Paper About My Friend Katie example essay topic

When I first looked over this assignment I was very concerned about its contents; "to identify and describe fully a culture which is different than your own and which you know fairly well". I could not think of another person from another culture that I knew well enough to write this paper about and give it the justice it deserves. Then like a blessing from above I met little Katie. My twelve-year-old daughter Amanda told me that a new girl named Katie had joined her classroom less than six months ago and she wanted to invite her over to spend some time with us. I asked where Katie was originally from. Amanda told me that Katie's father is from Ohio, her mother is from Honduras (I had no idea where Honduras was until Katie showed me on a map), and that Katie was born in Ohio but spent most of her life in Honduras.

I asked Amanda if Katie spoke English. Amanda told me that Katie speaks very good English and awesome Spanish. So we picked Katie up at these apartments (you know, the kind you can rent by the week or the month) and took her on a weekend camping trip with us. I must admit I was very nervous about this outing; I didn't want to probe to deep or ask Katie too many questions at our first meeting. However, I found myself to be extremely curious. I found little Katie to be one of the most caring, well-mannered, well-rounded, worldly and yet somewhat apprehensible child I had ever met in my entire life.

Since our camping trip Katie has spent a great deal of time at our home getting to know us and us getting to know her, I must admit this new relationship has been wonderfully rewarding for all of us. I told Katie of my school assignment and asked her if she would feel comfortable with me asking her a few questions and using her answers in the assignment. Katie was more than happy to comply with my request. I let Katie know that if there was anything I asked of her that made her feel uncomfortable or that she did not want to answer to just let me know. In the following I will attempt to summarize Katie's cultural background and the associated differences and similarities to my culture referring to at least five of the principles of social behavior identified in Mr. Cialdini's book "Influence". First I feel it is only appropriate to give you a little background information about Katie.

Katie was born from a biracial relationship her father being a Native American and her mother born and raised in Honduras. Katie has lived in Ohio, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Salvador and the United States. Katie lived in the United States three years when she was first born then in Honduras for nine years and now in Iowa for about nine months. Katie's father graduated from the University of Ohio with a degree in Social Sciences and was a seventh grade teacher while living in Honduras. Katie's mother left the two of them when Katie was just an infant and is now in the Dominican Republic in "a place where they keep crazy people" according to Katie.

Katie states that the only reason her mother was with her father was to "come to the United States and spend all of their money which was very hard on Katie and her father" according to Katie. Chapter 3 of the book "Influence" by Mr. Cialdini discusses the commitment and consistency theory. Mr. Cialdini explains this theory to be. ".. once we make a choice or take a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment". Katie explained to me that Honduras was filled with gangs, drugs and police that did absolutely nothing to maintain order. Katie was approached many times by gang members asking if not insisting that she do drugs with them. Katie was only seven years old at the time and she said she knew then that drugs weren't healthy for her body.

Katie told me that the more times she said no to the gang members the stronger she felt she became. Katie really "got mad when they didn't respect her decisions" after telling them repeatedly. In the United States I would make a call to the police, however, in Honduras that choice was not an option as the police did nothing to pursue these criminals or gang members. Chapter 4 of the book "Influence" by Mr. Cialdini discusses the social proof theory. Mr. Cialdini explains this theory to be. ".. we view a behavior as correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it". I asked Katie what it was like when she attended her first day of school in the United States, how did she determine what was correct or incorrect behavior?

Katie said she remembered very well the first day of school during school lunch. She said, "I was watching how people eat and following them. We were having chicken that day for lunch. People in Honduras eat the whole chicken including the bones-but I never did I didn't like the bones. But I watched in lunch at school to see how the kids ate their chicken here in the United States. I was happy they ate it just like me.

The children in the United States also use napkins and silverware just like the people in Honduras". Chapter 5 of the book "Influence" by Mr. Cialdini discusses the liking theory. Mr. Cialdini explains this theory to be. ".. compliance professionals recognize the pressure to say yes to someone we know and like". Katie explained that people in Honduras were very good with the practice of this theory. Katie told me, "People would be my friends just to steal from me or my Dad, but I don't worry about that here in the United States, my dad told me it is different here and I believe him". I didn't want to burst Katie's bubble at that point as she has faith in America, and she has only been here a short while.

I believe her Dad will explain the liking theory to Katie as the experiences present themselves with their ugly nature in time. Chapter 6 of the book "Influence" by Mr. Cialdini discusses the authority theory. Mr. Cialdini explains this theory to be. ".. we are trained from birth to believe that obedience to proper authority is right and disobedience is wrong. This message fills the parental lessons, the schoolhouse rhymes, stories, and songs of our childhood and is carried forward in the legal, military, and political systems we encounter as adults. Notions of submission and loyalty to legitimate rule are accorded much value in each". This was the hardest topic for Katie and I both, I cried with Katie as we discussed what I am about to describe.

Katie explained that all of her teachers had high school degrees, if even that. They were very very mean and would hit you with metal sticks and other instruments if you didn't do what they said. A little girl in Katie's class believed she was right about something they were discussing while the teacher insisted she should be quiet and that she was wrong in her beliefs. Katie's friend persisted and refused to keep quiet even after being hit on the hands with a metal whip. The "teacher" proceeded to put the child's had on the wooden desk and drive a nail through her hand with a hammer.

Katie's friend was taken to the hospital treated for infection and released. Nothing was ever done to reprimand the teacher. Katie's friend returned to school and kept quiet. I asked Katie what she did while this was happening in front of her eyes. She said, "Peggy there was nothing I could do or the teacher would do the same thing to me". How you may ask is this situation different for me?

I believe I would be in jail right now if Katie's friend had been my child and I could get a hold of that "teacher". There are many other items I would like to discuss in this paper about my friend Katie and how it relates to Mr. Cialdini's book. However, I feel those items would be given more justice if addressed in my paper regarding "The Middle of Everywhere" written by Mary Pip her. This interview and new relationship with Katie have taught me so very much and I am just beginning to realize how much more I value my freedoms and the life I am so blessed with here in the United States of America.