Day 6
Mon. Jan. 25
Review words and phrases
Finish discussions from last class
Speakers and discussion: Tanya, Xiaoyi, Chris
Homework
➤ Read Pogosyan article on cultural keywords
Read “Cultural Keywords: What Languages Reveal About Cultures,” by Marianna Pogosyan, an article published on the popular psychology website Psychology Today. As you read, keep an eye out for the answer to this question: How does Pogosyan (or rather Waters, whose ideas she is explaining) define the term “cultural keyword”? What qualities does a “cultural keyword” have?
Try to think of two words, one in Chinese and one in English, which you think Waters and Pogosyan might understand as “cultural keywords.” Be ready to share your examples next class.
➤ Read and respond to 2 classmates’ essays
Read the essay drafts of the 2 classmates in your group below. For each classmate, write a 1-page double-spaced summary-response, in which you first summarize your classmate’s argument in the essay, and then pose a question to your classmate.
Group 1: George, Jerry, Tianji
Group 2: Chris, Xiaoyi, Rixin
Group 3: Rachael, Derrick, Jingheng
Group 4: Kaige, Wu You, Tanya
In the summary part (probably the first paragraph) simply summarize as clearly and objectively as possibly your understanding of your classmate’s argument. (It will probably include lots of phrases like this: “In this essay, you argue that . . . . you describe how . . . you point out that . . . you illustrate this point with the example of . . . “ etc.) Don’t praise or criticize the writing; simply lay out your understanding of the ideas. The goal here is to reflect back to the writer your understanding what they’ve said.
In the response part (probably the second paragraph) please pose a question to your classmate related to the content of the essay. Ideally it should be a question that reading this essay made you genuinely curious about, something you really do want to know their thoughts about. (This paragraph might begin something like this: “Reading this essay, I began to wonder . . . .?” or “X [a point the writer made] raises an interesting question in my mind: . . .?” The point here is not to praise the essay or criticize its shortcomings; instead, the goal is simply to push your classmate to think more deeply about the ideas they’ve written about or to consider them from an angle that hasn’t occurred to them yet.
➤ Speakers: Jerry, George, Wu You (respond to East Meets West)
Be ready to share your thoughts on these questions related to the Liu Yang infographics:
Do you think these represent useful generalizations about East Asian and Western (Euro-American) culture? Or are they stereotypes? (You could talk about all of them as a whole, or focus just on a few; it’s up to you.)
Think of a specific example of a type of behavior (something either Chinese people or Westerners do) that seems to “fit” the generalization represented by one of the images.
Think of a specific example of a type of behavior (something either Chinese people or Westerners do) that seems not to fit the generalization represented by one of the images.