by Xiao Y.
This story is a student's transformation of thoughts and attitudes about death during his years of growing up.
As a basic philosophical question, different nations with different cultures have different and unique opinions about the question of death. Admittedly, there are some persons who are sensitive to death inherently, and I am one of them. In my opinion, only the person who really understands life knows how to face death with proper attitude. On the other hand, only the person who knows how to face death properly can understand the value of life. I hope my story can inspire my viewers to think about death, and further ponder how to be the master of life.
Besides that, I want to show a little bit about Chinese Culture using my new media storytelling. When I was an undergraduate, my program was Eastern Asian Language and Culture, focused on China and Japan. When I told my friends, classmates and family I had decided to further my study in the United States. They were all very surprised and asked me why I chose USA. In my opinion, if I want to understand eastern Asian languages and cultures better, it is necessary for me to learn another language and culture that are quite different with eastern Asian languages and cultures. So I came here. Dr. Roby’s course GED550 provided me a good opportunity to show our Chinese culture. The people from Eastern Asia are far more knowledgeable about the West than the West is about the Eastern Asia. As one of the oldest civilizations in the world and the only civilization lasting for over 4000 years, Chinese culture is so profound, beautiful and elegant, I just showed a little bit in my new media storytelling. Although the economic globalization has become the inevitable trend in the current world, I hold a strong point that the global cultures should keep diverse and Chinese culture can contribute a lot to the development of the world’s civilization.
New media storytelling can be used as ateaching tool for international students and to introduce cultural customs or arts. It can also be used by students to make stories about their understanding of othercultures, or their experiences in different countries.