Day 5
Wed. Jan. 20
Review words and phrases
Mini-lecture: “Using the world as your language-learning textbook”
Speakers and discussion: Tianji, Jingheng, Kaige
Share observations and comments on MCMP2019 chapters
Homework
➤ Essay 1 draft due Monday
Don’t forget about the books on Chinese culture which are available in my mini-library near CC1070. Feel free to message me if you’d like my advice about what you could read in English that’s relevant to your subject. (I’ll also message you directly if I think there’s something you definitely should read.)
➤ Look at Liu Yang infographics (“East Meets West”)
These infographics are from a book called East Meets West by a Chinese designer named Liu Yang, based on her experiences living in Germany. Look at these pictures and come prepared to share your thoughts on these questions:
Do you think these represent useful generalizations about East Asian and Western (Euro-American) culture? Or are they stereotypes?
Think of a specific example of a type of behavior (something either Chinese people or Westerners do) that seems to “fit” the generalization represented by one of the images.
Think of a specific example of a type of behavior (something either Chinese people or Westernersd o) that seems not to fit the generalization represented by one of the images.
➤ Look at rubric and think about it
This is the rubric I will use to grade your essays in this class. Look at these categories (particularly the first four: interest, clarity & flow, persuasiveness & nuance, and depth) and ask yourself: What do these qualities mean to me? Think of an example of a piece of writing we’ve read so far in this class that exemplifies one of these qualities.
➤ Be ready to continue discussions from this last class
If you have anything to say about Kaige’s question, come ready to share it. And if you didn’t say anything about the My Country and My People chapters we read, come ready to share that too.
➤ Speakers: Tanya, Xiaoyi, Jiaheng
In 2-3 minutes (more than 2 and less than 3), describe the “thing Chinese often people do” that you’re writing about — the activity, behavior, or habit — and tell us what questions you think a foreigner in China might have about this practice. End your mini-presentation with a question to the class to get our discussion started.