Issue207 飞跃dreams小组-第6次作业

lyokaUID: 2451632

207"Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."
Word: 358  Time: 70minutes

Do rituals and ceremonies play any role in defining a culture? The author states that they do help define a culture. From my point of view, to a large extent, what the author says makes good sense.

On the one hand, religious rituals can reveal much of a culture. Religion itself is a part of the culture, and through observing the religious rituals we are able to get something about what the people like or dislike, what they think is sacred, and so on. Especially in those countries where the religion and the politics are closely banded, the religion composes a large part of the culture. When examples asked, the Vatican City State at once comes to face. In this country, Catholic plays quite an important part in the culture of the country.

On the other hand, ceremonies also help to define a culture. Many ceremonies are passed down from generation to generation, which contain much about one culture. The most significant examples are the wedding ceremonies and the funeral ones. They differ greatly from one country to another, which just help define the culture of different countries. In some countries, the wedding ceremonies are held in a church chaired by a pastor; while in some others, they do not. In this sense, the ceremonies do help define a culture.

However, it is not to say that the culture is completely defined by the ceremonies and rituals. Many other factors play an equally, if not less, important role when define a culture. For instance, the history of the country reflects much of one culture, which can not be replaced by the rituals and the ceremonies. Also the fashion in one society helps to learn the culture, which has little connection with the rituals and ceremonies.

To sum up, rituals and ceremonies do play a role in helping define a culture, and without these the people of one society or group just lack identity, in which sense they may have a diminished sense of who they are. However, we can not equal the rituals and ceremonies with the culture- there are many other factors that altogether consist the culture.