issue207 Spring-第七次作业

林周孟UID: 2341714

    Issue 207   "Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."

    Word :552     Time:90 min    Date: 2007-12-9

    The speaker claims that societies and groups of people can have a strong sense of what they are with the help of rituals and ceremonies .Generally ,I agree with the speaker that rituals and ceremonies help to preserve culture identity , at least at modern times .However , this is not their sole purpose , not are rituals and ceremonies the only means of preserving cultural identity.

    On the one hand, I agree with the speaker insofar as one purpose of rituals and ceremonies is to preserve cultural identity .There is a certain group of people, called “Chaoshan people ”,can aptly illustrate this point. Chaoshan people ,a group of people who locate in eastern Guangdong Province in China ,including Shantou city ,Chaozhou city and Jieyan city .Perhaps almost all the Chinese people know that Chaoshan people not only believe that there are different gods in the world who can protect and save them but also have so many rituals and ceremonies that they at least hold two rituals or ceremonies every month for different purpose ,such as hoping that the god can help them keep healthy ,or wish the god help them earn a great amount of money. In the eyes of many other people in China ,they can not understand why Chaoshan people waste so much money and energy to hold such rituals and ceremonies,which they think are meaningless .However ,this is just the Chaoshan people’s culture .All the Chaoshan people are proud of their distinctive culture .In any area of the world ,you can easily distinguish Chaoshan people from other groups of people through whether they hold such rituals and ceremonies .

    Moreover , rituals and ceremonies do not merely serve to preserve cultural identity .As a matter of fact ,rituals and ceremonies are not born to indicate that their group of people are different from other groups .For instance ,the main purpose of rituals and ceremonies of Chaoshan people is to achieve the sense of  save .By holding such rituals and ceremonies, Chaoshan people can not only feel save but also feel and there are gods who are protecting them .Therefore ,they insist on holding such rituals and ceremonies at the expense of much money and energy ,and even being misunderstood.
   
    On the other hand ,rituals and ceremonies are not the only means of preserving cultural identity .For example ,in my university ,there are many students of black skin ,including Indian and South African ,and so forth .Most of them usually wear clothes of their native style .Thus , by their distinctive style of clothes ,we will never mistake an Indian for a South African  .Moreover ,every group of people have their native language .When we are in public ,we communicate with each other in English .While when we are with friends of the same group ,we use our native language to communicate .Therefore ,we can easily distinguish different groups of people through their native language.

    To sum up ,to prevent cultural assimilation ,a certain group of people can preserve their unique cultural identity by way of rituals and ceremonies .However rituals and ceremonies serve a spiritual functions as well .Moreover ,  rituals and ceremonies are not the only means of preserving cultural identity . The language and the style and clothes can also help to preserve cultural identity.

fullyawareUID: 2352923

昨天晚上打了一堆字，结果没发上来,又得重发,呜~~~~
The speaker claims that societies and groups of people can have a strong sense of what (who,表明身份的话是不是应该用这个)they are with the help of rituals and ceremonies .Generally ,I agree with the speaker that rituals and ceremonies help to preserve culture identity , at least at(in) modern times .However , this is not their sole purpose , not are rituals and ceremonies the only means of preserving cultural identity(这句有点混乱~).

    On the(去掉the) one hand, I agree with the speaker insofar as one purpose of rituals and ceremonies is to preserve cultural identity .There is a certain group of people, called “Chaoshan people ”,can aptly illustrate this point. Chaoshan people ,a group of people (直接用who)who locate in eastern Guangdong Province in China ,including(有点不对劲) Shantou city ,Chaozhou city and Jieyan city .Perhaps almost all the Chinese people know that Chaoshan people not only believe that there are different gods in the world who can protect and save them but also have(perform) so many rituals and ceremonies that they at least hold two rituals or ceremonies every month for different purpose ,such as hoping that the god can help them keep healthy ,or wish the god help them earn a great amount of money. In the eyes of many other people in China ,they can not understand why Chaoshan people waste so much money and energy to hold such rituals and ceremonies,which they think are meaningless .However ,this is just the Chaoshan people’s culture .All the Chaoshan people are proud of their distinctive culture .In any area of the world ,you can easily distinguish Chaoshan people from other groups of people through whether they hold such rituals and ceremonies .

    Moreover , rituals and ceremonies do not merely serve to preserve cultural identity .As a matter of fact ,rituals and ceremonies are not born(我喜欢这个用法) to indicate that their group of people are different from other groups .For instance ,the main purpose of rituals and ceremonies of Chaoshan people is to achieve the sense of  save .By holding such rituals and ceremonies, Chaoshan people can not only feel save but also feel and there are gods who are protecting them .Therefore ,they insist on holding such rituals and ceremonies at the expense of much money and energy ,and even being misunderstood.
   
    On the other hand ,rituals and ceremonies are not the only means of preserving cultural identity .For example ,in my university ,there are many students of black skin ,including Indian and South African(students) ,and so forth .Most of them usually wear clothes of their native style(native costumes) .Thus , by their distinctive style of clothes ,we will never mistake an Indian for a South African  .Moreover ,every group of people have their native language .When we are in public ,we communicate with each other in English .While when we are with friends of the same group ,we use our native language to communicate .Therefore ,we can easily distinguish different groups of people through their native language.

    To sum up ,to prevent cultural assimilation(这个词用在这里不大合适的说) ,a certain group of people can preserve their unique cultural identity by way of rituals and ceremonies .However rituals and ceremonies serve a spiritual functions as well .Moreover ,  rituals and ceremonies are not the only means of preserving cultural identity . The language and the style and(of) clothes can also help to preserve cultural identity.
用的是北美的结构吧,举的那个潮汕人的例子挺好的,不过,是不是可以把潮汕人换成客家人(这个是有专门的单词的)~