Unit 6
Text A Culture Shock
 1.
Teaching Objectives
 2. Teaching Procedures
- Before Reading
- Language Points
- After Reading
Teaching Objectives



Grasp the main idea and structure of the
text;
Master the language points and
grammatical structures in the text;
Be familiar with the contrast and
comparison essay.
3. Teaching Procedures-Before Reading
Before reading
★ Background information
★ Discussion questions
★ Part Division of the Text
★ Skimming and Scanning
What is culture
shock?
Text A- Before Reading
Background Information

The term “culture shock” was introduced
for the first time in 1954 by Kalvero Oberg.
Now let’s learn something in detail about it.
1. Definition
2. Six aspects of culture shock
3. A typical six-month cycle of culture shock
4. Causes of culture shock
5. Signs of culture shock
6. Dealing with intercultural stress and shock
Definition
Culture shock is a term used to describe the
anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation,
confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate
within an entirely different culture or social
environment, such as a different country.
Six aspects of culture shock
1. Strain due to the effort required to make necessary
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
psychological adaptations.
A sense of loss and feelings of deprivation regarding
friends, family, status, career and possessions.
Being rejected by and/or rejecting members of the
new culture.
Confusion in role, role expectation, values, feelings
and self identity.
Surprise, anxiety and even disgust and indignation
after becoming aware of cultural differences.
Feelings of impotence due to not being able to cope
with a new environment.
A typical six-month cycle of culture shock
Pre-Departure
First Month
Sixth Month
Fourth and
Fifth Months
Third Month
Second Month
Pre-Departure: Defined by excitement, anticipation
and enthusiasm. Emotions are running high and
although excited, everyone is also a bit
apprehensive and concerned.
First Month: Still filled with the excitement of travel
and newness of food, culture and environment.
Learning the language becomes a priority.
Second Month: Distinguished by the awareness of
differences being felt as unpleasant. Inconveniences
in accommodation, not speaking the language well
enough and the lack of familiarity of foods, shops,
friends and surroundings are noticed.
Third Month: Often the low point in the adjustment
period. Language skills seem to stagnate and
personal productivity drops. Nothing about the new
culture seems positive. Family and friends are greatly
missed.
Fourth and Fifth Months: The beginning of the
return of enthusiasm and enjoyment. New
foods, new ways of doing things and the
language are tried with a positive effect.
Emotions are smoother, confidence is regained
and built up, and health is restored.
Sixth Month: Brings normal lifestyle, with
established routines and social life in place.
The ups and downs of living abroad are
accepted. Normality, indeed, has finally smiled
on you once again.
Causes of culture shock
1. Being cut off from cultural signals and known
patterns of communication, especially the subtle,
indirect ways of expressing feelings.
2. Living or working over an extended period of time
in a situation that is ambiguous.
3. Having personal values (which were previously
considered absolutes) brought into question.
4. Being continually put into positions in which you
are expected to function with maximum skill and
speed, but where the rules have not been
adequately explained.
Signs of culture shock
homesickness, withdrawal, stereotyping of host
nationals, need for excessive amounts of sleep,
marital stress, loss of ability to work effectively,
compulsive eating or drinking, unexplainable fits
of weeping, irritability, physical ailments,
boredom, exaggerated cleanliness, family tension
and conflict
Dealing with intercultural stress and shock




Gather information. The more that is known about a
place or its people, the less foreign or threatening they
seem. Consider traveling locally, taking a cooking class,
or joining a club.
Do not criticize the host culture. Resist the temptation
of talking negatively about the local people.
Find a friend. Find someone who can serve as a “cultural
informant” to introduce parts of local life and practices
that are not normally accessible to foreigners. This will
help make sense of the cultural differences one naturally
encounters.
Look at the “big picture.” Find patterns and
interrelationships that explain what is going on so that it
no longer seems confusing.
Text A – Before reading
1.
2.
Discussion Question
Do you sometimes find it difficult to
adopt a new environment? Why?
suppose one of your foreign friends
comes to work in China. What
suggestions would you give to help
him settle down?
Text A- Before Reading
Part division
P Para
ar (s)
t
1
2
3
1~3
4~6
7~9
Main ideas
We might call culture shock a disease which is caused
by the frustration and anxiety resulting from losing all
our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse.
Culture shock is due to our own lack of understanding
of other people’s cultural background and our lack of
the means of communication rather than the hostility of
an alien environment.
To get over culture shock, we should get to know the
people of the host country and their language; we should
find out what they do, how they do it, and what their
interests are, etc. But understanding the ways of a people
does not mean that we have to give up our own.
Text A- Before Reading
Skimming and Scanning

Reading Text A carefully and answer the
following question:
1. What is the cultural environment made up of according
to the passage?
A cultural environment consists of man-made physical
objects, social institution, and ideas and beliefs.
2. Is culture acquired?
Yes, it is. An individual is not born with culture but only
with the capacity to learn it and use it.
3. What does culture enable young people to do?
Culture enables the young to learn to adapt
themselves to the physical environment and
to the people with whom they associate.
4. What is ethnocentrism?
It is a belief people hold that not only their
culture but their race and nation form the
center of the world.
5. What is the proper way for us to treat ethnocentrism
according to the author?
We should recognize that ethnocentrism is a permanent
characteristic of national groups.
6. What should people know first in order to overcome
culture shock?
People should realize that their trouble is caused by
lack of understanding of different cultural background
and the lack of means to communicate, and that both
understanding and means can be gained by themselves.
TEXT A
Language Points
Culture Shock
Para1
Kalervo Oberg
We might almost call culture
shock an occupational disease of
people who have been suddenly
transplanted abroad. Like most
ailments it has its own cause,
symptoms, and cure.
和大部分疾病一样，这种病有
其独特的起因、症状和疗法。
Para2
Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results
from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social
intercourse. These signs or cues include the thousand and
one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of
daily life: when to shake hands and what to say when we
meet people, when and how to give tips, how to give orders
to servants, how to make purchases, when to accept and
when to refuse invitations, when to take statements seriously
and when not. These cues which may be words, gestures,
facial expressions, customs, or norms are acquired by all of
us in the course of growing up and are as much a part of our
culture as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept.
All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on
hundreds of these cues.
Para3

Now when an individual enters a strange culture, all or most
of these familiar cues are removed. He or she is like a fish out of
water. No matter how broad-minded you may be, a series of
props have been knocked from under you, followed by a feeling
of frustration and anxiety. People react to the frustration in much
the same way. First they reject the environment which causes
the discomfort: “The ways of the host country are bad
because they make us feel bad.” When Americans or other
foreigners in a strange land get together to complain about the
host country and its people — you can be sure they are suffering
from culture shock. Another phase of culture shock is regression.
The home environment suddenly assumes a tremendous
importance. To an American everything American becomes
irrationally glorified. All the difficulties and problems are
forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered.
It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality.
Para 4
In an effort to get over culture shock, there is some value in
knowing something about the nature of culture and its
relationship to the individual. In addition to living in a physical
environment, an individual lives in a cultural environment
consisting of man-made physical objects, social institutions, and
ideas and beliefs. An individual is not born with culture but only
with the capacity to learn it and use it. There is nothing in a
newborn child which dictates that it should eventually speak
Portuguese, English, or French; nor that he should eat with a fork
in his left hand rather than in the right or use chopsticks. All
these things the child has to learn. Nor are the parents
responsible for the culture which they transmit to their young.
Para 4
任何一个民族的文化都是历史
的产物，经过漫长的、本民族
意识不到的过程才得以积累形
成。
The culture of any people is the
product of his try and is built up
over time largely through processes
which are beyond his awareness. It
is by means of culture that the young
learn to adapt themselves to the
physical environment and to the
people with whom they associate.
And as we know, children and adolescents often experience
difficulties in this process of learning and adjustment. But once
learned, culture becomes a way of life.
Para 5
People have a way of accepting their culture as both the
best and the only way of doing things. This is perfectly
normal and understandable. To this attitude we give the
name ethnocentrism, a belief that not only the culture but
the race and the nation form the center of the world.
Individuals identify themselves with their own group to
the extent that any critical comment is taken as a remark
which is rude to the individual as well as to the group. If
you criticize my country, you are criticizing me; if you
criticize me, you are criticizing my country. Along with
this attitude goes the tendency to attribute all individual
peculiarities as national characteristics.
Para 5
例如，倘若一个美国人在国外做出怪异的或有
悖社会公德的事情，在美国国内的人们会认为
这纯属个人行为，但在国外却被视为一种民族
特性。
For instance, if an American does something odd or
anti-social in a foreign country which back home would
be considered a purely individual act, this is now
considered a national trait. He acts that way not because
he is Joe Doaks but because he is an American. Instead
of being censured as an individual, his country is censured.
It is thus best to recognize that ethnocentrism is a
permanent characteristic of national groups. Even if a
national criticizes some aspect of his own culture, the
foreigner should listen but not enter into the criticism.
Para 6
Once you realize that your trouble is due to
your own lack of understanding of other people’s
cultural background and your own lack of the
means of communication rather than the hostility
of an alien environment, you also realize that you
yourself can gain this understanding and these
means of communication. And the sooner you do
this, the sooner culture shock will disappear.
Para 7
The question now arises, what can you do to get over
culture shock as quickly as possible? The answer is getting
to know the people of the host country. But this you cannot
do with any success without knowing the language, for
language is the principal symbol system of communication.
Now we all know that learning a new language is difficult,
particularly to adults. This task alone is quite enough to
cause frustration and anxiety, no matter how skillful
language teachers are in making it easy for you. But once
you begin to be able to carry on a friendly conversation
with your maid, your neighbour, or to go on shopping trips
alone, you not only gain confidence and a feeling of power
but a whole new world of cultural meanings opens up for
you.
Para 8
You begin to find out what people do, how
they do it, and what their interests are. People
usually express these interests by what they
habitually talk about and how they allocate their
time and money. Once you know this value or
interest pattern it will be quite easy to get people
to talk to and be interested in you.
Para 9
At times it is helpful to be a participant observer by
joining the activities of the people, to try to share in their
responses, whether this be a carnival, a religious ritual, or
some economic activity. Yet the visitor should never
forget that he or she is an outsider and will be treated
as such. He or she should view this participation as a
role-playing. Understanding the ways of a people is
essential but this does not mean that you have to give up
your own. What happens is that you have developed two
patterns of behavior.
• transplant:
• 1. vt. to move from one place and settle elsewhere
e.g. We start the flowers indoors and then transplant
them to the garden.
His kidney was transplanted in his daughter.
• Collocation:
heart transplant surgery 心脏移植手术
a bone marrow transplant 骨髓移植
ailment: n. an illness that is not very
serious
It was still unclear what caused the victims’ ailments.
The medicine was supposed to cure all kinds of
ailments, ranging from colds to back pains.
CF: ailment, illness, disease &
complaint
ailment 指身体或精神不适，尤其指小毛病。例如：
His ailment was only a slight headache.
他身体不舒服，有点轻微的头痛。
illness
泛指一切疾病，强调生病的时间或状态。例如：
Her mother was just recovering from an illness .
他妈妈生了一场病，刚刚康复。
disease 指具体的疾病，且通常较严重，发病时间也较长。例如：
She suffers from a rare disease of the brain.
她得了罕见的脑病。
complaint指具体部位的疾病，尤其指不是很严重的那种。例如：
He is having treatment for a chest complaint.
他正在接受胸部疾病的治疗。
cure:
1. n. treatment or substance that cures; remedy
There is still no cure for AIDS.
预防比任何一种治疗都要好得多。
Prevention is far better than any cure.
2. vt. to make an illness or medical condition go away
Many types of cancer can now be cured.
Ninety percent of patients can be cured of the disease.
Pattern:
cure sb. of sth.
把某人的病治愈
She had some acupuncture treatment which seems
to have cured her.
针灸几次后她的病似乎痊愈了。
precipitate:
1. vt. to make (an unwanted event) happen sooner
An attack on the country could precipitate a world war.
The 1929 stock market crash precipitated the collapse of
the American banking system.
2. vi. to separate a solid substance from a liquid by chemical
action, or to be separated in this way
This material causes most of the alumina in the solution to
precipitate quickly.
3. n. a solid substance that has been chemically separated
from a liquid
老师让他在沉淀物溶解后再加热混合物。
The teacher asked him to warm the mixture after the
precipitate dissolved.
4. adj. happening or done too quickly, and not thought
about carefully
A precipitate decision leads to his failure.
一阵冷风造成气温急剧下降。
A cool breeze caused a precipitate drop in the
temperature.
NB:
该词作动词用时，近义词为hasten；作形容词用时，近义
词为hasty。
orient: v.
to arrange or direct with a particular purpose
She looked at the street names, trying to orient
herself.
登山者停下来以便辨别自己的方位。
The climber stopped to orient himself.
The meeting decided that the magazine had
to orient to the busisness community.
Collocations:
orient oneself to sth. 使自己熟悉某事
It takes new students a while to orientate
themselves to college life.
新同学要花一定的时间来熟悉校园生活。
be oriented to/towards/around sth/sb 迎合某人的需要,
围绕某事
A lot of the training is orientated around communications
skills.
很多培训都是围绕交际技能展开的。
NB: 该词还可以用作名词，意为“东方”，但通常以the Orient
的形式出现。例如：
The traveler made a fame for himself by a book about the
Orient.
这个旅行家凭了一本描写东方的书一举成名。
purchase:
1. n. sth. you buy, or the act of buying it
Other customers arrived, made their purchases and left.
那顶帽子买得不错。
That hat was a good purchase.
date of purchase
proof of purchase
hire purchase
make purchases
购买日期
购买凭证
分期付款
购物
2. vt. to buy sth.
Foreign investors are not permitted to purchase land.
when to shake hands and what to say when we meet people, when and
how to give tips, how to give orders to servants, how to make purchases,
when to accept and when to refuse invitations, when to take statements
seriously and when not.
• Say something more about the usage of “when/what/how/
infinitive” structure.
There are three points to remember when you use this kind
of structure:
1) This structure is used only after such English verbs as
ask, decide, discover, find out, forget, know, learn,
remember, see (=understand/perceive), and wonder, etc.;
2) Besides “when/what/how”, words like “where/which/whether” can also
be used in this structure;
3) The structure “whether + infinitive” is usually used after
“want to know” or “wonder.”
More examples:
*I found out where to buy fruit cheaply.
*I didn’t know when to switch the machine off.
*I wondered whether to write or phone.
These cues which may be words, gestures, facial expressions,
customs, or norms are acquired by all of us in the course of
growing up and are as much a part of our culture as the
language we speak or the beliefs we accept.
1. According to this statement, what makes up our culture?
The cues we acquire in daily life, the language we speak,
and the beliefs we accept.
2. what are these signs or cues?
These signs or cues may be words, gestures, facial
expressions, customs, or norms, etc.
这些暗示可以是语言、手势、面部表情、风俗习惯或社会行为标准。我
们在成长的过程中获得了这些暗示，就像我们的语言和我们所接受的信
仰一样，它们已经成为我们文化的一部分。
• All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on
hundreds of these cues.
• What does this sentence mean?
Without these familiar cues such as words, gestures, facial
expressions, customs, or norms, we would probably get lost
and suffer from frustration and anxiety, and wouldn’t be able
to work efficiently.
To an American everything American becomes irrationally
glorified.
Do the two words “American” in this sentence mean the same?
No, they don’t mean the same. The first “American” is a noun,
meaning “someone from the USA,” while the second is used as
an adjective, meaning “relating to the USA.”
a fish out of water: 不得其所的人；与环境不合的人
sb. who is uncomfortable; sb. who is at a disadvantage
be/feel like a fish out of water 感觉格格不入
I felt like a fish out of water in my new school.
She can’t take care of herself. She’ll
be like a fish out of water if hse
leaves her parents
tremendous: adj.
very great in size, amount, or degree
She was making a tremendous effort to appear calm.
这个计划能省我们一大笔钱。
This plan could save us a tremendous amount of money.
CF: tremendous, huge, vast & giant
这些形容词均有“巨大的” ，“庞大的”之意。
tremendous指某物非常大，大得惊人。强调尺寸大小、数量以及程度方
面的大。
huge 含义广，强调体积或容积的庞大。也可用于引申意义。
vast 多指空间、面积、范围的巨大，不涉及重量。
giant 非常大，强调比同类中的其他事物大得多。
glorify: vt. + with 美化；使显得更重要
to cause to appear more important or better than they
really are
Movies that glorify violence may be
responsible for some of the rise in crime.
The emperor’s achievements were glorified
in numerous poems.
get over:
1) to find a way to deal with 克服，战胜
Jenny hasn’t got over her fear of flying yet, so she
prefers to go there by train
我不知道我们应该怎样解决这个问题。
I don’t know how we’re going to get over this problem.
2) to become well again after an illness or a
very upsetting experience 恢复
It’s taken me ages to get over the flu.
她从没有从儿子去世的悲伤中恢复过来。
She never got over the death of her son.
dictate: v.
1) to tell someone exactly what they must do or how they
must behave 命令；要求
Islamic custom dictates that women should be fully covered.
她有权选择自己的生活方式。你不能命令她应该怎样生活。
She has the right to choose her own way of life; you can’t
dictate to her how she should live.
Patterns:
dictate that
dictate to
dictate who / what / how etc.
transmit: v. 传播，传染
to send or pass from one person, place, or thing to
another
会议将通过卫星进行现场转播。
The meeting will be transmitted live via satellite.
It is believed that the infection is transmitted
by mosquitoes
CF: transmit, send & deliver
这些动词均含“送出”，“发送”，“传送”之意。
transmit 指通过无线电、电视或其他类似的设备将信号、消息等发送
出去或指传播知识、疾病等。例如：
The system transmits information over digital phone lines.
这个系统通过数字电话线发送信息。
Cultural values are transmitted from parent to child.
文化价值观由父母传递给孩子。
send 最常用，含义广，指把人或物由一地送往另一地，而不涉及事
物的内容或送的方式。例如：
We sent Mom flowers for Mother’s Day.
母亲节我们送花给母亲。
deliver 指把信件、包裹等物寄发出去或交到某地，或直接交与某人，
着重发送这一行为。例如：
The morning mail has just been delivered.
晨报刚刚送到。
build up:
1) to increase, develop, or become gradually larger
The firm has built up a wide reputation for fair dealing.
He’s built up the family firm into a multinational
company.
2) to make someone well and strong again; strengthen
生病的时候必须休息以便恢复健康。
When sick you must rest to build up your
health.
by means of: 使用，应用
by using a particular method or system
I found my lost dog by means of a notice in the
paper.
英文单词 means 比较活跃，有很多固定用法。
常用的有：
by all means
尽一切办法, 一定
by any means 无论如何
by no means
决不
associate with sb.: 与某人联系，打交道
to spend time with sb.
I don’t like those people you’re associating with.
约翰好像一直和犯罪分子混在一起。
John may have been associating with the criminals.
association:协会，联盟，社团；联合，结合，
交往
I benefited a lot from my association with
him.
NBA=National Basketball
Association
To this attitude we give the name ethnocentrism, a belief that
not only the culture but the race and the nation form the
center of the world.
Analyze the structure of this sentence.
• 1) The first part of this sentence uses the technique of
fronting (前置手法). The regular sentence order would be
“We give the name ethnocentrism to this attitude”;
• 2) In the second part, there is an appositve clause used to
modify “belief,” telling us the specific content of this “belief.”
• 我们把这种态度称为“民族优越感”，即一种认为自己
的文化、种族和国家构成世界中心的想法。
identify oneself/sb. with sb./sth.: to support or feel
closely connected with sb./sth.与某人某事密切关联，
和…打成一片
I tried to identify my mind with the old fellow’s, and
take his view of the world.
Unlike other football fans who support only one
team, he identifies himself with several teams
CF: identify, recognize & make out
这些动词均含“认出”，“识别”之意。
identify 指辨别、确定人的身份或物品的归属等。
recognize 所辨认的人或物多是以前所熟悉的。
make out 通常指通过人的感觉器官来辨别事物。
to the extent that: so much that
Violence increased to the extent that residents were
afraid to leave their homes.
英语中还有一个词组与该词组意思相同：to such an extent that，意为“
到这样的程度以致”。常用的关于extent的词组还有：
to a certain extent
在一定程度上
to some extent
在某种程度上
to a great/large extent 在很大程度上
tendency: n. 倾向+to /towards
a characteristic likelihood of doing sth.
There is an increasing tendency for women to have children
later in life.
男孩的好斗倾向比女孩强。
Boys have a stronger tendency to fight than girls.
aggressive tendency
suicidal tendency
criminal tendency
artistic tendency
have a tendency to/towards sth.
进攻倾向
自杀倾向
犯罪倾向
艺术倾向
有做某事的倾向
attribute:
1. vt. to regard sth. as belonging to, caused by or produced by
sb./sth.
We attribute courage to the lion and cunning to the fox.
艾丽思的成功归功于她的聪明和勤奋。
Alice’s success should be attributed to her intelligence and
hard work.
2. n. a quality considered as belonging to a person or
thing; characteristic.
一名好经理应该具备何种素质？
What attributes should a good manager possess?
peculiarity: n.
sth. that is a feature of only one particular place, person, situation etc.
We noticed the peculiarity of his manner at once.
She was well aware of the peculiarity of her own situation.
CF: peculiarity, trait & attribute
这些名词均有“特性”，“特点”，“品质”之意。
peculiarity 指人或事物独具的或奇怪的特点，常带感情色彩。
trait
多指人的性格、心情的特征，尤指先天秉赋的持久的行为模
式或性格特征。
attribute
通常指好的或有用的特征、品质。
For instance, if an American does something odd or anti-social in a
foreign country which back home would be considered a purely
individual act, this is now considered a national trait.
What can we infer from the sentence?
People tend to attribute all individual peculiarities as
national characteristics.
Instead of being censured as an individual, his country is
censured.
Paraphrase the sentence.
His country rather than the individual himself would be
officially criticized.
hostility: n. unfriendliness; opposition.
The guard dog showed signs of hostility toward the newcomers.
Recently there has been hostility towards the Prime Minister
from members of his own party.
Collocations:
open hostility
公开的敌意
They eyed each other with open hostility.
popular hostility
公众的敌意
Pictures of refugees aroused popular hostility towards the war.
hostility to/towards sb./sth. 对某人或某事的敌意
There was fierce hostility to the new policy.
This task alone is quite enough to cause frustration and
anxiety, no matter how skillful language teachers are in
making it easy for you.
1. What does “it” refer to?
It refers to the act of learning a new language.
2. Translate this sentence into Chinese.
无论教语言的老师多么擅长于减轻你学习语言的难度，
单单学语言这项任务都足以让你焦虑不安、饱受挫折。
allocate: vt.
to divide and give as a share
You should allocate the same amount of time to each question.
One million dollars was allocated for disaster relief.
CF: assign, distribute, divide & allocate
这些动词均含“分配”，“分发”之意。
assign 指分配某项任务给某人或让某人负责某事；也可指为某事指定
时间、地点。
distribute 通常指将整体或定量分为若干份来分配。
divide 普通用词，强调将某物分成若干份分配给他人，当某物一分为
二时，含平均分配之意。
allocate 将某物划归特殊用途使用或将某物划拨给特定的人。
participant:
1. adj. participating; sharing.
Participant reporters are welcome at the council meeting.
2. n. someone who is taking part in an activity or event
Last summer, children’s art program had fourteen participants.
At the end of the conference, all the participants were asked to fill
out a questionnaire.
as such:
properly so named; in the exact meaning of the stated
thing
If Mr. Green chooses to act like a child, he may have to be treated
as such.
Collocations:
be treated as such
be recognized as such
be accepted as such
被这样对待
被这样认可
被这样接受
•
•
At times it is helpful to be a participant observer by
joining the activities of the people, to try to share in their
responses, whether this be a carnival, a religious ritual, or
some economic activity.
Analyze the structure of the second sentence “whether this
be a carnival, a religious ritual, or some economic activity.”
This sentence adopts the subjunctive mood. Here the third
person singular pronoun “this” is followed by “be” instead
of “is.” This is one type of present subjective (现在虚拟)
which is often used in clauses of condition or concession.
The present subjective can also be found in certain
exclamations to express a wish or hope, very often
involving supernatural powers.
More examples: *God bless you!/*Long live the queen!
3. Teaching Procedures-After Reading
After reading
★ Discussion
★ Comparison and Contrast Essay
★ Homework
Discussion

1)
2)
3)
4)
We Chinese and people of other nations
may behave differently on the following
occasions:
addressing and greeting people
giving and receiving gifts
visiting friends
having a formal dinner
Discuss the cultural differences on the
above topics with your partners and
write down your ideas.
Definition

A Comparison or Contrast essay is an essay
in which you either compare something or
contrast something.

A comparison essay is an essay in which you
emphasize the similarities.
A contrast essay is an essay in which you
emphasize the differences.

Choosing a topic


When you choose a topic, be sure not
to choose two totally unrelated
subjects.
You must start with subjects that have
some basic similarities.
two movies
two short stories
book and movie
Organizing your essay



There are two ways
to organize the body
of your paper.
the divided pattern
(subject-by-subject )
the alternating
pattern
(point-by-point )
More examples

Suppose you are interested in showing the
differences between vacationing in the mountains
and vacationing at the beach. You will then write
a contrast composition.
Subject-by-subject
(divided pattern)


One way to arrange your material is to
write about vacationing in the mountains
in one paragraph and vacationing at the
beach in the next.
If you mention a particular point in the
mountains paragraph, you must mention
the same point in the beach paragraph,
and in the same order.
Subject-by-subject (four paragraphs)
Ⅰ Introduction in which you state your purpose which is to discuss the
differences between vacationing in the mountains or at the beach.
Ⅱ
Ⅲ
Ⅳ
Mountain
A. Climate
B. Types of Activities
C. Location
Beach
A. Climate
B. Types of Activities
C. Location
Conclusion
point-by-point
(alternating arrangement)

A second way to organize this material is
to discuss a particular point about
vacationing in the mountains and then
immediately to discuss the same point
about vacationing at the beach.
Point-by-Point or Alternating Arrangement
(five paragraphs)
Ⅰ Introduction in which you state your purpose which is to discuss
differences between vacationing in the mountains or at the beach
Ⅱ
Ⅲ
First difference between mountains and beaches is climate
A. Mountains
B. Beach
Second difference between mountains and beaches is activities
A. Mountains
B. Beach
Ⅳ
Third difference between mountains and beaches is location
A. Mountains
B. Beach
Ⅴ
Conclusion
HOMEWORK


On some occasions we Chinese behave differently from
people in the Western countries. The most apparent
difference can be found on the way people deal with their
daily life. Besides the cultural difference shown in the
table manner, in the way to address and greet people, in
giving and receiving gifts, etc.
Please choose any differences between Chinese and
Western countries you have discussed early and write an
essay by using contrast and comparison structure.