Please rate my essay

[Sagnik Banerjee]

Question:

 

To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities.

 

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

 

Response:

 

To understand the most important characteristics of a society one should study its deep rooted traditions which have been preserved for centuries. Only studying major cities, which are almost always subjected to outside influences, is not a good reference of the society because it does not clearly reflect the inherent spirit. Therefore, a society's characteristic cannot be truly signified or generalized based on a study of its major cities.

 

The first instance which proves this is an example of one of the busiest cities in America i.e., New York. Being a busy city people there tend to eat in fast foods as they don’t find time to prepare their meal. Therefore, the study of New York doesn’t fetch us a mirror image of the western culture. But the case would be different with another city in America.

 

The study of major cities in India like Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad reveals that people here are extremely busy with their schedule. They find no time for festivals and have less knowledge about their culture. On the contrary people in the rural areas have a much simpler life and take more interest in celebrating. This again serves as another instance which says that study of the major cities does not give a brief idea of the Indian society. In fact, it is the small towns and rural areas which reflect the true culture and heritage of the Indian society.

 

Also a city has many people from different cultures and nationalities whose habits and life style are diverse in nature. For instance, Texas in USA has people from 14 different nationalities which show that the people here have a lot of differences in their way of living and even different cultures.

 

The study about the society should start with the micro element; the family, how a family fit together, there interactions among each other. But in a big city the interactions are vague among parents and children. In terms of religion, city and rural area have lots of differences. In a city, religious activities are more economized. The best example is the difference in how Christmas is celebrated in a big city and in a rural church. City tends to have the technological edge than a rural area. Many people interact with each other using social networking web sites. Other activities are vastly different from the way how there distant counterparts do.

 

Some might argue that the city is a gateway to a society. Every development in technology has its epicenter in the city and it is from a city that such ideas percolate to the distant rural areas. So in such cases the study of major cities may provide a good snapshot of the society. One of the key issues in a society is education. Centers of learning and education are often based in a major city. So it is common for one to think that the study of such cities can portray the society. But it needs to be remembered that not all students get a chance to go to such elite institutes in the city. Several cities in India like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai are home to several educational centers. But in a country like India, where 66% of the population resides in the rural areas, most of the students often have to obtain their education from institutes which are located away from the city.

 

Therefore, as most of the major cities and the other parts of a country differ in their cultures maybe due to the increase in science and technology or some other reasons, it is not a good idea to rely upon the major cities for the study of a society rather study of all the major, minor cities would help in getting a skeletal idea of a society.