Dear All:
Cultural anthropology曾是我中学时的最爱,爱读Margaret Mead和Ruth Benedict,也曾想过本科象Yo Yo Ma那样去Harvard读人类学,最终因为怕毕业找不到工作而放弃了。八月份真的hit the jackpot,每道题都是我一度很感兴趣的话题,无论8/6号的环保,8/13号的认知心理学还是8/20号的文化人类学......像往常一样为学生写了范文,也像往常一样贴在网上。
8/20 essay question:
Some people think that people who move to new countries should accept the new culture as their own,rather than live in separate minority groups and in different lifestyles.Do you agree or disagree?
点题: 典型的argumentation,采用折衷式观点(既要接受主流文化,又要保持自身文化特性)会更好写一些,而且让文章更具思辩性
高分关键词:acculturation (noun)集体层面上的文化适应 transculturation个人层面上的文化适应 cultural diversity文化多元化 national unity and cohesion 国家的凝聚力 disintegration (noun) 瓦解 be culturally assimilated into(移民)成为其目的国文化的有机部分
Successive immigration waves in preceding centuries have rendered numerous countries multi-racial.Over the process,the issue of massive acculturation had been cast into sharp relief.Hence the intense controversy over immigrants’ attitudes toward the recipient culture.Some contend that immigrants should not just cloister themselves in separate minority groups,but accept the culture of their host countries as their own.Personlly, I think this view has both merit and demerit.
On the one hand,it is manifest that adjusting themselves to the local culture and mores is vital to the survival,self-sufficiency and success of the internationally-relocated.First and foremost,ready availability of the very kinds of food,shelter,clothing and tranportation that they were once so used to in their home countries is largely non-existent in their immigration destinations.Their dietary,dressing,dwelling and transportational preferences must be substantially altered to fit into new material environments.Secondly,it is highly improbable that a new immigrant’s academic excellence or occupational prowess can get recognized fully if his/her conduct and values are deemed "foreign" by his/her teachers,classmates or supervisors and colleagues.Behavioral, linguistic,and conceptual adaptation to the mainstream culture of the host country ensures that he/she can grow and prosper academically or professionally.In addition,immigrants’ acculturation is key to the national unity and cohesion of their host countries.History has proven repeatedly that multi-racial countries consisting of ethno-centric groups clinging indiscriminately and insensibly to their own values and convictions could rarely avert the fate of disintegration