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Relationship between culture and identity
Defining Culture and Identities
Relationship between culture and identity
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Warning: Ready for a Culture Shock
What really is a culture shock? According to Webster’s II 1994 Dictionary, Culture is a particular form of civilization, esp. the beliefs, customs, arts, and institutions of society at a given tome. In this essay I have to admit I will not be discussing how the world is going to be hit by some huge culture shock, but how Culture and Identity relate to situations in my life. For those that know me, know that I was a child exposed to many things while growing up. I moved to many different cities throughout my life and embraced all that I saw around me. These movements brought me to learn and understand cultures besides my own. The way I was raised and the transitions in my life have now brought me to college.
My years of growing up and though my age now, I have experienced many areas of diversity. This implement of diversity I use in the text of variations of cultures. During my past years I lived in the combinations of six different cities. That is a lot compared to most students who I have talked to at Oakland University, where I tend now. Every city was different; Canton is where my prime baby years were so I have to admit I do not have and culture scene here. Taylor, Dearborn Hts, and Dearborn where the highlights of my culture knowledge came from. These three cities are on the out skirts of Detroit. Dearborn Hts. and Taylor is where I spent most of my years and was always surrounded by diverse cultures from Whiteness, Jews, African American, Caledeans Muslim and so forth. I went to a private school in Taylor until the fifth grade. St. Alfred, the private school I went to, there were only "white" people and yes who all followed the same religion and beliefs. So wi...
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...as. “It was a reality check- a realization that the world isn’t black and white, but fuzzy.” With this quote from Lind you see that there is more then the arguments of black and white, but between ethnics, religion, and our sexuality.
These situations that I have expressed through my life are only of two percent of the incidents that have happened to me. Moving to different cities have helped me understand more then most people. There are conflicts around me from people with different backgrounds. I have my own conflict with myself because I know very little about my own heritage, but living through others, has helped unit myself with the comfort of myself with letting me accept everyone. Misconceptions are huge roles that cause such areas of conflict. Let’s try to stop them, there is no such thing as a culture shock, unless you believe there to be one.
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
...n unplanned pregnancy between two young couples. While Hemingway’s story takes place in the 1920s with a couple traveling the world together, Wallace’s story takes place in the present between a religious couple making a moral decision. As revealed by the specific dialogue in Hemingway’s text and Lane Dean’s thoughts in “Good People,” both Jig and Sheri will carry the child, and while Jig and the American will end their relationship, Lane Dean and Sheri will abide by their Christian faith in matrimony.
Boyle and Hemingway use the same three elements of fiction to tell the story; both stories are written about pregnancy, abortion, and manipulation; on the other hand, they have their difference because their main characters differ in maturity. One wonder about up to what degree is abortion considered to be a crime. Both couple considered the same crime, although China and Jeremy’s actions are unthinkable to the eyes of the reader.
In Fences, August Wilson strives to accurately depict the social and economic situations of the time period the play is set in. He uses the plots, characters, and the characters’ relationships with each other to show the day-to-day obstacles the average African American faces in the mid 1900s; and to show the various types of relationships between people during the time, from the black/white racial relationship to the relationship between man and woman. In particular, he uses Rose and Troy as examples of the typical relationship between a man and woman of the period – more specifically, he uses them to show the relationship and power structure between men and women. This relationship and power structure – the woman playing a subservient role to the strong, alpha male type – is definitely illustrated in Fences. Rose and Troy’s relationship depicts the conventional gender roles of the late 1950s-60s by displaying an unequal relationship between man and woman – one that was usual of the time period – with Rose often forced to concede her desires and wishes for Troy in her role as a dutiful housewife. Troy, a dominating man both in an out of his home life, plays a masculine, controlling, and often – though unintentional – selfish role in their relationship.
People can have many different opinions depending on a topic, but what is truly difficult is getting a complete level of understanding from every opinion, or understanding the point of view of each opinion. Even accepting the points of view can be difficult for some people, who believe that their opinions are right. Luckily, people can learn about the other person’s frame of reference, and at the very least understand the topic or the person a little better. This particular topic is art, which is known for its multiple possible perceptions or its many different messages that it can send a person or group of people. In this way, people can learn more about the thought processes and feelings of others. Unfortunately, with differing opinions,
First, I will discuss the influences of different definitions of diversity in cultural unification. The major problem concerning this issue is that many people differ in the real meaning of the concept and how they view their personal involvement. Brook argues that “we do not really care about diversity all that much in America, even though we talk about it a great deal” (306). However, they are the general, erroneous interpretations of diversity that are really creating this wrong image of indifference. According to Kira Hudson Banks in her research entitled “A Qualitative Investigation of Students’ Perceptions of Diversity,” many people defined diversity as race and do not include other types of diversity (153).
Ernest Hemingway was born and grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. By the time he wrote this story he had been wounded in Italy during World War I; had traveled extensively in Europe as a newspaper correspondent and writer; had married, fathered a son, been divorced, and remarried (Hemingway 236). Planted in the midst of a forsaken canyon, the station isn’t a final destination but merely a stage between Barcelona and Madrid. Hemingway sets “Hills like White Elephants” at a train depot to play up the reality that the relationship between the man and the Jig is at a crossroads. The author is showing the couple is at a pivotal point on whether to go with each other and endure their relationship or end things and start new lives. However, the contrast between the white hills and sterile basin perhaps highlights the division between fertility and sterility, between having the baby or having the abortion, between life or death. The girl seems broken between the two landscapes, not only commenting on the beauty of the hills but also walking to the end of the platform and looking out at the desolate dessert around the station. Throughout the story the author uses objective point of view, symbolism, and irony to illustrate the theme that life and death decisions may negatively affect relationships.
The story "Hills Like White Elephants" is a conversation between a young woman `Jig' and an American man waiting for a train at a station in Spain. The author never names the topic of their discussion but as their dialogue progresses; it becomes evident that Jig is pregnant. The man wants Jig to abort the unborn child but she is unconvinced and wants to become a mother. Hemingway has brilliantly written the story's dialogue which "captures the feel of a private conversation while at the same time communicating the necessary narrative background" (O'Brien 19). At the end of the story, it is unclear as to what decision has been made; however, Hemingway gives the reader several clues regarding what Jig feels, and what she wants to do. Jig's private thoughts are illuminated by Hemingway's description of the setting, the character, and the conflict. Stanley Renner suggests that, as a result of the couple's discussion, "Jig has become able to make a more clear-sighted estimation, and perhaps a better choice, of men" Wyche(59). The couple's inability to communicate effectively their true thoughts and emotions makes their dialogue very appealing. The story examines the gender differences and miscommunications as they influence the decision whether to abort the unborn child or not (Smiley). In his book on Hemingway, published in 1999, Carl P. Eby points out that "[f]or the past two decades, Hemingway criticism has been dominated by a reconsideration of the role of gender in his work" (Bauer 125).
Culture and identity are two very strange ideas. They are received at a very young age, yet they are very hard to give to someone else. They will affect you for the rest or your life, yet for the most part you are born into them. However, they soon become very important to us and we cannot, no matter what we do, live without them. They are a part of us, and a vital aspect of society. However, it took me a very long time to recognize that I had an identity and a little while after that before I knew what it was.
... and that this split is destructive. This separation forces us to act with only one aspect of ourselves at a time. The rational portion is what we act upon if we want to be taken seriously since using emotions or being emotional is equivalent to being out of control and is therefore bad (in today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society). This separation can be seen in our current interpretations of desire as nonrational, as erotic and therefore out of control. True desire however involves reason and emotion, both to determine what we want, reason to help decipher how to attain it and emotion to give us the drive to work towards it. Reason and emotion are inseparable and when we try to separate them is when we end up fragmenting ourselves.
The main point behind Peter Berger’s work Introduction to Sociology is that in order to find out the truth about a person or perhaps a situation, one must take a deeper look than just looking at the deceptive superficial surface. He starts off making this point by saying that not everything is as clear as it may appear. The world that we live in has many different sides to it. The general public is usually not aware of all these different aspects of our world. Berger uses the term “cultural shock,” which refers to the sudden impact on a person by entering into a completely different culture not previously experienced by that person, to describe the way that a person feels when they first uncover a sociological aspect of the world. This shocking discovery takes place when a person’s eyes are opened to the environment around them and they perceive more than just the obvious, regardless of how drastic or subtle the realization may be. One example that Berger uses to aid in describing this phenomenon is when someone discovers that money going to their church is actually being contributed to a business that manufactures projectile weapons. While not all realizations are this dramatic, it still arouses a sense of enthusiasm within the discoverer. Once Berger fully explains how this sociological phenomenon takes place, he goes on to warn the reader that sociology is not fo...
... Finding the equilibrium between emotion and reason n is crucial for one to be able to make moral decisions that can be justified in an acceptable manner. The ability to balance those two can be very challenging, especially in situation where the emotion side of the brain attempts to take control. It should be kept in mind that emotion and reason can keep reasonable thinking from turning into irrational behavior.
When interacting with a person from a different culture, there are many obstacles that one may, and probably will, face during the time spent together. Laray Barna, author of Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural Communication, refers to these obstacles as “Stumbling Blocks” and states the six main ones in her article. These main stumbling blocks faced are the following: assumption of similarity, language difference, nonverbal misinterpretation, preconceptions and stereotypes, tendency to evaluate, and high anxiety. Every one of these blocks create feelings of unease when faced, specifically the feelings of misunderstanding and frustration. Learning to overcome these blocks is the key to having successful interaction with different cultures.
Cultural identity defines an individual and how they interpret society; however, my cultural knowledge is limited and has remained static due to the consumption of environmental influences. For a long period of time, I did not know why I was culturally disconnected, since I had a hard time grasping my family’s religious practices of Buddhism. This resulted in my inability to interpret my culture and religion. Individuals within society ask, “What are you?” I would like to answer that question myself if I could, so the real question is, “How does one define cultural identity?” My cultural identity is defined by my interpretation and knowledge of how my family responds to American culture versus how I am influenced by the sociological norms of American culture; however, my sense of cultural identity contrasts differently to that of my family in which results in my cultural displacement in society, conflicting me internally.
Everyone reacts differently to new environments.While some are excited others are upset to have to leave important people behind. Culture shock comes in many different forms and sizes, some may find it harder to adjust than others. The difficulties to adjusting don’t always show up right away (TeensHealth). Culture shock is experienced in many different ways some common feelings are; sadness, loneliness, anxiety, trouble concentrating, feeling left out, negative feelings towards the new culture and frustration (TeensHealth). These feelings are temporary, eventually people get used to their surroundings. Although, many have been planning on the change for a long time, many still experience the impact of culture shock (International Students and Culture Shock). A huge majority of the cultures norms are based on language.