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Sharing Tradition by Frank LaPena
Table of Contents
ABOUT ESSAY
DETAILED SUMMARY
Frank LePena talks about the importance of oral tradition. In this essay, he keeps on telling all his readers about his experiences and thoughts related to oral tradition. According to him, oral tradition refers to a form of human communication where knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material are received, preserved and transmitted orally from generation to generation. In other words, oral tradition is about passing on information related to cultures and values from generation to generation through oral means. This transmission is made through speech or song, folktales, ballads, chants, prose or verses etc. Oral tradition helps to maintain the values of the culture. The task of sharing traditions isn't minor. The task of sharing tradition through oral means seems easy to talk about and write about but quite hard to practice. Here, both the elders and young people play a very vital role in maintaining and preserving the values of the culture. The role of speakers (elders) and listeners (young people or followers) is very important. The knowledge of elders related to cultures, traditions, religions, and values must be listened to and followed properly by young people. The elders share the traditions and various concepts related to cultures and values with the young people. After the deaths of elderly people, young people have to fill up their places by being responsible. They have to take responsibility for sharing tradition with elders through oral tradition to maintain cultures and values in their community. In this way, the oral tradition keeps on moving from generation to generation, preserving cultures and values. Young people are able to keep elders alive by maintaining their concepts of tradition and knowledge of life in the community. The concept of elders moving from generation to generation as being immortal.
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Tradition keeps on moving ahead properly if we are aware of our culture. The lifestyle of elders and their concepts related to life, belief, religion, culture, values, etc. made them capable of acquiring the ideal position in their lives. They kept on sharing their tradition orally from generation to generation for the welfare of humanity. They showed the righteous paths to survive ahead. Their acts of sharing tradition were for the future of the coming generation and their lives.
An oral tradition is an educational tool for understanding the natural world. It is the proper way to secure the cultures and values of the people.
According to the writer, there are some problems with maintaining oral tradition from generation to generation. These problems are as follows:
1. Difficulty in filling up the 'niche' of elders:
To maintain our culture, it is necessary to pass on the oral tradition from generation to generation. The young people have to listen, follow their elders, and fill their ideal position (niche). But the task of filling elders' places is very difficult. The young people and their interests in their culture seem weak because the elders' religious obligations, such as religions, ceremonies, dance, etc., are related to their culture. In modern times, young people don't prefer to listen to them and maintain culture and tradition. The niche of elders has become hard to fill. Due to this, a problem has been seen in passing oral tradition from generation to generation to maintain culture and values.
2. Impacts of modern technology on people:
Every generation faces new and modern technology that replaces old things and concepts. The modern world and its people are moving on with drastic changes ahead, along with modern technology. In the name of development, various changes are being made in this natural world. Traditional things are replaced with new things. The change in climate and the natural world has been seen due to modern technology. People are seen as very busy with modern technology. Modern technology and their loneliness have separated them from each other. In this situation, it is difficult to maintain traditional and cultural values through oral means due to the lack of active listeners or followers.
3. The modern educational system and its impacts:
The modern educational system and the way people perceive it divert people's minds. Knowledge in the present time is perceived through conducting research and collecting data. The oral materials that researchers get in the field related to tradition may not be correct. The information related to oral tradition is even modified while printing. But the information in oral tradition can be modified or even corrected through oral means. The educational process forces people to accept the information from printed pages, which are full of errors and very difficult to correct. The published information related to cultures and values creates a kind of problem in passing on cultures and values from generation to generation through oral means.
4. Source of information and way of perceiving and sharing it:
Oral tradition is fully dependent on oral means. It doesn't have any writing records as a literary tradition. The provided information by the speakers is sometimes transmitted mistakenly. Sometimes, the information is even perceived mistakenly by the listeners. Due to the gap between generations, the truth of the elders' historical information might turn into fantasy for the listeners. In this situation, it becomes quite difficult to validate oral tradition or traditional stories. There must be a proper understanding between the speakers and the listeners. The listeners must have belief in what they are listening to. The way of perceiving and transmitting information must be made with trust in our traditions and elders.
SHORT SUMMARY
This short essay, "Sharing Tradition," has been written by American writer Frank LaPena. This essay is about the importance of our culture, the values of our tradition, and its preservation. This essay has mainly focused on the controlling idea of sharing tradition from generation to generation through oral means for the bright future of the world and its people. The task of sharing tradition is quite important, where both the elders and the young people play very vital roles in preserving our norms, values, and cultures. There must be the continuous responsibility of generations to maintain our culture and values of tradition. The transmission of information from one generation to another through oral means must be authentic. It is very important to listen to our elders to understand the real value of our tradition. The elders and their ideal positions in society make them the guardians and caretakers of our tradition. After them, their places are quite hard to fill. The young people have to show their interest in their traditions and their elders' words. They have to follow their elders and share the information with the coming generation, being responsible for maintaining our traditions. In the present time, the task of sharing traditions seems a bit harder than expected. Various problems are seen in the area of oral tradition, which are as follows:
1. Difficulty filling up the niche of elders in the matter of sharing tradition through oral tradition.
2. The impacts of modern technology.
3. The modern educational system and its impacts.
4. Source of information and way of perceiving and sharing it.
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Thus, an oral tradition is an art form where elders pass on their concepts related to culture and values to young people through oral means. It is an educational tool for understanding the natural world. The role of the elders and young people is so important in oral tradition. The concepts of elders remain immortal if their concepts are followed and properly transmitted by young people who are responsible.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
BEFORE READING
a. Do you share your cultural traditions with your friends?
Answer:
Yes, I share my cultural traditions with my friends. I tell them about my family's rituals, ceremonies, and cultural events. I have even invited my friends to attend religious ceremonies at my home many times.
b. Did your parents tell you stories when you were a child? If yes, did they have anything to do with your culture or values?
Answer:
Yes, my parents told me stories when I was a child. Their stories related to religions had a direct connection with my own culture or values. Their religious stories taught me the actual sense of my religion and its norms and values.
c. Should we preserve our cultural values and traditions? Why?
Answer:
Yes, we should preserve our cultural values and traditions. We should preserve them to maintain our cultural and traditional values in our lives. Due to their preservation, our lives can move ahead with the right thoughts and decisions. Our cultural values and traditions always show us righteous paths in our lives.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Answer the following questions:
a. According to LaPena, what is the importance of oral tradition? To what extent do you agree with his opinions and why?
Answer:
According to LaPena, the importance of the oral tradition is to preserve and maintain the culture and values of our tradition from generation to generation through oral means. I fully agree with his opinions because the culture and values of tradition should be maintained and preserved from generation to generation for the welfare of the people and their lives. Cultural and traditional values play very important roles in people's lives.
b. Who preserve and pass on the oral tradition?
Answer:
An oral tradition is an art form where information related to culture and values is transmitted from generation to generation through oral means. Both the elders and young people play a vital role in preserving and passing on the oral tradition. Firstly, the task of preserving and passing on oral tradition is done by elders. Next, young people get this task. This task keeps moving from generation to generation. The most important aspect is that both the elders and young people must be responsible for this task of preserving and passing on oral tradition.
c. What is the danger of not passing on information from generation to generation?
Answer:
The danger of not passing information from generation to generation is that the culture and values of our tradition may go extinct. People will have to survive a meaningless life without their cultural and traditional values.
d. What is the difference between oral tradition and literary tradition?
Answer:
An oral tradition is an art form where information related to culture and values is transmitted from generation to generation through oral means. The errors in oral tradition can be modified and corrected anytime through oral means. Next, literary tradition refers to both written and printed traditions where information is transmitted through written means. Here in this literary tradition, the errors are quite hard to modify and correct.
e. How does LaPena establish a relationship between art and oral tradition?
Answer:
LaPena establishes a relationship between art and oral tradition through his opinions, where he presents the transmission of oral tradition from generation to generation. He says that the task of sharing tradition from generation to generation through oral means is an art form where the speakers (elders) and the listeners (young people or followers) have very important roles. This art form moves from generation to generation, maintaining and preserving culture and values effectively. Information related to tradition is quite artistically transmitted through oral speech, folktales, ballads, chants, prose, verses, etc. Oral tradition is a unique art through which the culture and values of tradition are preserved and maintained in this world.
REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
a. LaPena states that oral tradition helps to maintain the values of a culture. If you believe that the oral tradition is important, how would you maintain it?
Answer:
I would maintain oral tradition by doing the following activities:
1. I would try my best to provide information related to culture and values to the people through oral means.
2. I would try to make people aware of the importance of oral tradition.
3. I would share oral information, being responsible.
4. I would organise a team in my community to support our culture and values of tradition through oral means.
5. I would inform about the advantages of oral tradition to my people.
6. I would even ask my team members to pass authentic information to all the people through oral means.
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b. “Not everyone is capable of fulfilling the roles of the elders.” Explain this statement with reference to the essay.
Answer:
Not everyone is capable of fulfilling the roles of the elders. Elders are the basis of our tradition. Initially, our culture and values are preserved and maintained by the elders. Their roles in maintaining and preserving our culture and values of tradition are outstanding. They keep on preserving and maintaining our culture and values through oral means from generation to generation. Due to their vital roles, they become able to acquire ideal positions in their lives. Their duties and obligations related to their cultural and traditional values, such as religions, ceremonies, dance, etc., reflect their lifestyle and knowledge of their traditions, which affect many individuals in the community. After the deaths of the elders, this niche is quite hard to fill.
c. What is the controlling idea or thesis of this essay?
Answer:
The controlling idea or thesis of this essay is all about sharing tradition through oral means and even its proper way of transmitting from generation to generation. This essay has presented the importance of sharing traditions for all readers. The task of sharing tradition through oral means is an art form where both the elders and young people play a very vital role in maintaining and preserving the culture and values of tradition. The task of sharing traditions has various problems on its way. Both elders and young people must be responsible for their culture and values. They must trust each other and share the right information.
d. How do topic sentences guide the reader through the essay? What would be lost without them?
Answer:
The topic sentences guide the readers, providing them with various ideas related to the importance of sharing tradition through oral tradition. The topic sentences refer to those sentences that come initially in each paragraph. In this essay, these topic sentences have provided information related to the culture and values of tradition and the ways of maintaining and preserving them. These topics have supported oral tradition and the way of maintaining and preserving the culture and values of tradition. We also find different problems in the way of oral tradition through these topic sentences. Without these topics, many things will be lost in the essay, which are as follows:
1. The accurate concept of sharing tradition
2. controlling the idea of the essay.
3. Oral tradition and its importance
4. Roles of elders and young people
5. Problems in maintaining and preserving oral tradition
6. Solutions to maintain oral tradition
e. What are the four major problems developed by LaPena with regard to maintaining the oral tradition? How are they used to structure the essay?
Answer:
Following are the four major problems developed by LaPena with regard to maintaining the oral tradition:
1. Difficulty filling up the niche of elders in the matter of sharing tradition through oral tradition.
2. The impacts of modern technology
3. The modern educational system and its impacts
4. Source of information and way of perceiving and sharing it
All these problems are used in a persuasive style to structure the essay. All these problems have been presented with examples, along with their solutions. These problems have been presented, giving much preference to oral tradition.
REFERENCE BEYOND THE CONTEXT
a. Write a paragraph or two explaining your attitude toward the oral tradition of passing along information.
Answer:
I think oral tradition is one of the most effective practices for all the people in this world to maintain and preserve the culture and values of tradition. Just as the writer, I also accept oral tradition as an art form where both the elders and young people perform their vital roles in maintaining and preserving the culture and values of tradition through passing authentic information from generation to generation. The practice of oral tradition is very important for all. Through oral tradition, we are able to preserve and maintain our cultural and traditional values. With the help of oral tradition, we can secure our cultural and traditional identity.
b. Our culture is our identity. Write a few paragraphs explaining how you intend to preserve your culture, values and norms.
Answer:
Our culture is our identity. Our culture, values, and norms play a very important role in our lives. Our entire lives depend on our culture. We are culturally linked to our civilization. Due to our culture, norms and values, we can do well with our lives. These aspects teach us to choose the right paths, thoughts, and decisions in our lives.
I intend to preserve my culture, values, and norms by doing the following activities:
1. Celebrating every ceremony related to my culture
2. Making people aware of the importance of our culture, values, and norms
3. Promoting cultural and traditional events in my community
4. Forming an organisation related to cultural heritage
5. Sharing information related to the culture and values of my tradition
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