From Longhouse to Village by R. Daniel Shaw

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Recommended: ethnocentrism vs cultural relativism

After reading “From Longhouse to Village” by R. Daniel Shaw, I was able to understand the point that he was trying to make throughout the chapters that I read. In chapter 5: From Micro dialects to Language Identity: Linguistic Synthesis. Shaw states, “The comparison of words on lists spread across a room provides a greater understanding of linguistic connections that, in turn, give us a perspective of cultural similarity as well as variation. Language and culture work closely together; what people do, they talk about. Language use assists in classifying people—identifying them by the way they speak. It also sheds light on the way people classify each other.” (From Longhouse to Village).

I can relate to what Shaw is stating in this chapter. I have seen how many people use language to classify and identify them. I have been classified and identified by the way I speak. I have a Spanish accent since English is my second language. Many people have asked me if I am Spanish since I have an accent and I tell them “yes”. But the way they answer will be by “I knew you was Spanish because of your accent.” This makes me mad because people just make assumptions based on what they hear out of a person mouth.

My friend also experience something similar but her experience was really harsh because she never thought that she would be treated that way. What happen to her was that she was in school and she notice that she was being treated different by a classmate. She thought she was imagining that attitude from that student, but she notice that it got more difficult each time and she talked to that student and asked her why was she treating her like she was invisible. The student answer was “I don’t like people that speak with accents bec...

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...e viability of the community and how the Samo will call this individual ayo which meant one with authority. This caught my attention because in their community he was like the president that one that will have the authority to do everything. The only difference was that the Samo leader wouldn’t enforce authority as our president does but he could if he wanted.

R. Daniel Shaw makes relevant statements throughout each chapter that that I have read. The ways that he describes and talks about the Samo is very interesting since he got to live with them and study them I find what he says very accurate. Reading this book has open my mind to understand different aspects of this culture. It has provided me with a different view of my society based on another society way of living.

Works Cited

Shaw, Daniel R 1996 From Longhouse to Village: Samo Social Change

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