BECE JHS
A rite of passage marks a change of status: birth into the family, marriage, or death.
Rites of passage move a person from one stage of life to another in public, so the community recognises the new status. Naming brings a child into the family and gives the child an identity. In many Akan communities the child is named on the eighth day, at an outdooring, when the family believes the child has come to stay. Marriage rites join two families, not only two people. They include consent, the presentation of gifts according to custom, and a public ceremony. The details differ by people. Do not describe one group's custom as if it were everybody's.
Funeral rites acknowledge death, comfort the bereaved, and, in traditional belief, help the dead person take a proper place among the ancestors when the person lived well. Puberty rites, where a community still performs them, mark the move from childhood toward adult responsibility. Dipo among the Krobo is one example studied in school. The religious point is the same across the rites: a person does not change status in secret. The family and the community witness it.
Say which rite, which people if the custom is specific, and what status changes. "They pour libation" with no rite and no meaning is thin. Outdooring is not a wedding. Do not present one ethnic custom as the Ghanaian way. If you are unsure of a detail, describe the purpose, which is stable, rather than a procedure you only half remember.
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
5 marks
(a) What is a rite of passage? (2 marks)
(b) Name three rites of passage. (3 marks)
(a) A rite of passage is a ceremony that marks a change from one stage of life to another.
(b) Naming, marriage and funeral rites.
2 marks
State two purposes of a naming ceremony. (2 marks)
It gives the child a name and an identity, and it welcomes the child into the family in public.
2 marks
Explain one way a customary marriage involves the two families, not only the couple. (2 marks)
The families meet, investigate, and agree. Gifts pass between the families according to custom, so both sides accept the union in public.
More questions on this topic are inside GLearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Practise Religious and Moral Education freeIt is a ceremony that moves a person from one stage of life to another, in front of the family or the community. Naming, puberty rites, marriage and funerals are the examples the syllabus uses.
The child receives a name and is welcomed into the family. In many Akan communities this outdooring is on the eighth day. The exact customs differ, so name the people if you describe a particular practice. All BECE Religious and Moral Education past questions