Writing Constructs
Writing
constructs are perceptions about writing that many people see as
invertible and definite "rules" to writing rather than as changing and
mailable according to the situation at hand. One example of a construct
related to writing is the old adage that you must start an introduction
with an 'attention grabber'. Certainly, some attention grabbers might be
necessary given specific situations, but I can think of many situations
where starting with an 'attention grabber' is not a great idea. For
example, a few years back a close friend to my family passed away, and
his family requested that I write the obituary. When I went about
writing the obituary, I didn't think up a catchy 'attention grabbing'
intro. I read through many obituaries and replicated the pattern of that
particular genre. Likewise, when I recently bought a new piece of
furniture that required assembly, I wasn't disappointed that the opening
paragraph to my instructions didn't have an 'attention grabber'.
There are many other constructs related to writing. I remember being told that a paragraph should have five to seven sentences, and I also remember constructing thesis statements with three parts. Whether it is related to perceived rules or taught ways to write, what we might think of as rules are actually constructs. Defining rules more accurately as constructs allows us to see that language usage and acceptable writing conventions are created rather than inevitable. Many writing constructs are culturally influenced but remain hard to notice because cultural analysis is difficult unless one steps away from the home culture for a significant period of time.
In standard American English, you are often taught to be concise and precise in delivering your point. This is reminiscent of the three part five paragraph essay that so many of you are familiar with. In many other parts of the world, there are other writing conventions that dictate what is or is not appropriate for different writing situations. Your task here is to research some different approaches to writing that are NOT typical of standard American English. Certainly, if you traverse the Net, you should find some sources that showcase how writing happens in different cultures.
In a brief report (1-2 pages), you should identify at least two writing constructs that are different from conventional American English constructs. These constructs must come from a different writing culture than Standard American English. Certainly, other places around the world will practice different styles.Your report should explore how the culture shapes the practice of writing and underscore the relationship between culture and writing practice. You should cite at least two sources in your brief report. Be careful of making sweeping generalizations in your piece. Though there is evidence that Americans prefer a direct and straightforward approach for communication, there are many circumstances where American writers are neither direct nor straightforward. Beyond simply summarizing these outside sources, you should incorporate some of your own analysis into this posting.
As a starting point, you might want to view this series of videos presented by Oregon State University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI0vq9VF-c\
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koViA1gqiUs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0wbDcfltIU
You can use these videos as a starting point, but you must use other sources for this assignment. You have freedom regarding which culture or country you want to investigate. If your background is multicultural, you can use personal experiences, but you must still have at least two outside sources for this assignment.
There are many other constructs related to writing. I remember being told that a paragraph should have five to seven sentences, and I also remember constructing thesis statements with three parts. Whether it is related to perceived rules or taught ways to write, what we might think of as rules are actually constructs. Defining rules more accurately as constructs allows us to see that language usage and acceptable writing conventions are created rather than inevitable. Many writing constructs are culturally influenced but remain hard to notice because cultural analysis is difficult unless one steps away from the home culture for a significant period of time.
In standard American English, you are often taught to be concise and precise in delivering your point. This is reminiscent of the three part five paragraph essay that so many of you are familiar with. In many other parts of the world, there are other writing conventions that dictate what is or is not appropriate for different writing situations. Your task here is to research some different approaches to writing that are NOT typical of standard American English. Certainly, if you traverse the Net, you should find some sources that showcase how writing happens in different cultures.
In a brief report (1-2 pages), you should identify at least two writing constructs that are different from conventional American English constructs. These constructs must come from a different writing culture than Standard American English. Certainly, other places around the world will practice different styles.Your report should explore how the culture shapes the practice of writing and underscore the relationship between culture and writing practice. You should cite at least two sources in your brief report. Be careful of making sweeping generalizations in your piece. Though there is evidence that Americans prefer a direct and straightforward approach for communication, there are many circumstances where American writers are neither direct nor straightforward. Beyond simply summarizing these outside sources, you should incorporate some of your own analysis into this posting.
As a starting point, you might want to view this series of videos presented by Oregon State University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI0vq9VF-c\
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koViA1gqiUs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0wbDcfltIU
You can use these videos as a starting point, but you must use other sources for this assignment. You have freedom regarding which culture or country you want to investigate. If your background is multicultural, you can use personal experiences, but you must still have at least two outside sources for this assignment.
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ReplyDeleteAll over the world our cultures vary, from the different types of music to the different types of clothes we wear. The one thing that most people don’t think of is how writing changes from one culture to another. It is often hard to see, because most do not explore the writing of other cultures as they do their food and music. When stepping out of the writing constructs of the traditional American, it can be seen that many cultures have their own style. Such as writing in different directions, how they organize their thoughts and even the length of what they write. In this report you will see an example of two different cultures and how they are different from American English, and also how their culture has affected this.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows about the French culture by their beautiful arts and amazing food. The most common shared aspect of the French is that they are rude, but I don’t believe that. Their culture has directed them to be more direct and persist, which has come off as rudeness to the most people. This aspect of being more direct comes into play in their writing structure. Where in American English we associate writing to have five paragraphs, but the French based on “Academic Writing and Culture: An Overview of Differences between English, French and German” focus on three to four paragraphs in their writing. Their ultimate goal is to be direct.
In Persian culture, written work, down to the base, is constructed differently than that of English. One distinct difference is in how an idea is developed, they use what is know as parallelism, which is defined as: a statement that is made and then repeated with a slight variation that adds to, reflects or contradicts the original meaning. Along with parallelism, Arabic cultures come to the “point” of a paragraph or statement in a completely different manner than that of Americans. What they do, in contrast, is build up to the “point” rather than making it obvious from the beginning. A great example of this is one that is provided by the research from Robert B. Kaplan; The persian students paragraph starts as such: “It happened in a small city, early in the morning on a hot day”. So instead of stating there was a fire from the start, he slowly builds up in order to reveal it later on in the passage. This may seem to be a minimal difference, but to different cultures it can be very significant.
Works Cited
Siepmann, Dirk. "Academic Writing and Culture: An Overview of Differences between English, French and German." Erudit.org. Consortium Erudit, 1 Mar. 2006. Web. 24 Feb 2014.
Ramezani, Ahmad. "Persian Culture" Persianv.com. 22 May. 2010. Web. 24 Feb 2014.
Each and every culture has their own way of expressing what he or she cares about. Some ways are how a person writes,talks,dance,and portrait themselves. Very few Americans will realize that other countries do things differently. Where we each come from is how we are taught to read,write,talk, and many more. In my personal opinion i feel that other cultures are being translated out of context.
ReplyDeleteIn the spanish culture many things are different each spanish country talk different,writes different, and dress different from one another. It sometimes is very tricky for other to understand and is often mistranslated wrong. Being born in America I was taught the spanish culture first. Ive had issues where others thought that I was coming off as rude and not every understanding as well as being very dramatic but it was never intentional just how I was taught . People always think we are yelling but we just talk really loud and fast and always using hand motions.
In the American culture they are many different rules and explanations. Over the years it has been shown that many do not know nor understand the correct format of writing,reading,and talking. They are countries who have a better education system then we do. Within the U.S. Florida education is not the best. If we can't have good education no the children will not know the proper way to read,write,and talk. We are all judged from head to toe without others knowing our background and where we come from and what we know.
Just as each culture has its own traditions. It has its own communication and language. When put in the written form you can see the differences in communication in their writing styles. From the writings I have read from African writers on the Nigeria Village Square website (www.nigeriavillagesquare.com), the writer use metaphors to express pain and despair with his country and its citizen’s unsettled cultural lives. Although the works of African writers are not specifically poems the works sound poetic. For example, Wole Soyinka of South Africa wrote “…distractions with universal concerns Whose balm is spread on abstract wounds, not on the gaping yawns of black inhumanity…”. The pain and concern for his country and countrymen is clear in his writings. He also writes, “…the gates of the preventive detention fortresses opened up and closed on him…” The writer seems to be trying to come to terms with the pain his country suffers. According to Exploring Africa(www.exploringafrica.matrix), African writer’s works are an attempt to respond to derogatory representations and myths about African culture.
ReplyDeleteJapan adopted its writing system from the Chinese with written characters representing words. According to New World Encyclopedia (www.newworldencyclopedia.org) Japanese writing can be difficult to read and understand. Japanese writers, because of specifics to the Japanese language, omit information that non-Japanese would find important to understanding the context. Japanese writings are often ambiguous. Clues in the language specifics is how one can determine who is speaking in the text or who the text is referring to. Very long sentences are also common among Japanese writings and are often emotional and full of feeling from personal experiences or links to personal feelings about a subject.
What is clear to me is that emotion and personal experience is the common thread in these two cultures and the writings I read regularly. Although the styles are different , writings are what people use to express what is inside their hearts.