Intercultural Communication: Cultural analysis paper

Cultural Analysis Paper
Objective:
The goal of this paper is to apply communication concepts and terms to analyze the life of another person by “putting yourself in the shoes of another”. Developing empathy is a process of understanding who someone is (their background, personality, etc) and how they felt in a given situation.

You have been asked to read ONE of the six selected readings for this class. Each of these stories are about individuals who made choices that impacted not only themselves but others. In this paper you will have the opportunity to analyze what you read by completing the following:
Readings (CHOOSE ONE):
1) Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. This is a women’s account of her experience living through the Rwandan Genocide
OR
2) Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. This is a man’s account of first seeking to climb K2 in Pakistan BUT in the process learned about the people and villages and he made it his goal to build schools.
OR
3) Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario. This is a true story of a young Honduran boy’s search for his mother.
OR
4) A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. This is a true story about a young boy’s experience as a boy soldier.
OR
5) Trafficked by Sophie Hayes: The terrifying true story of a British girl forced into the sex trade
OR
6) Escape from Camp 14: One man’s remarkable odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West.
OR
7) Fairyland: by Alysia Abbott. A beautiful, vibrant memoir about growing up motherless in 1970s and ’80s San Francisco with an openly gay father.

Introduction:

In your introduction please describe why you chose the book that you read. What was it that influenced your choice. Please also describe what concepts and terms you will be discussing.

Body:

In the body of the paper please first describe the following:

1) Provide a brief cultural historical context. Provide a history of the country that the stories take place. Describe the colonial, racial/ethnic, religious, or socio-economic histories.

2) Provide a description of the macro and micro cultural groups, muted group, and how power is distributed. (Power can be seen as political power, socio-economic power, positional power)

3) Discuss the categorization process that took place within each of the main characters. For example, what were their perceptual filters and how did they categorize others (or how were they categorized by others). Explain how their perceptual categories impacted their decision making. Please use examples from the book to support your points.

4) Explain how the main character acculturated him/herself to the situation/context they were in. Please identify the specific verbal and nonverbal communication strategies they used to adapt/acculturate to their new cultural environment.

Conclusion:

In your conclusion please describe what you learned about EMPATHY as a result of reading your selected story. What did you learn about the country/people and were you able to identify with the main character? Were you able to identify with your character cognitively and/or emotionally?

Paper Guidelines:

Your paper should be:

1) 4-5 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, one-inch margins and 10- 12 point font.

2) Please organize your paper by using the standard paper formatting structure (introduction, body, conclusion).