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ACTIVITY 1.3 continued
6 If you choose to do a guided reading of the text, point out the features of the text to students, including the use of a question as the title and the boldface headings that help focus the reader’s attention.
7 Read the first two paragraphs aloud and ask students to determine the focus of this definition of cultural identity (ethnicity is used as the basic identity, then the text moves to a broader identification that encompasses language and national heritage).
8 Be sure that students read the last paragraph on this page carefully and understand what is meant by “cultures are dynamic.”
10 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 10 SCAFFOLDING THE TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS
do think the author chose to introduce personal identity first?
2. Key Ideas and Details (RI.9–10.1) What
is meant by the “invisibility of one’s own culture”? Cite details from the text to support your answer. Reread the last paragraph of “Definitions of Culture and Invisibility of One’s Own Culture.” What does the author say about how we see or don’t see our own culture? Find details from the text to support your answer.
10 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 10
1. Key Ideas and Details (RI.9–10.3) What is 9781457304668_TCB_SE_G10_U1_B1.indd 10
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the purpose of beginning the selection with the individual’s sense of identity and then moving to shared webs of meaning? Reread the introduction to individual identity in the first paragraph. Then reread the introduction to cultural identity in the second paragraph. What would have been the effect if the author had introduced the concept of cultural identity first and then moved on to individual identity? Why
ACTIVITY 1.3
continued
Exploring Cultural Identity
My Notes
manifest: show; display
phenomenon: occurrence distributive: spreading out posits: suggests
attributes: characteristics
Geertz (1973) asserts that members of cultures go about their daily lives within shared webs of meaning. If we link García and Geertz’s definitions, we can imagine culture
as invisible webs composed of values, beliefs, ideas about appropriate behavior, and socially constructed truths.
One may ask, why is culture made up of invisible webs? Most of the time, our own cultures are invisible to us (Greenfield, Raeff, & Quiroz, 1996; Philips, 1983), yet
they are the context within which we operate and make sense of the world. When we encounter a culture that is different from our own, one of the things we are faced with is a set of beliefs that manifest themselves in behaviors that differ from our own.
In this way, we often talk about other people’s cultures, and not so much about our own. Our own culture is often hidden from us, and we frequently describe it as “the way things are.” Nonetheless, one’s beliefs and actions are not any more natural or biologically predetermined than any other group’s set of beliefs and actions; they have emerged from the ways one’s own group has dealt with and interpreted the particular conditions it has faced. As conditions change, so do cultures; thus, cultures are considered to be dynamic.
Individual Differences Within Cultures and the Dynamic Nature of Culture
Individual cultural identity presents yet another layer of complexity. Members of
the same culture vary widely in their beliefs and actions. How can we explain this phenomenon? The argument for a “distributive model” of culture addresses the relationship between culture and personality (García, 1994; Schwartz, 1978). This argument posits that individuals select beliefs, values, and ideas that guide their actions from a larger set of cultural beliefs, values, and ideas. In most cases, we do not consciously pick and choose attributes from the total set; rather, the conditions and events in our individual lives lead us to favor some over others. In summarizing Spiro’s concept of “cultural heritage,” García (1994) draws a distinction between “cultural heritage” and “cultural inheritance.” Cultural heritage refers to what society as a whole possesses, and a cultural inheritance is what each individual possesses. In other words, each individual inherits some (but not all) of the cultural heritage of the group.
We all have unique identities that we develop within our cultures, but these identities are not fixed or static. This is the reason that stereotypes do not hold up: no two individuals from any culture are exactly alike. While living inside a culture allows members to become familiar with the total cultural heritage of that society, no individual actually internalizes the entire cultural heritage. In fact, it would be impossible for any one person to possess a society’s entire cultural heritage; there are inevitably complex and contradictory values, beliefs, and ideas within that heritage, a result of the conditions and events that individuals and groups experience. For example, arranged marriage has long been a cultural practice in India based on the belief that
the families of potential spouses best know who would make a desirable match. More and more frequently, however, individuals reject the practice of arranged marriage; this is partly due to the sense of independence from family brought on by both men’s and women’s participation in a rapidly developing job market. The changing experience
of work is shifting cultural attitudes towards family and marriage. These different experiences and the new values, beliefs, and ideas they produce contribute to the dynamic nature of culture.
References
Fishman, J. (1989). Language and ethnicity in minority sociolinguistic perspective. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.
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