In this unit, we have focused on revising and editing; understanding expectations; gaining perspective on your writing; ways to outline your paper; the importance of keeping the reader in mind; and how you can best read, process, and respond to feedback. Part of the revision process is sharing with others about what you have experienced. You never know what might help others in their process. Further, sometimes it can help you to better understand and reflect upon your process when you have the opportunity to write it down. 

For this unit’s discussion, consider the process you have gone through as you revised your paper so far—the introduction and literature review. What have you found to be most helpful for you? What would you share with others about your process? What techniques, tips, and methods have you used to help the process go more smoothly for you? You can also describe methods that were not as helpful to you and what you would like to do in the future that you think might be better. 

PLEASE REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 125 WORDS)                 

                                               CLASSMATE’S RESPONSE

When revising my paper, I utilized the grading rubric. I read everything in column 5 to myself aloud and then read my paper aloud to myself. I didn’t have to change much with my introduction and literature review because it meets the requirements. For my introduction and literature review I briefly introduced my topic to my audience and provided examples of some serious cases of head trauma in football. What helped me write a strong introduction and literature is the example in Unit IV. The example text in Unit IV also helped me to write my review of literature, it helped because it gave me an idea on how to make my paper flow correctly. I did have to rearrange my paper, so it is more organized because I jumped from the con to the pro side and back to the con. I fixed that by rearranging my paper to flow evenly. I had difficult taking out “you” or “your”, so I ended up deleting each sentence that had “you” or “you’re” in it and created a new sentence. I had a problem with citations in the paper, but I fixed that by going through and doing more research on my topic. For my topic I used a lot of news articles to help me discuss the pro and con side of my topic. I also forgot to put my references in alphabetic order, but I fixed that as I revised my paper. 

Rock Crystal         Story by A. Stifter

                          Albert Bierstadt, Strom Among the Alps.

      Long, long ago — perhaps maybe some time in the seventeenth century somewhere in the Alps, two valleys with a village each  – Gschaid and Millsdorf – lay next to each other, ringed by high mountains and linked by a sole, lonely path.  Due to this separation, the inhabitants considered each other as strangers. Yet it came to pass that the shoemaker from Gschaid married the Millsdorf dyer’s daughter, and the couple had two children, Conrad and Sanna.

    One unusually warm Christmas Eve, the two children set out on the path from the northward valley, through pine forest and over the pass, to visit their grandmother in the valley to the south.  Their mother had sent Conrad and Sanna to their grandparents in Millsdorf to give them Christmas greetings and presents. Conrad and little Sanna set out early, arrived in time for lunch, and were kissed and showered with gifts by their adoring grandmother. Yet she insisted that they start for home early. The temperature was dropping, and ice was forming on the puddles in the road. As Conrad and Sanna climbed the path back toward home, a significant snowfall began. It was a snowfall the villagers later called once in a century: “unprecedented, unwearying, and voracious.” The children climbed and climbed, but their path never descended as it should; they never find their familiar landmark.   

    On the way home, they “fell into” heavy snowfall which became so dense that they could see only the very nearest trees.  They looked for their usual signpost.

   “Shall we see the post today?” asked the girl. “The snow will fall on it and the red color will be white.”

   “We shall be able to see it,” replied the boy; “even if the snow falls upon it and makes it white all over we are bound to see it, because it is a thick post, and because it has the black iron cross on its top will surely stick out.”

   “Yes, Conrad.”

    Yet they did not see the signpost, and instead of going down into the valley, the children wound up wandering up into the bare rock and ice region. The big brother who made a little roof out of the shawl that his sister was wearing to keep the snow off her face; meanwhile, the sister, maintained her brother’s courage simply by how much she trusted him.  Meanwhile, it had been growing dark.  At last they climbed into a stone cave to spend the night there.  To shield themselves against the cold, they drink from the coffee their grandmother had packed for their parents. The exceedingly strong extract took effect at once and all the more powerfully as the children had never in their lives tasted coffee.  Despite the dangers, Conrad, the elder of the siblings, was overwhelmed by the great canvas of nature before them. They saw a northern light wafting in the night sky, and the stars gleamed and shone and twinkled.  Only an occasional shooting star traversed them.. At dawn, Konrad and Sanna set off to find a way down the valley. At last the boy thought he saw a flame skipping over a far-away snow-slope. It bobbed up and dipped down again. Now they saw it, and then again they did not. They remained standing and steadfastly gazed in that direction. The flame kept on skipping up and down and seemed to be approaching, for they saw it grow bigger and skipping more plainly. It did not disappear so often and for so long a time as before. After awhile they heard in the still blue air faintly, very faintly, something like the long note of a shepherd’s horn. As if from instinct, both children shouted aloud. A little while, and they heard the sound again. They shouted again and remained standing on the same spot. The flame also came nearer. The sound was heard for the third time, and this time more plainly. The children answered again by shouting loudly. After some time, they also recognized that it was no flame they had seen but a red flag which was being swung. At the same time, the shepherd’s horn resounded closer to them and the children made reply.

    “Sanna,” cried Conrad, “there come people from Gschaid. I know the flag.”

    Then the children saw on the snow-slope opposite them several men with the flag of Millsdorf.    

    During the night, men had set out  from both villages, Gschaid and Millsdorf, to look for the children. When they were now at last found, they were driven home on a sledge. In the parents’ house, all friends and neighbors were gathered — even the grandmother from Millsdorf has arrived.

    The common salvation of the children became a topic of conversation in the inn. The inhabitants of the two mountain villages, who had previously regarded each other as strangers and treated each other accordingly, reconciled themselves due to this joint rescue operation. From that day on, the children became the property of the village, and were viewed as natives of both villages who had miraculously been delivered from the mountain. Even the mother from Millsdorf was now considered a true native of Gschaid.   

     Comparison – Contrast Composition Directions:  

            You may have followed the story in the news last year about the 12 boys on a soccer team and coach from Thailand who were trapped in a cave for two weeks. Countless people around the world were captivated by the rescue of the young Thai soccer team from a flooded cave. (Locate an article on the Internet and read about this event and how it ended.)

The  news about the Thai soccer team was recent fact; the account of the two children lost in the snow and rescued by the men of the two villages is a story from 1845 – “Rock Crystal.”  Yet there are some common points between the two narratives.

     Write a composition of two paragraphs of five sentences each comparing and contrasting the fictional story of the two children lost in the mountains and their rescue with what happened to the Thai soccer team.  Use specific examples from both narratives.   

Part 2:

Reading the Classics

 There is nothing that so greatly recreates the mind as the works of classic writers. Directly one has been taken up, even if it is only for half-an-hour, one feels as quickly refreshed, relieved, purified, elevated, and strengthened as if one had refreshed oneself at a mountain stream.      — Arthur Schopenhauer, “On Books and Reading”

                 THE   CLASSICS   FOR   TODAY

     During this English course, you have been reading modern texts in our textbook as well as in your research for various assignments.  For the discussion questions, many of the topics have involved Great Books by classic authors, especially classic nineteenth-century writers such as  Guy de Maupassant (Week 3), Nathaniel Hawthorne (Week 6), Ralph Waldo Emerson (Week 5), and Henry David Thoreau (Week 5).  In reading such skilled writers, one improves one’s vocabulary as well as one’s critical thinking skills.  You should feel very good that you were able to read, understand, and write interesting commentaries on these classic writers!

RETURNING  TO  WALDEN

    More than being examples of great writing and honing critical thinking skills, however, classic literature is important because it brings up universal themes which are important for today’s society.  One such example you read and wrote about in Week 5, that Thoreau’s Walden (with its peaceful associations with Nature and withdrawing at least temporarily from the hustle and bustle of modern society) has a relevance perhaps even more important today than when Thoreau published his book Walden in 1854.  As you read, Walden is even considered viable enough to see commercially a modern video game!

YOUR  PARAGRAPH  TOPIC

    Write at least seven sentences explaining how one of the following works you have read has a theme with relevance for today.  Make sure you have a topic sentence supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence.  Use at least one quote from the work.  Choose one of the following works to write your paragraph about:

“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupaussant

“Under the Pear Tree” by Theodor Fontane (in-class) 

“David Swan” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

“The Blue Flower” by Henry Van Dyke

Come up with original ideas, and do not repeat anythying you have written before or what other students who have posted before you are saying about the work.  Also include in your discussion a commentary on how the work fulfills the comment by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (quoted above) that “there is nothing that so greatly recreates the mind as the works of classic writers.”

 In addition to the thread, you are required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 200 words, and assertions must be supported by 1 textbook and/or biblical citation and 1 outside academic resource. 

Link to Books https://app.wordsearchbible.com/

I will provide user name and passowrd when you are ready let me know.

Culture is basically a learned system of meanings— a value-laden meaning system that helps you to “make sense” of and explain what is going on in your everyday intercultural surroundings.[1]  It fosters a particular sense of shared identity and solidarity among its group members. It also reinforces the boundary of “we” as an ingroup and the “dissimilar others” as belonging to distant outgroups.[2]

One particular barrier that could keep the church in communicating the gospel locally and worldwide is the lack of knowledge which could lead to misunderstanding, or incompetent communication, or both because when someone does not have enough information about cultural strangers, this may trigger cultural or ethnic–racial identity separation or distinctiveness.[3]

In my opinion, the main way to overcome the cultural barriers to complete the Great Commission is to first be led and empowered by the Holy Spirt, welcome His presence and acknowledge Him in all we do for the scripture says then He will direct our paths. Christian Leaders should never ignore the empowering of the Holy Spirit in overcoming communication barriers and boundaries in order to share the gospelwith people from various languages, cultures and social backgrounds.[4]

Another way intercultural communication can help the church overcome those obstacles is with the use social media.  The key to effective communication through media involves two key functions: content creation and content transformation when collaborated they gather and share meaningful communication from scripture.[5] 

Lastly, being properly trained in intercultural communication and cultural intelligence will help churches conquer cultural barriers.  Some Christians need training in those area in order to know how to approach nonbelievers to actually begin a conversation about Jesus. Training is required to overcome barriers such as language.

Stella T. Toomey, and Leeva C. Chung. Understanding Intercultural Communication. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Sundar, Andrew. “Overcoming Communication Barriers and Boundaries in Sharing the Gospel.” Lausanne World Pulse Archives. Issue: 06-2007. Accessed August 22, 2018. http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/themedarticles-php/708/06-2007.

   In addition to the thread, you are required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 200 words, and assertions must be supported by 1 textbook and/or biblical citation and 1 outside academic resource. 

Link to books https://app.wordsearchbible.com/

PLease let me know when you are ready so that I can give you the user name ans password for books

Reply to Donna

In order to fulfil the Great Commission and reach the nations globally and locally, Christians need to understand that “each society looks at the world in its own way, and that way is encoded in its language and culture.”[1] This, of course, is a barrier to the gospel message because without advanced CQ knowledge, CQ strategy, and CQ action, resulting in excellent intercultural communication skills, it is difficult to share the Good News. According to noted missiologist, Paul Hiebert, besides the need to translate the message into a receiving people’s heart language, “the language that they think in, and understand best,”[2] cultural differences will also affect the gospel message in at least three ways. First, “new believers must learn how to deal with their old cultural ways.”[3] Second, “forms of worship and leadership styles must be adapted to fit the local cultural practices.[4]” Third, new believers “must develop a theology in which Scripture speaks to them in their particular historical and cultural settings.”[5] Those bringing the gospel must be able to relate to the receiving culture and help the new believers in the Christian journey towards transformation.

Though there are limitless “different” worldviews that must be addressed if Christians are to communicate the gospel interculturally, it is important to also understand there is a biblical worldview that transcends ethnicities and cultures. The church “should be able to identify the major non-Christian worldviews that vie for dominance in our society, to understand where they fundamentally differ from the Christian worldview, and to make a well-reasoned case that the Christian [biblical] worldview alone is true, good, and beautiful.”[6] So with a biblical worldview, the Christian can respectfully identify the target worldview and, with wisdom from the Lord, help the unbeliever find hope and eternal life in Christ. In striving to fulfill the Great Commission, however, we must avoid our own ethnocentrism. It is natural to look at the world from our own perspective, but any basis of evaluation of our own or another’s culture can only be “biblical norms.”[7]

In conclusion, effective employment of CQ will allow us to understand the new culture, communicate the correct message, in the correct context, with the correct strategy, and with the correct emphasis. If the message is wrong, there is no hope. If the context is wrong, the message may not be received. For example, Christianity could be perceived as a “western religion”. if the strategy is wrong the message may again not be received because the imperative of the gospel may not be understood. Finally, if the emphasis is wrong, the truth of the gospel may be shrouded in misunderstanding. For example, westerners must not emphasize worship style over the truth of salvation and no missionaries should insist on the scriptures being read in a certain language, or the power of the word may be inaccessible. Effective intercultural communication, informed by cultural intelligence, built on the foundation of scripture will provide the means of bringing the gospel to the nations and making disciples – whether in our neighborhood or at the ends of the earth.

[1] , Paul G. Hiebert, “Cultural Differences and the Communication of the Gospel” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 3rd ed., edited by Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1999), 380.

[2] Steve and Mindy Clover, “What is a Heart Language Anyway,” The Clover Blog, accessed August 21, 2018, http://clovermission.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-heart-language-anyway.html.

[3] Hiebert, “Cultural Differences”, 381.

[4] Ibid, 381.

[5] Ibid, 381.

[6] James Anderson, “What is a Worldview,” Ligonier Ministries, June 21, 2017, accessed August 21, 2018, https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-worldview/

[7] Hiebert, “Cultural Differences”, 379.

Instructions

 In addition to the thread, you are required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 200 words, and assertions must be supported by 1 textbook and/or biblical citation and 1 outside academic resource.  

Post

Systematic cultural value analysis helps us to grasp the alternative paths that other cultures may prefer the alternative paths that other cultures may prefer in their ways of thinking, valuing and being.[1] Cultural value patterns serve many functions, including the identity meaning function, motivational function, and ingroup-out-group evaluation function.[2]Cultural beliefs and values provide the anchoring points to which we attach meanings and significance to our complex identities.[3] Tingey-Toomey and Chung call these in groups and out groups. When we interact with our own culture we operate in knowledge that outsiders may not have. There are things that may be understood without being said. As we learn to communicate cross-culturally, insight into those cultures values can be useful to developing a successful relationship with them and ultimately to accomplishing whatever goal that needs to be accomplished. Intercultural misunderstandings may pile up if we do not attach the appropriate cultural values to explain the words and nonverbal gestures that people use in a particular cultural scene.[4] Cultural values form the implicit standards by which we judge appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in a communication episode.[5]

Livermore makes the point that, “The ability to understand and work with a culture doesn’t just come intuitively. It requires a disciplined effort to better understand cultural differences.”[6] The path toward improving CQ Knowledge begins with seeing the influence of our culture on everything we think, say, and do. Culture is defined as the beliefs, values, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that distinguish one group from another.[7] What we believe and value influences behavior and what is and is not acceptable in varying cultures. The limitation to this is that as an out-group one would not possess the knowledge necessary to communicate successfully in order to achieve an goal, like sharing the gospel for example. Having in-group knowledge, an understanding of what is appropriate and what is not appropriate, is helpful in to understanding what is important to a culture and how to best and most effectively share necessary information, such as the gospel, in a way that would be accepted. If one was not mindful of these cultural patterns, one would run the risk of possibly offending the other culture which would ruin an attempt to communicate to achieve the ultimate goal.