Связки и переходы | Тесты, Справочник

Другие уроки вы найдете здесь.

ГЛАВНАЯ ТЕМА – СВЯЗКИ И ПЕРЕХОДЫ – РИТОРИЧЕСКАЯ ФУНКЦИЯ

В этом уроке мы будем говорить о навыках, необходимых для эффективной работы с текстом, а также о стратегиях, которые должны привести вас к успеху в день сдачи.

Основная мысль…

Вам нужно определить и понять основную мысль текстового отрывка или лекции. Это важно для последующей работы над заданиями. Уж поверьте, если вам не удастся сделать это, у вас не получится ничего. Сосредоточьтесь и будьте внимательны.

Отрывок, который вы увидите ниже, рассказывает о социальных науках (примерно с такими материалами очень часто работают студенты, изучающие антропологию). Сам текст изложен в формате описательного эссе, поэтому содержит много описательных моментов, разъяснительных предложений и т.п. Такие эссе носят нравоучительный характер.

Итак, теперь попытайтесь определить основную мысль следующего отрывка:

Прочитайте текст. Определите, в чем заключается основная мысль. Ответьте на вопросы.

Native American Social Structure

Most cultures in today's world have been organized around the power of men. They are patrilineal, meaning that children take their father's family name and sons inherit the wealth, patrilocal, meaning a wife typically leaves her family to live with her husband's relatives, and patriarchal, meaning the man has the most power or authority in the family and society in general. Because of this, it is difficult for many of us to imagine a society in which women are considered more important than men. Most modern societies are also organized by a class system, where the richest have the most power, or after a political ideal, such as democracy or socialism. It is thus equally hard to believe that a society could be patterned solely after a kinship structure in which family connections determine status. Yet a look at the daily lives of Native American tribes gives a clear picture of how the roles of both kinship and of women have influenced entire communities with decidedly positive effects.

For almost all Native Americans, social organization was determined by biological relationships. This meant that all tribe members had a precise knowledge of their family ties. Without this knowledge, it would have been impossible for them to assign authority. When most people think of Native American rulers, they tend to defer to their experience with old Western films, portraying the braided and befeathered chief smoking a peace pipe and offering slightly enigmatic pearls of wisdom to baffled white settlers. Chieftaincies were, in fact, the most common political structure in Native American culture, but leaders were often chosen by their descent line, an obvious result of kinship. In agricultural Native American societies, on the other hand, individual kinship groups maintained order among themselves without the help of any unifying chief. Kinship was of even greater importance in these societies since a person's role in the family was also his or her role in society. Although feuds between tribes were frequent in Native American culture, disagreements and bloodshed within a community were much more rare due to the fact that most members were related.

Another consequence of the close communal blood ties that Native Americans shared was the importance of childrearing. Native American tribes considered the raising of children a community task and developed effective ways of educating and disciplining a child. In many tribes, peer pressure moderated a child's behavior. Being mocked by friends, who were also siblings or cousins, made a child unlikely to continue an unacceptable act. If this was insufficient, the child was punished along with each member of his or her peer group. The shame of being the cause of other children's suffering deterred any future misbehavior. In hunting and gathering societies, grandparents were usually responsible for children. They acted both as disciplinarians and as teachers, passing on stories and cultural knowledge. Most interesting, however, was the practice of childrearing in matrilocal cultures such as the Iroquois. In this form of social structure a husband joined his wife's family, living rather as a foreigner in a new country. His biological children took his wife's name and inherited the wealth his wife's family had acquired. Even more surprising, it was his wife's brother who was expected to raise his children while he was required to train and discipline his sister's children. Recently, American psychologists and politicians have been citing the benefits of Native American kinship structure to children's mental health, urging parents to consider alternative methods for teaching responsibility and family values.

women

Women's position in Native American society merits description as well. The Iroquois are again a suitable example as they were not only matrilocal, but also matrilineal, and to some extent, matriarchal. Iroquois women owned all property, including land, housing, and tools. When a woman died, it was her daughter who inherited her wealth, not her son or husband. Moreover, it did not pay for a husband to anger his wife for it was her right to throw him out with only his meager belongings to console him; this action constituted a divorce, which the man had no authority to contest. Also in Iroquois society, despite ostensible rule by men, it was the women who nominated and impeached tribal leaders. They also wielded the power of veto and could counter any decision they deemed unnecessary or harmful. Finally, women were usually believed to be more spiritually powerful than men because of their ability to bear children.

In the largely Caucasian-ruled cultures of American and Western Europe especially, the question of whether women should be allowed more power has led to heated debates, fueling the feminist movement. At the same time, increasing social isolation, even isolation from close family members, has created great concern over future communal stability. Ironically, Native American cultures have been proving for thousands of years that women can and should be given many rights and that close communal bonds create balanced societies. It is surely worth a thought the next time a woman announces her intention to run for president or a neighbor attempts to discipline your child.

Ваши заметки:

____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

1. Опишите основную мысль в тексте. Попробуйте изложить ее собственными словами.

2. Вкратце объясните принципиальную разницу между исконно американской социологией (социальным устройством) и общественными науками, которые появились в современную культурную эпоху.

3. Объясните основную мысль второго параграфа.

4. В параграфе №2 вы видите фразу «Старые вестерны». Что она обозначает?

5. Заполните таблицу. Используйте небольшие описательные конструкции. Таблица частично заполнена (это послужит вам примером).

Продолжение следует...