Name: Cultural Awareness Log Mr. Michael Thier Date: Cult. Text Pg Description / detail / quotation Inference about the culture Category
Iceberg Concept of Culture 1. Cooking 2. Fine Arts 3. Literature 4. Drama 5. Music 6. Dancing 7. Games 8. Notions of Modesty 9. Conceptions of Beauty 10. Ideals of Governing 11. Child Raising 12. Rules of Descent 13. Cosmology 14. Relationship to Animals 15. Patterns of Superior/Subordinate Behavior 16. Definitions of Sin 17. Courtship Practices 18. Conception of Justice 19. Incentives to Work 20. Notions of Leadership 21. Tempo of Work 22. Theory of Disease 23. Conception of Cleanliness 24. Patterns of Group Decision-Making 25. Attitudes Toward the Dependent 26. Approaches to Problem Solving 27. Eye Behavior 28. Conception of Status Mobility 29. Conception of Past and Future 30. Roles in Relation to Age, 31. RiRt Sex, 32. RiRt Class, 33. RiRt Occupation, 34. RiRt Kinship 35. Definition of Insanity 36. Conversational Patterns in Various Social Contexts 37. Nature of Friendship 38. Ordering of Time 39. Preference for Competition / Cooperation 40. Body Language 41. Social Interaction Rate 42. Notions of Adolescence 43. Notions about Logic and Validity 44. Patterns of Handling Emotions 45. Facial Expressions 46. Arrangements of Physical Space Just as most of the iceberg is out of sight and below the water line, most of what makes up other people s cultures are outside our awareness. There are 46 elements that make up culture on this list, but this list could easily be much longer. To prepare for your Cultural Awareness Log, list the 46 terms and come up with working definitions for as many as you can in 20 minutes. Think connotatively. Think of cultures you ve lived in or have visited or observed. You may use examples as part of your definition. Make sure you list them in numerical order because it will make it easier for us to discuss them as a full class. If you do this by pen, for the ones you can t define, leave at least three lines of space before moving on to the next one. We will fill in the gaps during class.
Cultural Category Definition 1. Cooking What styles are used to prepare food? 2. Fine Arts What creative works express thoughts and feelings? 3. Literature What written works display thought, feeling, knowledge or information? 4. Drama How are stories told and performed? 5. Music What sounds express thoughts and feelings? 6. Dancing What motions express thoughts and feelings? 7. Games What tests are undertaken for skill, speed, strength, or athleticism? 8. Notions of Modesty What behaviors, manners, or appearances help avoid embarrassment or indecency? 9. Conceptions of Beauty What is pleasing to the eye? 10. Ideals of Governing How should leaders, and those who are led, behave? 11. Child Raising How should children be cared for, loved, disciplined, listened to, etc.? 12. Rules of Descent How does power change hands in a government? In a family? In other groupings? 13. Cosmology What is humanity s place in the universe? This often includes science, religion, and philosophy. 14. Relationship to Animals How are animals valued or devalued? 15. Patterns of How do people act compared to those with higher or lower
Superior/Subordinate rank? Behavior 16. Definitions of Sin What behaviors are forbidden? What are accepted? How is sin forgiven? 17. Courtship Practices How do pairs couple off? 18. Conception of Justice How is justice measured or enforced? 19. Incentives to Work Why do people work? 20. Notions of Leadership What constitutes a good leader? 21. Tempo of Work What is an appropriate or exceptional day s labor? 22. Theory of Disease How do people get sick or well? 23. Conception of Cleanliness How do they separate the pure from the impure (in practical and spiritual terms)? 24. Patterns of Group How is consensus built in a group? Decision-Making 25. Attitudes toward the Dependent How should the handicapped, elderly, young, or infirm be cared for? 26. Approaches to Problem How are problems solved? Solving 27. Eye Behavior How is eye contact (or lack of it) judged or perceived? 28. Conception of Status How easy / difficult is it to change social class? Mobility 29. Conception of Past and Which is valued more: past or future?
Future 30. Roles in Relation to Age How does age determine status? 31. Roles in Relation to Sex How does sex determine status? 32. Roles in Relation to How does social class determine status? Class 33. Roles in Relation to How does one s occupation determine status? Occupation 34. Roles in Relation to How do family relationships determine status? Kinship 35. Definition of Insanity What defines inappropriate or crazy behavior? 36. Conversational Patterns How do they talk to each other? in Various Social Contexts Does it vary by circumstance? 37. Nature of Friendship What defines a friend, a colleague, an acquaintance, a neighbor? How are they acquired? What are the limits? 38. Ordering of Time How do they count time? Orders of meals or other events 39. Preference for How competitive or cooperative are they? Competition or Cooperation 40. Body Language What gestures or body movements are common?
How are they perceived? How are foreign body movements perceived? 41. Social Interaction Rate How do people of various ages, sexes, classes, occupations, and other groupings interact? 42. Notions of Adolescence How do boys become men and girls become women? 43. Notions about Logic and How do they determine truth: by fact, emotion, belief or Validity 44. Patterns of Handling Emotions some other method? What are appropriate responses to various feelings? Is there a range based on age, sex, class, occupation, or other grouping? 45. Facial Expressions What facial expressions are common? How are they perceived? How are foreign facial expressions perceived? 46. Arrangements of Physical Space How do they organize the spaces where they live, work, worship, or have leisure activities?
Cult. Text Pg Description / detail / quotation Inference about the culture Category Chey HtWWM 1 lake itself was life Chey HtWWM 1 Maheo, the All Spirit Do you think that you can help me? the Earth Woman and he thought she was very beautiful: the most beautiful thing he had made so far Maheo reached into his right side, and pulled out a rib bone. Let the biggest and the swiftest try to find land first. like a woman; she should be fruitful They believe that god is in nature, which sounds similar to animism (soul inside non-human objects). This is like many African tribal cultures. They personify objects like many African tribes did. They must see space differently and would likely interact more positively with nature than we might. The reference to Maheo as the All Spirit shows that the Cheyenee share monotheism with the three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). That would indicate that they view the world similar to modern Americans. This question indicates a culture that seems like it wants to help those in need, which is a contrast to the Ibo culture we read about in Things Fall Apart. The Ibo seemed to shun the needy Female beauty is prized, like most human cultures (e.g. Aphrodite, Helen of Troy, etc.). Humans are different that the animal kingdom (e.g. most birds), where the male is more colourful. These people believe that man is made in god s image, like in our Bible. But it s different because he makes a man out of the woman s rib, unlike our story. That makes women more powerful in their culture than they might be in ours. This is probably common across all cultures. The Romans praised gladiators and we revere athletes; they favor the strong above all else because that is who got to fly for land first. Their heroes are their strongest, not the coot, who is the most clever. Like most traditional cultures (ours included), women are defined by their ability to have kids. There is a clear mission for what women should do. This casts aside any woman who Arrangements of physical space Cosmology Attitudes toward the dependent Conception of Beauty Cosmology Patterns of superior / subordinate behavior Roles in relation to sex
Chey HtWWM 3 Chey HtWWM 3 Chey HtWWM 3 No man can do more than his best. Maheo realized that his people walking on the earth had certain needs. the creator, the guardian, and the teacher One animal can take the place of all the others put together, and then he made the buffalo. could not have kids. We do that, too. One of my aunts cannot have children and she feels like an outcast in our family. This sounds more balanced than our culture or Japanese or German cultures. All three of us often ask people to sacrifice family time for work. For the Cheyenne, hard work is valued but not at expense of a person or his family provided he has done his best. The Cheyenne depend on god to solve problems for them. Muslims believe that if you take one step toward Allah, He will take two steps toward you. Some Christians say that the Lord helps those who help themselves. This could be a key difference in how they see the world compared to us. Their god fills positive roles like guardian and teacher. This is unlike the Old Testament god, who has a tendency to destroy like He does with Soddom & Gomorrah the Flood. Perhaps they value life or punish sins differently than we do. The Old Testament god figure punishes harshly; theirs seems more merciful like the New Testament god. This seems similar to the Hindu concept of a sacred cow. Tempo of work Approaches to problem solving Definitions of sin Relationship to Animals