Write 800-1200 words in response to the prompt below. Use your favorite word processor, and then submit your document in the “Initial essay about culture” assessment folder located in d2l (link to this is in the “Introduction” folder or access it directly from top of our d2l page: Assessments -> Assignments -> Initial essay about culture). Your document MUST be MS Word, Plain Text, or PDF format, and you should save a backup copy of your work on your own computer. There is no right or wrong answer; we want to read *your* thoughts and experiences. The only wrong answer is if you do not follow the directions or answer the questions coherently.
We will deduct points if your essay falls below the word count, so use the word count function in your word processor to check this. However, it is OK if you go *over* the word count, but please email the TA if you are planning to write more than twice the suggested word count.
You will be graded on how you answer each part of the prompt below (1 through 4):
1. Define what you think “culture” is in one paragraph. We are interested in hearing what this word means to you and not really in whether your definition is “correct”. There is no correct answer, so please do not use any definitions that you find online, just discuss what you think about this word. You will loose points if you use a definition you find in the dictionary or anywhere online.
2. In the next paragraph, describe some aspects about your culture, including how the circumstances of where you grew up, your family, school, identities, and wider society have shaped your culture. Specific examples and details will make this section stronger.
3. If you had the power to do this, what is one specific thing you would change about your culture (that would affect both you and others who share this cultural background with you)? Have fun with this answer.
4. Finally, write about an encounter with cultural difference (this could range from interacting with a neighbor from a different ethnic group or a different religion than yours to traveling or living in a different country). Specific examples and details will make this section stronger.
4a. Describe that encounter and what made it intercultural, and how you initially felt about the encounter and why. Was there anything about the encounter that made you uncomfortable and why (or why not)?
4b. Describe any challenges you had communicating or understanding the other person, or if no challenges, why not.
4c. Describe an assumption you held about them or vice versa.
4d. Describe how you felt after the encounter and why.
4e. Finally, based on your experience, describe one factor or characteristic that promotes a successful or rewarding intercultural encounter (maybe it was something you did, or something you realize you should have or should have not done). What did you learn from this intercultural encounter that might help you navigate a similar encounter in the future?
We use Turnitin, an “originality checking” software that is part of the d2l system. Please submit only your own original words. You do not need to look up anything in any books or online to write this short essay, because there are no wrong answers; we are looking for your thoughts and experiences regarding these questions. You should be able to check your essay’s “originality” yourself using Turnitin; please call the d2l help line if you are not sure how to do this. Again, for this essay it is not necessary to use outside sources, but if you do use an outside source (by quoting it or paraphrasing it), please cite it somehow – we are not picky about how you cite it, just cite it so the reader would be able to find this source on their own. You may find the following resources useful:
- What is paraphrasing?
- More tips on avoiding plagiarism.
On using ChatGPT or similar technologies: this is such an easy assignment and lets you reflect on your own life, why would you have a machine write this for you?
Please review our policies in the course syllabus. These are new tools, and the world of education is in the middle of adapting to these. My view right now is, they can be useful writing assistants (checking grammar, helping you generate initial ideas) but there are several big problems with using them to entirely take over your writing work, tempting as it may be:
- Writing seems like hard work, but the act of writing helps you clarify your thinking and learn more. When you outsource writing to ChatGPT, you may save time and effort, but you are cheating yourself of the learning that comes when you do the writing yourself.
- Academic honesty: presenting something that ChagGPT wrote as your own work (without you having done any work besides ask it to write your paper) is a clear case of academic dishonesty and is unacceptable and not conducive to learning. Tools like Turnitin might or might not catch this (one colleague claims it showed him many of his students had turned in ChatGPT written papers). Things get fuzzy when you use it to generate ideas or to generate rough drafts, or to get feedback on your own rough drafts, which you then work on, but I am allowing that as long as you cite this tool and its role in your writing.