Social

For this discussion, you will be asked to think about how cultural values are taught through proverbs.  Re-read pages 45-47 in your textbook.  Come up with five proverbs that you were taught as a child.  If you get really stuck, hunt on the Internet for proverbs from your culture.  Then search the Internet and find two proverbs from another culture.

• List all seven proverbs.
• Note the culture they represent. 
• Write what you think the proverb means.
• Note what cultural value you believe the proverb is trying to teach. 

For example:  A Japanese proverb says:  “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”  This proverb teaches the traditional Japanese value of conformity.  In this collectivistic culture, they do not value those who like to call attention to themselves.  If a person accomplishes something, the group they belong to gets credit, not the individual.  Assimilation into a group and society are valued. The group is more important than the individual.  So, if someone shines/gets credit for whatever reason (like the nail), then their group would do what was necessary to teach the person that they, individually, are not more important than the group (gets hammered down).

If you grew up in a different culture than the dominant U.S. culture, please remind us what culture you are from.  Also, please do not use any of the examples given in your book.