Hannah Sharpless Shen English 1101 Due September 5, 2012 Reading Response to Shen

Sharpless (1)

1. Something I learned in the reading was that the use of the word I in China is meant as we and is rarely ever used in writing. This was done to eliminate individualism due to the Communist Party. 2. Dictum- declaration Reconciling- to cause a person to accept something undesired Encapsulate- summarize 3. Shens essay broadens the discussion between the classroom and the wider culture because she talks about her own experiences with writing and trying to adapt to the English way of writing verse the Chinese way in which she was accustomed to. She talks about the differences and shows the audience how in one culture things are done and accepted a completely different way than that of a different culture. Her talk of the culture of China with the Communist Party and how that affected the way they wrote directly shows us how the classroom is affected by the culture. 4. It is important for us to pay attention to cultural identity in writing class because, as Shen said, being yourself is the most important part of writing. Your culture is embedded in you and affects how you think and thus how you write. Cultural identity is extremely important in writing because that is your creative mindset. 5. In the discussion today I hope to focus on being yourself in writing. I think that is the main idea Shen was conveying in this piece and I find it very important.