Storytelling from a culture perspective

Different cultures throughout history have taken different approaches to documenting history.  The Egyptians, for example, used hieroglyphics as a means to communicate their stories in scared temples, in tombs, and in architecture.  The Roman Empire used scribes to document religious epiphanies, historical events, and even business transactions.  Storytelling is one way that is unique among the rest.  The Native American’s used narratives as a means to guide their everyday life. My grandma used to tell me about her mother (my great-grandmother), a full blooded Sioux woman who would tell her many stories of Native American mythology. According to Wikipedia:

“Native American mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Native American religion from a mythographical perspective. Native American belief systems include many sacred narratives. Such spiritual stories are deeply based in Nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons, weather, plants, animals, earth, water, sky & fire. The principle of an all-embracing, universal and omniscient Great Spirit, a connection to the Earth, diverse creation narratives and collective memories of ancient ancestors are common. Traditional worship practices are often a part of tribal gatherings with dance, rhythm, songs and trance”

There are quite a few things that can be inferred from this; firstly, Native Americans used this as a means to not only document history but to create mythology from it. Narratives and folk tale legends such as BlackFeet Tales, Chief Mountain, and Old Man and the Beginning of the World are among a few that were told in cultural ceremonies. They used it as a means to warn their people and create a belief system of morals by which could guide their lives.  Regardless of whether these narratives were true or not, they served a higher purpose of guiding these people.In this day and age, what do you believe would be our generation’s equivalent to these narratives? Tell me what you think! 

How rhetorical conventions produce an effective message.

Anyone who has ever had to construct a logical argument knows how important rhetoric and diction are to the effectiveness of the point they are trying to get across. Whether it be through word choice, using rhetorical devices such as metaphors, similes, allegories, and personification to prove a point or using an antithesis, oxymoron, and paradoxes to disprove a point the result remains the same: One must use appropriate language and analysis to construct an argument.

                In Susan Welch’s blog  In Diversity, India Seeks to Rise Above Caste, Color she starts her blog stating of with giving statistical analysis of India’s ethnic background.  She uses empirical facts to appeal to her readers’ logos.  Welch states, “India represents a large swath of people. Roughly three-quarters of its roughly 1.17 billion people are Indo-Aryan, and Dravidians make up another large chunk. But the remaining 3% is divided among 2,000 ethnic groups. Hindi and English are two of the 18 recognized Indian languages.” to describe how diverse the country is and how it is breaking traditional social barriers such as the cast system which has plagued India for so long. She does this throughout her entire blog to show that there is an increase in women in education, but also an increase in discrimination against darker skin colors due to the increase in skin whitening products, and a decrease in age discrimination due to a rise in people under the age of 25 in the country.  These tactics Susan Welch uses are a great way for her to convince people she is right, since facts are empirical.

                In What Are We Searching for? By a blogger who only uses the name Katrina, uses allegorical examples by appealing to ones pathos. Describing how social medias attempt to appeal to people’s emotions by stating “All those postings on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever internet site your hanging out on, will not fill the void. (Before anyone stops reading, I have accounts on Facebook and Twitter), I’m just saying they’re not a substitute for the deeper longings. More time on the internet is not going to stop the yearning, it’s a band-aid, not a cure.” She uses many examples of diction, and logical paradoxes to sway her reader.

                Both writers attempt to use their own form of rhetorical devices to sway their readers through pathos and logos.  

The breakdown of Cultural barriers in America

As I sit here in my apartment at a large state school with a low number of minorities, one thing occurred to me while I started to contemplate what the causes of cultural assimilation are. Diversity is the key to breaking down cultural barriers and enables cultural and social assimilation among people. 

For large institutions such as Texas A&M University, there needs to be not only a focus on diversity in the classroom but a platform for individuals to express themselves in a manner that will enable them to truly get to know one another.   Pierre Dulaine, a champion ballroom dancer discusses his effort to use dance as a mechanism to do this saying, "Sitting next to each other doesn't get you to know another person in the classroom, but having danced with one another somehow is a different thing.  And I think this is a success of Dancing Classrooms."  (A link to the rest of Dualine’s interview can be found here)

Although dancing is a great way to break down barriers,  there are many other ways to do so. Sports, joining organizations, and being proactive are all great ways to do so but the most efficient and effective way to truly understand another cultural background is by simply learning about it without a judgmental eye. 

According to the U.S. Department of Education study stated that less than 8 percent of U.S. undergraduates take a foreign language course and less than 1% attain foreign language degrees. Language is at typically the root of most cultures. As Americans, if we can take a stance to learn about other cultures through language we can understand diversity not only on a local level but on an international level as well.