freetattoodesigns.wordpress.com/2006/08/31/how-tattoing-is-done/