issues207 rituals and ceremonies 这都是什么题目啊……

starshaneUID: 2616355

TOPIC: ISSUE207 - "Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."
WORDS: 341
TIME: 00:45:00
DATE: 2010/3/24 14:39:00

I generally agree with the speaker's perception. Rituals and ceremonies are important definitions of a culture by presenting the essential beliefs behind the culture in a tangible way.
New comers in the society assimilate the beliefs through rituals and ceremonies, or else their sense of cultural identity diminished. However, the influence of rituals and ceremonies to a culture is limited. Some modern societies seem to maintain their identities without many pathetic rituals and ceremonies.

What is the nature of culture? Simply put, it is a set of shared values, attitudes and codes of conducts that characterize a group. Religion, general preference, beliefs, costumes and many other elements constitute the essence of a culture, but the influence of rituals and ceremonies is fundamental for they define members in a culture formally and directly.

Firstly, rituals and ceremonies are usually very formal and sacred, giving strong suggestion to the members of a society that they must conform to the credos as long as they remain part of the society. In this way members of a society are given clear information about their identities. Many jurations upon entering certain society or group are very solemn and the members are warned that they are making a crucial decision to join in. Like in ancient China, when man decided to give up his earthy life and be a monk in a temple for the rest of his time, he would endure a formal ceremony called "Ti du" hold by the abbot of the temple, in which a close shave and swear are included. In nowadays, communist joining the Chinese Communist Party not only have to submit written affidavits but also read solemn jurations under the party banner on 4th of May. In this sense, rituals and ceremonies clearly defined people’s cultural identities.

Moreover, rituals and ceremonies are embodiments of cultures that can be clearly perceived and experienced. They help people to know who they are by letting them participate in the rituals and ceremonies and learn about the culture, not through preachment or coercion. People understand a culture better when they actually experience the rituals that convey the characters of the culture. In Heidi where almost everybody believes in Voodoo, voodooism rituals and ceremonies are very frequent and deeply saturated in people’s everyday life, like evocation of spirits, ritual murder, sacrifice and so on. Through those seemingly weird rituals, the Haytians preserved their unique spiritual identities. Likewise, devotional Christians adhere to going to church which in turn reinforces their religious identities. Actually participating in regular rituals and ceremonies help members to know who they are and what they are after.
海地这个例子，自己觉得还蛮恰当的。


How about those cultures without many rituals and ceremonies?
They do not necessarily have diminished sense of identities because other elements also define their identities. Generally speaking Chinese have no unified religion or nation wild ceremonies, but Chinese people are held together by traditional ethics, patriotism and political cohesion which are also important in defining a culture. It is hard to tell that the Chinese’ sense of identities is weaker than that of other cultures with more rituals and ceremonies.

In sum, rituals and ceremonies do play an important role in defining culture and the identities of society members by clearly substantializing cultural beliefs and restricts, but their influence is not definite.

明天的鞋子UID: 2639625

Issue 207 rituals and ceremonies 这都是什么题目啊……
starshane
TOPIC: ISSUE207 - "Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."
WORDS: 341
TIME: 00:45:00
DATE: 2010/3/24 14:39:00

I generally agree with the speaker's perception. Rituals and ceremonies are important definitions of a culture by presenting the essential beliefs behind the culture in a tangible way.
（此段可以和前段和为一段，作为开篇）New comers in the society assimilate the beliefs through rituals and ceremonies, or else their sense of cultural identity diminished. However, the influence of rituals and ceremonies to a culture is limited. Some modern societies seem to maintain their identities without many pathetic rituals and ceremonies.

What is the nature of culture? Simply put, it is a set of shared values, attitudes and codes of conducts that characterize a group. Religion, general preference, beliefs, costumes and many other elements constitute the essence of a culture, but the influence of rituals and ceremonies is fundamental for they define members in a culture formally and directly.（个人认为这段比较好，先定义culture，然后再陈述rituals and ceremony只是culture比较形式化和直接的反映，而非本质，为下文做好铺垫）
（刚介绍完culture，直接接firstly…，使得本段跟上段之间的衔接感觉稍有突兀感，个人感觉哈！）Firstly, rituals and ceremonies are usually very formal and sacred, giving strong suggestion to the members of a society that they must conform to the credos as long as they remain part of the society. In this way members of a society are given clear information about their identities. Many jurations upon entering certain society or group are very solemn and the members are warned that they are making a crucial decision to join in. Like in ancient China, when man decided to give up his earthy life and be a monk in a temple for the rest of his time, he would endure a formal ceremony called "Ti du" hold by the abbot of the temple, in which a close shave and swear are included. In（可以去掉） nowadays, communist joining the Chinese Communist Party not only have to submit written affidavits but also read solemn jurations under the party banner on 4th of May. In this sense, rituals and ceremonies clearly defined people’s cultural identities.

Moreover, rituals and ceremonies are embodiments of cultures that can be clearly perceived and experienced. They help people to know who they are by letting them participate in the rituals and ceremonies and learn about the culture, not through preachment or coercion. People understand a culture better when they actually experience the rituals that convey the characters of the culture. In Heidi where almost everybody believes in Voodoo, voodooism rituals and ceremonies are very frequent and deeply saturated in people’s everyday life, like evocation of spirits, ritual murder, sacrifice and so on. Through those seemingly weird rituals, the Haytians preserved their unique spiritual identities. Likewise, devotional Christians adhere to going to church which in turn reinforces their religious identities. Actually participating in regular rituals and ceremonies help members to know who they are and what they are after.
海地这个例子，自己觉得还蛮恰当的。


How about those cultures without many rituals and ceremonies?
They do not necessarily have diminished sense of identities because other elements also define their identities. Generally speaking， Chinese have no unified religion or nation wild ceremonies, but Chinese people are held together by traditional ethics, patriotism and political cohesion which are also important in defining a culture.（不够具体和有说服力，最好可以加上更加形象的事例，比如：中国有56个民族，各个民族的ritual和ceremony迥异，但是在奥运会的时候，大家因为爱国之情和民族自豪感，使得大家凝聚在一起等等，虽然没有具体的ritual和ceremony，但是大家并没有因此而迷失自己） It is hard to tell that the Chinese’ sense of identities is weaker than that of other cultures with more rituals and ceremonies. (此段论证稍显乏力)

In sum, rituals and ceremonies do play an important role in defining culture and the identities of society members by clearly substantializing cultural beliefs and restricts, but their influence is not definite.（可以改换成：它们的作用并没有强大到离开它们，人们会迷失自我，等等类似的意思 ）

行文整体比较有条理
（1）只是可能在前面Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture方面阐述得比较充分
（2）而到Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."部分，论证稍显薄弱和不足。