Importance of knowledge on culture

Is it important to be educated on culture in this modern society? Personally I think that the knowledge of culture is essential in everyone's life. Learning about culture is important for students because students need to have a global awareness and understanding for other cultures. They will have a greater understanding for the world and how it works as we prepare to go into the world. Instead of it all being the "big unknown", it will be very well known. This is good because society today is very diverse. Having the awareness of culture encourages students to see things and make decisions from different perspectives. The knowledge of culture helps students learn more about how they can thrive throughout their life, and understand global outreach better.When students understand the world better it will make them want to be more engaged in the world because they can understand different views. It is clearly vital for us to be educated on culture.

Culture

Culture

               Being knowledgable about different cultures around the world is very important as it shows others daily routine and the struggles they face day to day in comparison to ourselves. It makes you think. If you were thrown into the conditions faced by different cultures we would not know what to do, nor would we be able to adapt to the sudden change. A great example of these cultures is shown through the movie "Babies". This movie is about the comparison between four cultures and how they raise their children. This movie compares the United States, Japan, Namibia, and Mongolia. If you throw Orangeville into the comparison and remove Japan it shows just how good Canada, and the United States have it. The children in these third world countries are wandering by themselves coated in dirt and barely clothed in terrible warm conditions, where it is surprising to see a child in the sun without a hat here. The level of childcare, and overall conditions are substantially better here then in these third world countries. When born we are showered with gifts and love from our friends and family, where as in Mongolia, and Namibia these children are forced to play outside with rocks, grass, sticks, or handmade toys. They do not have the resources we have today. There is no store they can drive to whenever they need something, no nursery they can sleep in, no music players singing them lullabies, no toys to play with, no canned baby food, none of the resources that seem to be necessities here. So think about the resources we have before you beg for something you cannot purchase or do not need, because we are very lucky for what we have today.

Learning About other cultures

By Travis

        Is it important to learn about different cultures? I think so because then we can get a better understanding as to what is going on in our world today. It also will give us a better understanding of where people came from and how their culture plays a huge role in how they act with others. The way we are raised is the way most of us live forever.

       In the video called "babies" it shows 4 different babies from 4 different cultures. USA, Japan, Namibia and Mongolia. It shows things that we have never seen before. But this gives us a better understanding of what these people go through while growing in such bad conditions but it caries on through most of theirs lives. It also shows how some kids grow up with only one of their parents (Mongolia, Namibia). these children only grew up with their mothers. But that is how it works in their culture. If others parents in other country's could watch this video. They would now appreciate the stuff they have. In conclusion, No matter where you are. You should always appreciate the different cultures around the world

Babies

Is culture important for teenage students to learn in the classroom. I personally think it is extremely important to learn because when we grow up and enter the real world we need to understand the different types of cultures. An example of this is shown in Babies. In the movie Babies, we see four different countries develop and nurturer their new born babies in their culture. The four countries that are shown in the movie are Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and USA.  In Namibia, babies grow up with barely any food, water and clothing. They live with animals and other mothers raising their own babies as well. The dads of the babies in Namibia were not shown in the movie. The girl babie from America was born in a hospital. The mother and the father nurture,  clothed and teacher the babie to walk and crawl. They read with the babie and take it for bike rides. To add, they also take her to the park. The babie from Japan was also born in a hospital. Being born in a hospital shows that the country can afford health care. Japaneses babies are warped up tightly to keep than warm. In addition, the mother and the father feed the babie and nurture it very well. Finally the babie from Mongolia grows up being around lots of animals. The mother takes of the new born babie and the little kid in the movie. The movie shows viewers that even with in a poor country you can still raise and develop your kid.

Culture in the Classroom is Important

One may ask, is it valuable to learn about other cultures in the classroom?  I strongly agree that it is. Learning about other cultures fascinates me. Its so amazing how other people live and think differently than you and the people your surrounded by everyday which makes learning about other cultures and religions so interesting. Learning about other cultures gives you a new perspective and outlook on people. Not everything that happens in Orangeville happens all around the world, it gives you a greater outlook on life. I thought "The Kite Runner" was such an interesting book and opened my mind. One would never think of Orangeville trying to wipe out a certain religion , but it does happen around the world and people need to realize the struggles some cultures face. Like the Pashtuns and Hazaras. The Pashtuns believed the Hazaras dirtied their land, they didn't want them in Afghanistan any more, which created the Taliban. In Canada, in our culture we would never imagine this happening here, its just not realistic. A terrorist group would never try and wipe out a race here, but unfortunately in other countries it happens.

Besides giving you an outlook on problems other cultures face it gives you that an outlook of how other people are brought up. Watching the movie "Babies" makes you realize how differently you are brought up than people in other countries. For example in Namibia Africa, the babies were raised so differently than how they would be raised here in Canada. The children seemed to have no rules, they wore no shoes , hardly any clothes and did what they wanted. Funny enough at one point one of the babies began eating the dirt and bones off the ground. The families were very traditional to their tribe. Orangeville is nothing like this and I find it crazy how we have such a narrow perspective on the world and other cultures because there is just so much more to see. I think learning about culture is such an amazing opportunity, it opens our minds.  

Is it valuable to learn about other cultures in the classroom?

Is it valuable to learn about other cultures in the classroom?

Learning about other cultures not only in the classroom but also outside of the classroom such as in the public, movies theater, shopping malls etc. helps us gain knowledge and understand more about different people around the world. Culture forms friendships between people. Culture helps any conversation among individuals interesting. Individuals from different cultures have different ways of living life style. Learning through sharing different experiences and life styles, we may see the world different. Some things may not have been more obvious in one culture, may help understand if we know other culture, for example; lord Buddha who have always followed peace in his life; following his path and prospective may help individual from other culture see things more clearly.

More interestingly, it's the food - different cultures have different food. Food forms friendships. People usually get tired of eating the same food everyday. They would love to try food and even want to know the recipe to make it themselves. People feel good about themselves making food from different cultures. This is allow them to be more creative -- in turns will motivate them to do good and positive things and be open minded.

Learning cultures had only positive things. It will make everyone appreciate each other's culture. For example, some cultures have strong feeling about their religion, where only men should or allowed to go to school. Some cultures only teach religious thorough their churches. But, in a diverse society you are forced to learn about each other and interact with each other -- no matter what their religion is.

Therefore, I truly believe that we should encourage individuals to travel more around the world; experience new foods, and try to learn other cultures while sharing their own with others. This will make our society more caring and loving, through connecting with each other. The world would definitely be a happy place and we will appreciate each other more.

Who Are These People?

The Taliban have killed more people than you have ever met. They have made hundreds of thousands lives a living hell, and until they are stopped, will continue to do just that. These extremists are known for their radical views, but where does it all stem from?

Culture. Throughout the world, many people live extreme opposites to how we do. In Canada, we may drive to work in rush hour traffic, work for 8 hours, drive back, and then go to a hockey game to let loose. To enjoy our sport. But in other countries, you may go and play a sport where you attempt to be the only kite left in the sky. Called Kite Running. But why is it important to know this? To understand and acknowledge other people's cultures?

The simple answer is Tolerance. Tolerance and Understanding can lead to a great deal of positive things. Throughout history, many cultures have been put down for simply being their own people. But, that may simply be because people were uneducated. With education we are able to understand all the cultures of the world, and see that we are all equal in one way or another. This leads to respect, love, and bonding. If we can pull the world together through understanding, then we can do anything.

Before we read "The Kite Runner", many of us were unsure of who the Taliban were, and why they are the way they are. Now we are able to understand that they are people who have taken a beautiful culture to it's extremes and caused extraordinary amounts of pain. With this knowledge we have, we understand the conflicts of the world, and how it is not all of Afghanistan who are bad people, but simply those who took their culture and twisted it to their own means.

Understanding may have stopped Hitler. The Taliban. Stalin. If the world knew just what these people were doing to these cultures, people may have stepped in.

That's why it is important for us to learn about culture in the classroom. We can learn from it. We can respect and understand we are all equal. We can make sure the past does not repeat itself.

Is It Valuable To Learn About Other Cultures?

I think it is good to learn about other cultures in the classroom because it gives people a better perspective of the things that happen in the world. In my opinion, learning about other countries and their culture at a younger age will reduce the amount of racism because people will be have somewhat of an understanding of where their ethnic friends came from. They will understand that the way they behave is maybe related to how they were raised.

In the movie "Babies", four babies from 4 different countries are documented, Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and USA. All four of them were raised and taught differently, but they were happy and reaching their milestones (like walking and saying their first words). If children all over the world watched this, they would see that there are kids that play different games (maybe without toys) but still have a good time. It shows kids a different way of growing up it may show kids to appreciate the things they have. Showing this to adults wouldn't be a bad idea either, because it shows parents-to-be a way to raise their kids, without making them have materialistic obsessions.  

  

The True Story Behind Why Conflict Occurs.

        Have you ever wondered what the world would be like without conflict?  How conflict shows that others are standing up for what they believe in? In the world today, there is always some kind of conflict, even if it is an argument with friends or family. It can even be a severe as a world war. These things are telling us that we are different and have different beliefs. I think this is a good thing because it shows that people will fight to stand up for what they believe in and show others that they will not stop until they get it. This also occurs in books as it makes the book interesting. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hasseini, has 2 very different cultural groups. Through out the book the Pashtuns and Hazaras are very different and can never come to an agreement. They are also very different, as the Pashtuns are  the upper class and they are very wealthy. Meanwhile, the Hazaras are the lower class and the ones who are frowned upon in the Afghanistan culture. The book demonstrates that the the Pashtuns believe that  Hazaras are these types of people who don't belong and they need to be wiped out from the entire country, but the Hazaras don't agree and create this conflict between these two very different ethic groups. This results in there being conflict and the Hazaras standing up form what the believe in and stand for. This completely creates the world to be a better place in the end. I believe that without conflict there will not be any  diversity within the world, as we will all agree and be one mind that thinks alike. Without the Hazaras standing up to the Pashtuns it would be a world where no one knows how to think for themselves and have a passion about something.  This will end up with no one standing up for what they think is right and we, as Canadians,will not of had the rights and freedoms that we have today without war and conflict. Therefore, it is okay for there to be conflict as it creates a world of many different kinds of people and allows peoples voices to be heard.           

Learning About Cultures in the Classroom

The value of learning about other cultures in the classroom is often overlooked by students, however it is an extremely relevant topic in today's society. Ethnocentrism is when people judge another culture purely by the values and standards of their own, which causes great conflict. By studying other cultures in the classroom, students are exposed to those belief systems and are given the opportunity where they can analyze those cultures without the bias of their own, in the hopes that they will develop not only a better understanding of other cultures but also a better appreciation. In the movie Babies, it documents the first year of life for four babies, all from different places around the world. With child rearing always being a hot topic, where every person with and without children have an opinion, often times people compare and judge the raising of children in other cultures. This movie educates people on how the differences in the cultures and ways of raising the children have no affect on the children as a whole. They all grow up healthy and happy, reaching the same milestones around the same time. Watching movies like these in the classroom and outside the classroom helps students and people in general understand that cultural differences should not be treated as a divide and that the same things are accomplished. Studying culture in the classroom allows people to develop a better understanding and appreciation for other cultures.

Culture in the class.

Is it valuable to learn about other cultures in the classroom?

Yes I think it is important to learn about culture in our class. When we read The Kite Runner we learned about lots of cultural differences and that could relate to the different cultures in our classroom. Also in the video Babies we saw different cultures and it was interesting to see and realizing the similarities. In conclusion I think that it is important to learn about the cultures because we can see the differences and similarities. Also if we learned about the cultures in the class it could be easier to relate things to the books and images that we look at.

Cultural Blog Post

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED ABOUT CULTURE WHILE STUDYING THE KITE RUNNER
BY: Molly  

           Throughout the novel The Kite Runner I have learned many things about culture and the importance it has on their society. We learn about the different aspects of Afghan culture, and see how different it is compared to other cultures. We learned about the different classes, the Pashtunwali and the affects it has on the Pashtun people, and we learn about the roles of women. Throughout the novel, we learned about the different classes, we learned about the two present in the novel; the Pashtun people and the Hazara people. We saw the difference in economic power between the Pashtun people and the Hazara people and viewed how people respected each class differently. While learning about the classes we viewed the Pashtunwali. The Pashtunwali means "the way of the Pashtuns", this is the code of honour for Pashtun people. This code is practiced by all Pashtun people around the world. In addition to learning about the classes in Afghan, and the Pashtunwali, we learned about the different roles of women  in there culture. They have a role as "less" then men and are not respected in the Afghan culture, which is very wrong!

Culture in the movie Babies

Are literary works a valuable and reliable source in examining other cultures?

     The movie Babies is a great example of how literary works teach audiences about culture.  Some literary works are created for the purpose of teaching about culture such as documentaries or non-fiction writing.  However, other books and movies can provide a lot of information about different cultures without that being the sole purpose of the novel or movie.  Babies is a good example of this, the purpose of this film is to show us how babies live in different places around the world and allows us to look at cute babies, because who doesn't love babies? Even though this movie's focus is on babies we learn so much about culture through their lives.  When we watch the movie babies from around the world it allows us to see how they live, their codes and customs, religions, food, ethnicity, and geography which are all factors of a culture. This is why I think literary works are a very valuable and reliable source of examining other cultures.

culture ???

Is it valuable to learn about culture in the classroom? I don't believe that we should be learning about cultures in an English class because we should be learning about proper writing techniques and about things like metaphors, stuff that we can actually use later in life after we leave school. I'm sure there are many jobs that deal with culture and where you would need to know about other cultures, but if you want to learn about culture you should be able to take it as an elective class. I know it would be hard to find new things to teach in English in all four grades, but I don't see how culture is important to teach. If somebody really wanted to know about other cultures then they can learn it on their own time. In conclusion I feel that teaching culture in a class like English is not a good use of time, when we could be learning things that are useful at this time.      

How I felt watching the Kite Runner Movie

Heyyyy

This is my very first blog (the one I did for anthro doesn't count) so I'm not entirely familiar with layouts or whatever, so here goes.

This blog post is dedicated entirely to how I feel about the movie for The Kite Runner. Forgive me if I ramble, because I've been wanting to express my frustration for so long.

We're all familiar with the idea that the book is better than the movie, right? Well, in this situation, this couldn't be more true. The Kite Runner was a beautiful composition of literary elements to create an emotion filled and passionate story about guilt and redemption. The Movie couldn't be farer from this idea. This beautiful book has been degraded to such a low quality, that I, like the rest of the watchers, would not watch it again (hopefully, that's how everybody else feels). Thanks, Hollywood! Here's why I'm so strongly against this movie. I believe I have fair points.

From the very beginning, the names are never said, meaning that the characters aren't properly introduced. By considering this decision, I believe that the demographic the producers thought would watch the movie would be the people who already read the book, who now want to see their potentially favourite novel brought to life on the big screen, because this decision reflects the idea that the audience is already aware of who these people are. However, this is a grave decision because it doesn't allow people who haven't read the book to understand the movie. Kind of messed up there, didn't you, Marc Forster? To add on to this, throughout the movie, you feel the story moves too fast. The transitions from, say summer to winter, are so abrupt, they might as well have had a voice over say "we are now going to the next scene, winter". There's also inconsistency's. Sohrab's attempt at suicide wasn't in the movie (Call me a sick puppy, but this is an important part of the story, and I wanted to see it, damn it!). Hassan also didn't have a lip thingy, or other, I forget what it's called. They cut out so much of the story, a short 2 minute video of some random guy reading the back of the book would have been more informing of the story. I still believe my original theory about how the producers believed that the largest part of the audience would be people who have already read the book. So then, that would mean, the producers failed to create a movie that would entertain people who have read the book as well as people who haven't. All in all, this movie was worse than Delgo. Did anyone here see that? Does anyone remember it? From 2009? Well, that bad.

Culture by: Bryan

Is it really necessary to learn about these cultural identifiers and culture? While most of us in this class will move on in life without using any of this information. The only career path that possibly could involve this would be in arts or in English. When it comes to culture of other people, it should be an option to learn about it, not mandatory. If you follow a career path that doesn't involve knowing other cultures, pick up a newspaper, or possibly watch the news. Reading The Kite Runner and watching Babies was very entertaining, but very pointless to the future I see myself pursuing along with the future of most of the people in this class. In summation, I believe, although it is a different way to teach us the basics of English,  it is unnecessary and not needed in our curriculum.

Is it valuable to learn about other cultures in the classroom?

I believe it's not valuable to learn about other cultures in the classroom. It is valuable to have knowledge about how people around the world live their lives compared to ours but it's not a necessity. It is more valuable to learn about cultures on your own time because world culture is not something one needs to know. For most jobs, people don't need to know about other cultures, only their own. Therefore, learning about cultures should be hobby that someone should do on their own time instead of being forced to learn about it in school. The movie "Babies" gave insight into other cultures around the world. Although it was interesting to learn about, learning about it will not help me succeed in life. In summation, learning about other cultures is interesting at times but is not necessary to be in the curriculum.

The Value of a Toy

In the novel The Kite Runner by Hosseini Khald and the movie, Babies we learn a lot about culture and how children grow up in different areas of the world. The most value the book and movie hold to me is how a child has the capability to be happy and full of laughter in any culture the baby is raised in. Whether they have male and female parents, two female parents, one female parent, two male parents or one male parent a baby can still grow up as happy as any other baby. A baby can be raised in the African culture and have what is precieved to be very little to others and be even happier and better raised then a baby in a place like Tokyo or America with toys surrounding the child. 

The book and movie also show me that toys have only the value you make of them. A child growing up in a different culture will see toys as very different things. I think that idea right there is beautiful. A child can have a great toy and be semi-pleased and then on the other side of the world a child can have no toy and be over-joyed. Those who have more often sympathize those who have less, but those who have less do not always want or need more. Those in different cultures believe they have very much, more then enough and yet different cultures and country's will still see them as less fortunate. 

Everyone has different values and ideas of what makes somebody happy. The novel and movie displays that less is sometimes more and just because one is raised with less, does not mean they are not as happy or does not mean they grew up worse then the other.

In the book, as example, Amir grows up with what is seen as more, but Amir overall is not as happy, pure, honourable or nearly as good of a person as Hassan is. Yet Hassan, group up with substantially less and sees what he has as more then enough. This portrays that idea of what people value being different and and having more does not always mean better.