Ashford ENG317 Week 1 Discussion (dq1+dq2)

Ashford ENG317 Week 1 Discussion 

Dq1

Reflection on Stereotypes Across the Globe. 1st Post Due by Day 3. This week’s readings make clear that racial discrimination not only affects the global population, but to some very real extent, our everyday lives. If we think of our own lives as a microcosm of a larger, global view of the discrimination, we sometimes forget to acknowledge where we see stereotypes being used. Think about your everyday lives: What do you see on television? What do you hear on the radio? What types of behaviors do you observe at the grocery store, at your job/school, and/or in your community?

In your post, discuss how one of this week’s readings gives you a better understanding of a specific culture and/or region and compare that reading to an example from your own life. For example, in “Growing Up American:

Doing the Right Thing,” the “right thing” is continuing to be a vigilant parent from a Filipino perspective. The degree of control in regards to what “vigilance” means is the core of both the miscommunication and misunderstanding between the narrator and the American woman at the end of the story. Does Ojeda’s explanation of how and why she holds her beliefs help you, as a reader, understand that these differences are simply viewpoints, rather than positions of inferiority and superiority? How do you see these viewpoints playing out in your own life? Feel free to use Ojeda’s text or any other from this week’s readings in your discussion.

Dq2

Artistic Expression and Culture – A Reading Reflection. 1st Post Due by Day 3. If we think of language as a form of art that creates meaning, we must consider how that artistic expression is both conveyed and received. For example, Natadecha-Sponsel, in her essay, “Individualism as an American Cultural Value,” turns typical “American expressions” upside down. By looking at simple, everyday greetings such as “How are you?” from the perspective of a culture that expects a realistic and detailed explanation, the author conveys an argument that cultural differences are imbedded in the very nuances of our language.

Select a work from the assigned readings (“Growing Up American: Doing the Right Thing,” “Individualism as an American Cultural Value,” and “This Must Be the Place”) that you did not cover in the Reflection on Stereotypes Across the Globe discussion. Then, ask yourself how this representation deepened your appreciation of another culture? What techniques does the author use to promote this appreciation? Pay particular attention to the literary elements used to create dynamic, fully-rendered representations of other global citizens, their regions, and artistic expression as a form of work that differs from traditional Western form and content?

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.