跨文化作业1.doc

Chapter 1 CulturePart I questions Case 11. What have you learned about Indian culture from this case?The Indian culture is diverse and composed by the traditional custom and the newly concepts.Text A the Nature of Culture 1. In what way is culture like an iceberg?Some of the elements which make up culture are visible, whereas others are hard to discover. The idea behind this model is that culture can be pictured as an iceberg: only a very small portion of the iceberg can be seen above the water.What features of culture can you infer from this simile? The visible parts of culture are just expressions of its invisible parts. And it is difficult to understand people with different cultural backgrounds-we may observe the visible parts of “their iceberg”, but we cannot immediately see what are the foundations that these parts rest upon.2. What features of culture can you infer from the metaphor “culture is our software”? Human around the world are physically pretty much the same. Culture provides the difference and transformation as software. As with any good software, we are vaguely aware of it as we use it. 3. In what way is culture like the water a fish swims in? Our culture is so much a part of who we are and what the word is like for us that we do not notice it. We take it for granted. For most people, for most of their lives, everything they see and do take place in the same culture.4. According to your understanding of all the similes and metaphors in this text, what does culture include and what features does culture have?Culture is the grammar of our behavior. It includes all the rules that make actions meaningful to the people around them. People learn their cultural grammar unconsciously and apply its rules automatically. It is difficult to describe the meaning system of peoples own culture.Text B Definitions of culture1. According to your understanding of all the definitions in this text, what does culture include and what features does culture have?Culture is the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, actions, attitudes, hierarchies, religious, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and artifacts acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. Text C Characteristics of Culture1. compare features of culture you have concluded from text A and B with the characteristics of culture in text CI n text C culture is learned, dynamic, pervasive, integrated and adaptive.2. Do you know any others channels through which culture is learned? List them down.Legend, tales, folk songs, drawing, or daily life.3. In what sense is culture dynamic? Explain with examples. Cultures are constantly changing over time. E.g. the American civil war and chinas opium war brought great social and cultural changes to both societies.4. In what sense is culture pervasive? Explain with examples. Culture penetrates into every aspect of our life and influence the way we think, the way we talk, and the way we believe. Culture pervades all these areas: arts and artifacts, beliefs, behaviors, ceremonies, etc. 5. In what sense is culture integrated? Explain with examples. Culture functions as an integrated whole and it is systemic. E.g. in the civil rights movement in the united states, there brought about changes in housing patterns, discrimination practices, educational opportunities, the legal system, and even communication. Hence, this one aspect of culture has altered American attitudes, values, and behaviors.6. In what sense is culture adaptive? Explain with examples. History abounds with examples of how cultures have changed because of laws, natural disasters, wars, or other calamities. E.g. in china in the past, women were expected to remain in the home and raise the children. However, forces in the culture, as well as economic considerations, have dramatically altered the role of women in our country.Case 4 1. What does coconut-skating mean here in the case? Are you surprised at the maids skating?It means the difference between two different cultures, and one newly object to another culture. 2. Which characteristic of culture does this case point to or resemble? Culture is dynamic.Text D 1. What is cultural identity? Is it a conscious or unconscious process? Culture identity refers to ones sense of belonging to a particular culture or ethnic group. It is formed in a process that results from membership in a particular culture, and involves learning about and accepting the traditions, heritage, language, religion, aesthetics, thinking pattern, and social structures of a culture. It is a conscious process.2. How is cultural identity formed? Cultural identities often develop through a process involving three stages: unexamined cultural identity, cultural identity search, and cultural identity achievement.3. What are the characteristics of cultural identity? Cultural identities are central, dynamic, and multifaceted components of ones self-concept. 4. How many cultural identities do you have? Which one is put at the top for you? How is your cultural identity influence you life experience? There are four. A Chinese is the top of them. My cultural identity multifaceted components of my self-concept. Case 5 1. Which stage of formation of cultural identity do you think “I” (the black girl) am?The second stage: cultural identity search.2. What did the other two Black girls mean by “chocolate milk”?They mean “I am” composed with not only the black appearance but also the white culture. 3. How do you think the other two Black girls recognize their cultural identity? They think they are the black, and they just accept the black culture.Text E1. What is a subculture? What are subcultures often based on? Name just a few subcultures that you know. Complex societies are made up of a large number of groups with which people identify and from which distinctive values and norms and rues for behavior are derived. These groups have been labeled subcultures. They often based on economic or social class, ethnicity race, or geographic region. E.g. Beat Generation, Youth Subculture. 2. Why do scholars prefer to use “co-culture” instead of “su