Impact of Culture and Background Knowledge on Writing Article

Impact of Culture and Background Knowledge on Writing - Article Example The culture of language usage in each of these three groups has very different features, which causes very different understanding of â€Å"stories† by children from these different cultural backgrounds. From the early childhood â€Å"Roadville† children were expected to give concrete â€Å"correct† answers to the questions. Such culture of language usage might be explained by the norms of fundamentalist Protestantism society, which can accept only one possible interpretation of Bible. Obviously, such children understand â€Å"story† as a true report of events, which has some moral meaning according to the biblical understanding of morality. They are usually not creative in writing, however they usually do well in primary grades, where displaying memorized knowledge is needed. In the contrast to â€Å"Roadville† community, people of â€Å"Trackton† value word play, imaginative fictionalized story telling. Children from these families are used to making inventive â€Å"stories†, which should not necessarily be true, but should be as creative as possible, filled with proverbs or citations from various parts of popular culture, such as songs or TV shows. While being usually creative in writing, â€Å"Trackton† children (opposite to â€Å"Roadville† ones) have difficulties with demonstrating their factual memorized knowledge, such as naming objects and their properties. â€Å"Townspeople† families pay special attention to the development of analytical language habits in their children. From the early childhood parents read books together with children and engage them in such analytical activities as interpretation or hypothesizing. As the result, writing skills of these children are the most appropriate according to the requirements of formal school education. The results of Heath’s ethnographic research show why children are not equally ready to fulfill formal requirements of academic writing. Teachers should not neglect these

Analysis of the poem Acquainted with the Night Essay

Analysis of the poem Acquainted with the Night - Essay Example The setting of the poem is in the urban area; obviously it is crowed since it houses a big population, generally more than what the city infrastructure can accommodate; He writes, â€Å"I have looked down the saddest city lane.† He is familiar with the geography of the city; the second theme is loneliness; the third theme is the speaker’s sadness. The surroundings and situations make the poet sad. It is to be noted that the poem was written in 1928, when the world economy (especially that of U.S.) was at the threshold the Great Depression (which commenced in 1930) But the year 1928 relates to plenty and prosperity. Why then the poet should be sad? The poets have generally nothing to get elated about the materialistic prosperity. Their domain is spirituality, where such attachments have no relevance. â€Å"Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right- I have been one acquainted with the night.† -the poet has perfectly mastered the nature of the dualities of lif e, and came to the conclusion that everything happens in life, as it should! Time is a great healer, and one can never complain about Time-the nature of its functioning! It is always perfect; it is benevolent, provided an individual has the patience to understand. The wise saying goes, ‘Go placidly amidst the noise and din†¦.everything is happening as it should!’ The poet uses paradox like, â€Å"the time was neither wrong nor right.† He uses a common syntax of word order in most of the lines in his poem. This poem is a sonnet. The overall tone of the poem is sad and apathetic. â€Å"Acquainted with the Night,† means he has come to terms with the night. He is able to cope up with the night; he has mastered the art of living. The sapling of silence is steadily growing in his heart. The image of the moon as a clock and timekeeper is perfect because, the moon is one of the perfect agents of nature, unfailing as for the