GRE Issue Topic 4

Sample 1:

America is a country of immigrants. Over the course of this country's brief history, groups or individuals have made their way to our shores to escape persecution, starvation, or any number of disasters. Language, religious, or other barriers led them to seek those from similar backgrounds, creating communities and neighborhoods where many cultural traditions have been preserved through several generations. These are traditions that they carried with them from their countries of origin. As a nation, America has very few original cultural traditions. The most notable of these is Thanksgiving. We also celebrate our own Independence Day on July fourth and Columbus Day in October. They were neither generated in major cities, nor are they preserved exclusively in major cities. Americans generate and preserve cultural traditions in communities both large and small. Whether these traditions help major cities to thrive is questionable, and whether government funding of their preservation is warranted is subject to debate.

I grew up in a part of Maine that had a significant number of people whose ancestors came from Sweden during the last half of the nineteenth century. In fact, my own ancestors made that journey and settled in Stockholm, obviously named for the capital of their homeland. These Swedes were principally farmers, and they cleared the heavily–forested land and grew crops amenable to a short growing season. They established Lutheran churches, married other Swedish immigrants and prepared meals in the Swedish culinary tradition. Eventually mills designed to manufacture products from the abundant timber were built along the stream that ran through town, and Acadian–French people moved to Stockholm to work in the mills. The schools, once populated by children whose surnames were Anderson, Johnson, and Soderberg now included Plourdes, Rossignols, and Doucettes. The inevitable occurred: French people fell in love with and married Swedish people. Today, there may not be more than a handful of residents who can claim unadulterated Swedish blood. Despite the decline in population and the diluting of the bloodlines, the Swedish community celebrates Midsummer every year. To mark the longest day of the year, residents and visitors alike dress in quaint Swedish costumes, decorate and raise a Maypole, perform Swedish folk dances and eat Swedish food. This is accomplished without the infusion of state or federal funds; volunteers from the community do it all. I'm sure it's all lovely. I wouldn't know because I've never attended the festivities. Even though half of my ancestors are of Swedish descent, I have never lived anywhere but America. I am an American, not a Swedish–American, nor, more correctly, a Swedish–Irish–English–Dutch–American. Because cultural traditions are unique to specific religions, races, or ethnicities, they tend to separate people rather than pull them together. These traditions help individual cultures, rather than entire communities, to thrive.

The vitality of America's major cities relies on factors other than the preservation of cultural traditions. Major cities or any community requires a sound infrastructure to ensure its survival. Without sufficient streets in good repair residents cannot go to work during the day or to places of entertainment in the evening. Without an efficient means of delivering water and eliminating waste, cities would become breeding grounds for disease. A lack of electricity would cripple all forms of industry. Major cities must provide access to health care and education to its residents. Any level of financial support on the part of the government should be allocated to projects that make living in major cities more comfortable. When residents are comfortable, they can pursue activities that help their communities to thrive.

Over recent decades, uniquely American cultural traditions have lost their significance. Thanksgiving has been reduced to a day to prepare for Black Friday, the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. Stores open earlier than normal and offer desirable merchandise at drastically reduced prices. Entire families spend time on Thanksgiving plotting their shopping strategies. They camp out at stores or get up extra early to be first through the doors when they open, often pushing other bargain hunters out of the way. In 2012, some major chain stores actually opened in the evening on Thanksgiving Day. When America's citizens have so little regard for the country's traditions, the government would be unwise to provide funds to major cities in an attempt to preserve them.

Sample 2:

This is a very sensitive issue and it is difficult for us to decide the role of governments. There are many issues in this statement that need to be addressed. The first question is whether the actual culture and traditions is in big cities or small towns and villages. The second thing is that whether it is really a government’s duty to subsidize cultural traditions. The author claims that governments should ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need to preserve the nation’s cultural traditions. However, preserving cultures should not be the single reason to develop major cities. This is not only for preservation of nation’s culture but also for the reason of developing the whole society.

There is no doubt that major cities are the principal force when constructing a healthy country and their development directly reflects the development of the country. Major cities primarily generate a nation’s cultural traditions and makes it famous in the world. However, it is actually towns and villages where cultural traditions originate and are preserved and any government that pays attention to its cultural traditions should neither neglect nor ignore those places. Hence, these small places should receive equal if not more financial support than major cities. The culture and tradition maintained in these places might be much more integrated and purer than in counterpart cities. Therefore, in order to protect their cultural traditions, governments should support tradition-based towns and villages rather than invest a lot to the cities, which have little traditional foundation.

If we take the example of Hong Kong, it used to be a small fishing village 150 years ago. After it became the colony of the Great Britain, Hong Kong has developed gradually and has established as a financial center in Asia. Therefore, from its present, nobody can assert that Chinese cultural traditions are generated in Hong Kong. Hong Kong developed completely according to the style of the capitalism country, during the reign of Britain, although the majority of residents were Chinese, who are known for preserving their culture and traditions. The Chinese culture is not preserved in Hong Kong, hence there is no point in providing financial support to Hong Kong just for the culture’s sake. However, as it is a major financial and shopping hub, it attracts people from all over the world and it is a great source of revenue for the government. Hence, the government of China has to patronize it to maintain its importance.

However, while major cities are the resource of one country’s culture, the major part of population in many countries lives in villages. In cities, most people are doing salary-based jobs and in villages, most of the people are farmers. The government of a country has to take care of both the sides to keep balance in society. To construct major cities, the rural places should not be ignored.

The cultural traditions are the backbone of a nation and they should be preserved. However, major cities and rural areas should get equal attention from the governments.