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Assignment | Cultural Identity Analysis Journal

Purpose

The purpose of this analysis journal assignment is to provide students with the opportunity to identify and critically analyze their own cultural identities and worldview in relation to intercultural interactions as well as explain the influence of bias on perception of self and others.

Tasks

This assignment is a quarter-long analysis worth 10% of your grade. In order to succeed on this assignment, students are strongly encouraged to start the paper no later than the 4th week of the quarter beginning with the section of the assignment outline (below) that we have covered in class. Continue with the assignment outline as we cover topics each week.

Points Attainable: 100

Due Date: 11 PM Thursday March 19th

Required File Type: This assignment will be turned in on Canvas. Be sure to upload your journal as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.

In order to achieve the goals for this assignment, you will need to apply the course concepts and content learned this quarter to yourself in an effort to identify the cultural lens you see the world through and address the biases you hold. Using the outline below, explore all the elements of your cultural identity. Who are you, culturally speaking? For the purposes of this journey, focus on behaviors you actually engage in. For each element be sure to provide an example from your present day life.

NOTE: This assignment is NOT a simple autobiography or detailed chronological story of your family’s history. This is an analysis paper. In order to succeed on this assignment it is important that you review and understand the difference between analyzing and summarizing. For more information on this distinction, please review the in the Getting Started Module. Brief excerpts from your family’s history may pertain to portions of this journal but should not be the primary focus. The goal of this paper is for you to analyze the elements of your cultural identity as they relate to you in order to identify your biases. As such, the primary focus is on you and your cultural practices in the present. i.e. What are your values, beliefs, norms, etc. today? What do you actually practice? Do not get lost in what your parents practice or believe. This paper is about you and the biases you have about other cultures.

Structure:

For the purposes of this assignment simply provide headings directly from the assignment outline below followed by your answers to the questions and examples. For example, you will start with the heading WORLDVIEW and then below it provide your answers to the questions posed in the outline along with appropriate examples from your life experience. The next heading would be VALUES followed by PROVERBS and so on. Please do not use up space in your paper restating the actual questions. Simply provide your answers to the questions in that section along and an example from your life experience in the space under each heading. Continue to do this for each topic on the assignment outline. There is no need to provide transitions between each topic.

Following the outline below should be helpful in writing this paper for organizational and content purposes.

Assignment Outline:

This outline shows the order for your final draft. Before turning in your journal be sure that it is in the order below (beginning with Worldview/Religion.)

I. Worldview/Religion – This section should not be completed until we cover Worldview in class.

Questions:

1. Why do you believe you are on planet Earth? What is your ultimate purpose in life? This should be an explicit statement like “I believe I am on planet Earth to…“or “I believe my purpose in life is…”
2. What are your beliefs about(choose two of the questions below to fully explain):

• • Why do we exist?
  • Does law, chance or God rule the world?
  • Do you have a soul?
  • What are the origins of the universe and how did life begin?
  • What is our responsibility to other people?
  • What happens when we die?

II. Values – This section should not be completed until we cover Values in class.

Questions:

1. 1. What do you hold dear? What do you treasure? What are your primary values? What is worth dying for? What is worth protecting?
   2. Choose three (3) cultural patterns we covered in the Values Module that best describe your values and behaviors. Describe how your behaviors reflect each of the values you choose. Provide a specific example for each. The first time you use one of the course terms that describes you, be sure to bold or type it in all capital letters. No references are required.

III. Proverbs – This section should not be completed until we cover the Culture Module in class.

Questions:

1. 1. What sayings/proverbs do you follow or live by? List at least two of the most important ones to you and how you follow them. (See ).

IV. History – This section should not be completed until we cover History in class.

Questions:

1. 1. Analyze each of the elements below regarding your cultures history and how they affect on your thinking today. This is history from your own perspective. Use first person (I, me, mine) throughout this assignment.
   2. How did/does the geography and climate of the locale you were enculturated in come to affect your thinking today?
   3. Choose one important story from your cultures history (may be a past event, a myth, or a legend) that deeply affects your thinking today.
   4. Name two well-known people from your cultures history that you look up to. (This should be a person who is recognized by the majority of people who share your culture.) Why do you admire them?
   5. In what specific way(s) do the form(s) of government of your culture affect your thinking today? What biases do these affects of your cultures history create for you regarding other cultures?

V. Language and Nonverbal Norms – This section should not be completed until we cover Language in class.

Questions:

1. 1. What language(s) do you speak? Who do you speak it to? How often do you use it?
   2. What nonverbal behaviors make your culture unique? For the purposes of the assignment, choose two unique nonverbal ways your culture communicates. This may include anything in the areas of: tone, eye contact, touch, proxemics or gestures that stand out as a bit different in your culture than in other cultures.
   3. What are the typical greeting and departure behaviors that you adhere to that make you part of your culture?
   4. What are the typical eating (dining) behaviors that make you fit in to your culture?
   5. How does the way you dress affect your cultural belonging?

VI. Identity – This section should not be completed until we cover Identity in class.

Questions:

1. Do you belong to a dominant group/culture? If so, which one? Identify one bias that you hold about another culture as a result of being a part of this group.

Please note that there is a difference between bias and opinion. Your goal for this assignment is to identify biases not opinions. For a review of the differences between biases and opinion, see the lecture (slide 13 of the PowerPoint presentation) on Biases in Week 5 of Modules.

2. Name two non-dominant groups (co-cultures) you belong to. Identify one bias that you hold as a result of being a part of these groups.

3. Discuss the income portion of your socio-economic standing. Do you consider yourself middle-class, upper-class, or low-class in terms of income. How does your “class” standing affect how you think of others of different class standing? Identify one bias that you hold as a result of being a part of this group.

4. Discuss your age identity. Identify one bias that you hold as a result of being a part of this group. Are you a Baby Boomer, GenX-er, Millennial, or GenZ-er? If you’re not sure, here is a resource that may help: . Once you identify your generation, identify one bias that you hold about people of other generations as a result of being a part of this group. The purdueglobal resource should also help in this regard.

5. Choose one of the following aspects of your identity to discuss and identify one bias that you hold about another culture as a result of being a part of this group.

1. 1. 1. Race
      2. Gender
      3. Sexuality
      4. Ability
      5. Ethnicity
      6. National identity
      7. Regional identity

VII. Bias(es)/Privilege – This section should not be completed until we cover Biases and Privilege in class. As we learned in this class, we all hold biases about groups of people who are different than us due to the “lens/lenses” we view the world through. We learned the biases we hold both implicitly and explicitly over a period of time as we grew from child to adult.

Questions:

1. 1. Using the examine your relationship to oppression, power, and privilege. Identify one privilege you hold. Explain this privilege. How will you go about acknowledging and being aware of your privilege?
   2. What are two biases (not opinions) you hold about other cultures or co-cultures? Feel free to focus on the biases you identified in section VI (Identity). Identify at least two biases you have about other cultures or co-cultures. Be specific. Be sure that the culture(s) or co-culture(s) you identify meet the definition of what a culture or non-dominant/co-culture is (see Culture module). Keep in mind that there is a difference between bias and opinion. Your goal for this assignment is to identify biases not opinions. For a review of the differences between biases and opinion, see the lecture (slide 13 of the PowerPoint presentation) on Biases in Week 5 of Modules. Also, please keep in mind that I am the only person who will be reading your journal. I cannot share what you write with anyone without your written permission.
   3. How will you go about keeping an open mind and monitoring your ethnocentrism with this culture or non-dominant/co-culture? Explain. Be specific.

*If you are having difficulty identifying your biases, here is a helpful tool. Try exploring your personal biases and preferences by taking the Implicit Association Test (IAT) sponsored by Harvard University. Go to

Be sure to choose the Project Implicit Social Attitudes option, then select from: the Race IAT, Skin-tone IAT, Arab-Muslim IAT, Sexuality IAT, or Disability IAT. (You may think you have a test figured out and that you can out-smart exposing any of your biases, however, stick with it. You will be surprised how subtle differences can influence what we think.)

VIII. Addendum Poem

Read the poem below and then thoughtfully write your own using the example or the template provided. Carefully consider what you have learned about your cultural identity as you construct your poem. Try to capture your discoveries in your poem. This will be the conclusion of your Cultural Identity Analysis Journal.

Poem Example:

Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,

from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening, it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush

the Dutch elm

whose long-gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.

I’m from fudge and eyeglasses,

from Imogene and Alafair.

I’m from the know-it-alls

and the pass-it-ons,

from Perk up! and Pipe down!

I’m from He restoreth my soul

with a cotton ball lamb

and ten verses I can say myself.

I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,

fried corn and strong coffee.

From the finger my grandfather lost

to the auger,

the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box

spilling old pictures,

a sift of lost faces

to drift beneath my dreams.

I am from those moments —

snapped before I budded —

leaf-fall from the family tree.

WHERE I’M FROM (Template)

I am from ____________ (specific ordinary item),

from __________ (product name) and __________.

I am from the _____________ (home description. adjective, sensory detail).

I am from the _____________ (plant, flower, natural item),

the ___________ (plant, flower, natural detail)

I am from _____________ (family tradition) and ____________ (family trait),

from ___________ (name of family member) and _____________ (another family name)

and _______________ (family name).

I am from the _______________ (description of family tendency)

and ____________ (another name).

From ______________ (something you were told as child)

and ____________ (another).

I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it. Further description.)

I’m from _____________ (place of birth and family ancestry),

____________ (two food items representing your family).

From the ______________ (specific family story about a specfic person and detail),

the ______________ (another detail),

and the ____________ (another detail about another family member).

I am from _______________ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should my journal be?

The typical length is 12-15 pages, typed in size 12 arial font (or similar) with 1.5 line spacing, and .75 inch margins. Keep in mind that only relevant content in this paper is important. I will read up to 20 pages.

Do I need to provide page references and citations for this assignment?

Providing page references to the textbook or citing any other source is not a requirement for this assignment. Since the journal is all about you, there is no need to use MLA or APA formatting. You will not be defining terms or providing quotes from any sources in this paper. Because you will be analyzing and not summarizing, you will be applying relevant course terms to yourself and fully explaining how or why. Stated differently, you will be applying all the terms in the assignment outline (below) to yourself and describing what they look like in your life and in your behaviors. This assignment is much like a journal entry where your writing shows substantive self-reflection and thoughtfulness. Pictures/photos are not necessary as they do not help demonstrate your self-reflection on the topics.

Is it okay to use first person?

Please use first person (e.g. “I believe…”, “….importance to me”, and “my values…”) throughout this analysis assignment since the subject is all about you. This is your chance to talk about your cultural identity, beliefs, values, norms and practices.

Is it okay to re-use what Ive already posted on discussion assignments?

Feel free to use any original content you’ve posted on the discussion board throughout the quarter that applies to any of the questions asked in this assignment. Several of the discussion questions were designed to get you thinking about your cultural identity and prep you for this assignment.

What if I need extra help with writing?

If you need help with college level writing, be sure to plan ahead and utilize the BC Writing Lab for assistance. The Writing Lab in the Academic Success Center offers both in-person and virtual options for help

How do I stay on track with this assignment each week?

To stay on track with the Cultural Identity Analysis Journal, simply complete the section of the assignment outline that we cover in class each week. For example, by the end of week four, you should have section VI Identity completed, as that topic is being covered in class that week. Two weeks after that, you should have section VII on Bias(es)/Privilege completed. Continue working through the assignment outline as we cover respective topics each week.

Do you have an example journal I could look at?

Here are a couple excerpts from exemplary cultural identity analysis journals:

History

My countrys history has had more implicit than explicit influences on my psyche. As far as geography is concerned, I am identified as one who lives in the West, when compared to the rest of the world. This affiliates my thinking with western ideas and ideology such as capitalism, free trade, and democracy. Our government has made me love and cherish the freedom we as Americans share, one right, that of free speech, Im exercising right now in the sharing of my personal identity. Some stories Ive grown fond of from my culture are accounts of valor and self-sacrifice passed down to me from the Marine Corps. One such story is of a hero Sergeant Major Kasal, who served in the initial push into Fallujah. He heroically, without regard for his own life, in a building with several wounded Marines and four insurgents, attempted to retrieve his men. In the process he and his companion were shot in the legs, and after a grenade was thrown, laid his body on top of his fellow wounded Marine to shield him from the blast. They then waited for backup for an hour and a half, while Kasal held security for him and his men, fading in and out of consciousness in the bathroom with his M-9 Beretta drawn, He received a meritorious promotion to Sergeant Major and a Navy Cross, which is the nations second highest award. The story of this man inspires me to live a life that is willing to sacrifice my own comfort and well being for the good of others.

Events such as the Civil War, the abolition of slavery, and distribution of equal rights to all races, men and women have all affected my perspective. Dr. Martin Luther Kings speech and the events that took place in removing the racism and oppression of African Americans in the United States has given me eyes to see my own sinfulness in ethnocentrism. I tend to gravitate toward people I know and am comfortable with, yet these events remind me of the fact that we all are one race, created equally in the sight of God and it helps me to be more open to and less intimidated by other cultures

Criteria

• 25 pts – Completeness addresses every question in the assignment outline and provides an appropriate example from their life experience for every topic/element discussed in the assignment.
• 20 pts – Demonstrates analysis versus summary (see guide in Modules) throughout the journal. Demonstrates depth and thoughtfulness.
• 15 pts – Demonstrates a keen self-awareness of their own ethnocentrism.
• 15 pts – Identifies specific biases they hold and explains how they will go about keeping their ethnocentrism in check.
• 15 pts – Course concepts and terms are appropriately applied. Course terminology and concepts demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.
• 10 pts – Journal is carefully proofread, organized, free of spelling errors, typos, run-on sentences, fragments and follows capitalization and punctuation conventions.

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