The Tapestry Metaphor Essay -- Intercultural Communication Cultural Es

The Tapestry MetaphorWe have all heard or used the arras metaphor at one time or another Its like a tapestry with many delicate threads all woven together to make a whole. Yes, we have heard it again and again. But why not repeat it? Well, after contemplating on the sociocultural experiences I chose to study attend a Sunday worship returns at the local Nazarene church and arraignments at the Juneau Court HouseI believe that a persons idea of her or his cultural self is like a tapestry. Ones own life experiences and communications with others are the threads. And woven together, the experiences of ones life create a peculiar cultural being. The Juneau Church of the Nazarene conducts its Sunday services much like many other churches I have attended. A pastor, associate pastor, or music director leads the service from the front of the sanctuary, each taking turns standing at the pulpit when speaking. Also up in front sits the musicians, two pianists and a guitarist. In the main part of the sanctuary sit the congregation in rows of pews. The service usually begins with a reading of scripture, church announcements, or a hymn. past there are small orders of business, like prayer concerns, special music sung by church members, or other scripture readings. The climax of the hour-long service is the pastors sermon, in which he preaches rough some specific topic centering on the Christian doctrine. The two services I attended followed this basic outline, with detailed to no deviation from the bulletin. Rather than a bulletin, the Juneau Court House conducts its arraignments according to a calendar, which is posted outside the door to indicate which cases will be addressed on a particular day. A judge or, in this case... ...Well, we could go with Lustig and Koesters definition Culture is a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect the behaviors of a relatively large group of people (27). But why not use a timeless analogy ? Cultural individuality is a tapestry, a tapestry of ones social interactions, traditions, values, philosophy on life, and so on. Culture is not purely family or ethnicity or location or organized religion it is an amalgam of these thingsa unique weaving of what makes up our everyday lives. Works Cited and Consulted Jandt, Fred E. An Introduction to Intercultural Communication Identities in a Global Community. 4 th ed. jet Oaks, CA Sage Publications Inc., 2004. Lustig, Myron W., and Jolene Koester. Intercultural Competence Interpersonal Communication across Cultures. 4 th ed. Boston Pearson Education Inc., 2003.