Day 11
Mon. Apr. 26
Follow up: Reflections on interview
Intro to Wadjda
Speakers: Summarize Gelfand readings
Finish discussion of Gelfand
Intro to Holliday & Amadasi (understanding “purpose”)
Looking forward: Grading, revision, and final project
Homework
➤ Watch Wadjda, think about discussion questions
Watch Wadjda, available streaming from the Duke library. As you watch, think about these questions and come ready to share your answers:
What is one specific behavior (something you notice people doing) that you find striking, or intriguing, or mysterious in some way?
Having finished watching this film, what is one question you have about Saudi culture?
If you were Hofstede, what would you think about the culture portrayed in this movie?
If you were Gelfand, what would you think about the culture portrayed in this movie?
If you were Osland and Bird, what would you think about the culture portrayed in this movie?
➤ Preview Amadasi and Holliday (2017)
Don’t read this article; just preview it.
First, read the abstract. Based on the abstract, come ready to share your answers to these questions: What is the purpose of this article? (Why are the authors writing it? What are they trying to achieve?) And who do you think the intended audience of this article is?
Second, skim the rest of the article. Next to each section, write what you think the purpose of that section is. (What are the authors “doing” in that section?)
➤ Read the description of Intersections, choose a direction for your final project.
For your final writing project (due at 12 noon on Wednesday May 12), you have three options:
Revise Essay 1
Revise Essay 2
Write a new essay somehow related to the themes of this class
Before deciding, please first read the announcement about Intersections, an online publication about language and culture whose audience is the DKU community. (This announcement will be forwarded to our WeChat group. You can also read some sample essays published on Intersections if you wish.) When thinking about how to approach the final project, imagine your essay being published on Intersections.
Then, writing a brief note to me explaining:
which of the three options above you think you’d like to choose, and why;
what the purpose of this essay would be if published on Intersections; and
what changes you think need to be made to it so it can most effectively fulfil this purpose.
Upload this note to the Box folder “15-Plan for final project.”
➤ Speakers: Rixin, Xiaoyu, Xinyi
Read (or listen to, or watch) a potential English-language source you think would be helpful for enriching your own final paper, and which you think might your classmates might find useful in their writing as well. (This source could be anything. It could be an academic article, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be something from a popular website, film, online forum, podcast, interview, Youtube channel etc.)
In 2-3 minutes, explain to us:
what this source is (what type of source it is);
who the author is;
who you think the intended audience is;
what you think the author’s intended purpose is in writing / creating the source;
what you’ve learned from this source so far (summarize some of the main points you’ve taken it)
why you think this source could be helpful to your classmates.
Finally, link to your source (or upload it) in the Box folder “16-Recommended sources.”
(Note: If you want to read other chapters from the Hofstede and Gelfand books, please let me know. I have full copies of each and am happy to share them with you. Also happy to make recommendations for other sources if you have something specific in mind.)