Instructions
- Write 700-1000 words about the topic description located below these instructions (you may go over by a few hundred words if you want and not be penalized, but if possible try to edit longer essays down to 1000 words).
- Submit your document in the "Concluding essay" dropbox located in the "Concluding Essay" section of our course "Contents" tab (it is also accessible via the "Dropbox" section located inside the "Assessments" tab of d2l).
- Document should be MS Word, Plain Text, or PDF format, so if you use something like iWork Pages, please export the document into one of those formats. Note: The title of the document being uploaded to d2l can only contain numbers and letters; please call the d2l help line if you are having problems or have questions about uploading your document.
- There is no right or wrong answer, the only wrong answer is if you do not follow the directions or answer the questions coherently, or if the essay does not reflect adequate learning in this course. We will deduct points if your essay falls below the word count, so use the word count function in your word processor to check this.
Concluding essay topic
For your concluding essay, think about the most likely or significant area of your life where you think you will have some form of intercultural interactions (example: doing business; travel; in the workplace; charity work; relations with people where you live; friendships; etc.). Then, select and write about the two most important "things" (concept, exercise, an article, an image or video) from this course that will have a positive impact on those future intercultural interactions.
You must structure your essay as follows and include the part numbers/letters in your essay:
- Part 1- In one short introductory paragraph, describe the circumstance where you anticipate you will have those intercultural interactions, characterize what type of cultural difference you expect to encounter, and describe what potential challenges you might encounter (stereotypes; communication issues; etc.) and why you selected that particular circumstance. Note: If you anticipate encountering intercultural difference in several areas of life, focus on just one area. If you already encounter this scenario (for example, if you travel a lot already) you can use that scenario if you anticipate that you will continue encountering this scenario in the future. If you seriously do not anticipate having intercultural encounters or really have no plans to come into contact with culturally different people, then you could write about coming into contact with another culture on a dream vacation that you win as a prize and that would take you to any desired location in the world.
- Part 2- Briefly describe the two "things" you chose to write about here and why you chose them. Important suggestion: Although there is no "right" or "wrong" "thing", in most cases, try to strike a balance between "too general" (e.g. choosing a general concept like "culture") or "too specific" (e.g. simply describing the "video about saying no in Japan" without explaining its broader significance to your situation). Focus on picking "things" that you can clearly see yourself using as tools to improve your intercultural interactions. This can include things that improve your intercultural understandings, attitudes, or behaviors. You may have to select a variety of "things" and start writing a bit before you decide what your best two choices are.
- Part 3 - For the first of the two things you select, write a paragraph or two with the following structure (if you want to, it's OK if you split one long paragraph into two shorter ones for each thing you write about):
- Part 3A. Number and name the concept using all capital letters (e.g. "1. LEVELS OF CULTURE") and cite its source (example: "Module 3: Part 1: Definitions of Culture", section subtitled "Levels of Culture"). In most cases, you will write a better essay if you do not pick something too general such as "culture" or "stereotypes" instead, you'd want "levels of culture" or "media based stereotypes". Or instead of choosing "cautions about culture" which refers to a long list, say "culture is contextual" which is one of the cautions about culture we mentioned.
- Part 3B. Write 2 to 3 sentence summary or description of what this thing is about.
- Part 3C. The rest of the paragraph explains how this concept relates to the intercultural interaction scenario you anticipate encountering. Please clarify the relationship by citing specific aspects of your essay and if necessary adding more details about your own culture or the intercultural encounter you cited in your initial essay (for example, if you mention a concept related to "media stereotypes" and you did not talk about stereotypes in your initial essay about culture, then add a few words about how this gives insights into your culture or the intercultural encounter you had).
- Part 4: Do the same thing as describe above in Part 3 but for your second "thing".
- Part 5: After you've done the above for the two "things", write one concluding paragraph where you summarize what you wrote about and its significance.