The Aristotle’s Rhetoric and Poetics in Greece

The foundation of communication is traced to as far as 2000 years in the writing of the Aristotle’s Rhetoric and Poetics in Greece. Since then there has been a speedy advancement in the manner in which humans relate, with conversation remaining to be a central function of interactions. Usually, the manner in which human beings communicate is primarily described by the cultural orientation of the subject and their background. It is on this foundation that the paper seeks to identify the unique characteristics that I possess and describe the way they act as a reflection of cultural and traditional orientation.

Ranking of Personal Traits

Among the many traditional American values the ones I highly cherish include honesty, spiritual growth, exploring new horizons, accrue goods and wealth, and engaging in recreational and leisure activities. I rate honesty as the top and the most relevant trait for my personal growth because it enables one participate in binding relationships that are founded on trust and sincerity. I believe that it is a key necessity for anyone who believes that interacting in the social setting is vital for any human being.

The second most critical concept that I believe is vital in my development is spiritual growth because I have always wondered about the supernatural forces that make the world. I, therefore, feel that it is critical for me to honor my God and develop spiritually because it would further enable me to behave in a manner that promotes morality a defined by my spiritual inclination.

The third feature that I consider central among the many traditional American values is the act of exploring new horizons. While the rest of the world could be contented with their accomplishments and the status quo, I am the type who would try to explore new ventures and discover new ideas. I trust that the enthusiasm to unleash new data and information will enable me to identify new trends and improve the world through creativity. I also feel that accruing wealth is important but should not be considered a priority.

The last most critical feature that I consider important in the American culture is the aspect of recreation and leisure. From a young age, I would be reminded that play is as important as work and therefore, I would rank play and fun as second-most important after working hard and acquiring wealth. All the traits identified are, however, important in the process of relating in any given social context as it enables human to cooperate and interact in a binding manner.

The values we have as humans create a connection between communication and culture in varied ways. One way to describe the relationship is through understanding it as a way of interacting and meeting one’s needs. For example, the case of honesty is vital because it is a way of communicating that one is trusted and that they have been brought up in a culture that promotes the vice. It is thus possible to draw conclusions and make assumptions about one’s culture based on the manner in which they express themselves and on how others perceive them as it compares with a given culture.

Model Comparison

From the assessment of the traditional American values, it was noted that there are various ways in which the Kluckholn, Hofstede, and Hall values models interface with the five selected traits. In his research, Clyde Kluckholn identified through a theoretical proposal that there exist value orientations (Nardon and Steers 2). It ensures that there are a limited number of problems that are common in groups and that present a limited amount of solutions. They further asserted that values in a society are distributed to ensure that there is dominance. From this hypothesis, it is noted that the Kluckholn model relates to my principle of making wealth because the American culture believes in the need for dominance in establishing a tradition of materialism.

From the five identified traditions within the America system, it is also worth pointing that the traits compared with the Hofstede model (Nardon and Steers 4). The Dutch researcher hypothesized that some cultures tend to place a high value on equality among individuals as others encourage high value on hierarchies and power distance. However, from my understanding, I relate better with the first ideology with the trait of demonstrating honesty being relevant in this case. Honesty is promoted in societies that favor high morals because it is thought that it acts as a way of reconciling age differences because of the importance of being honest and truthful.

The last model that can be used in comparing the identified traits in the cultural perspective is the Hall concept that is founded on the basis of interpersonal communication. My value of exploring new skills and identifying new horizons best relates to this model because it enables one to discover the essence of having interpersonal communication (Nardon and Steers 5). To thrive in cross-cultural management, it is important that the subject expresses an interest in getting out of their comfort zone and learning how to engage in new activities. Through the model proposed by American cultural anthropologist Edward Hall, I am able to identify how to establish interpersonal relationships by learning what people engage in and improving it by designing newer methods.

Source of Inspiration

The primary foundation of encouragement in developing the skills that have nurtured me and enabled me to discover my potential are entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship best describes how I ended up with the skills that I advocate as pertain the traits that define the American system. I enjoy reading inspirational books, and it is from the experience that I came to learn about Robert Kiyosaki, who is an advocate of living life to the fullest by exploring new skills. I learned that it is vital to demonstrate an interest in financial independence and learn to work against the status quo as we have been made to believe all along. I, therefore, believe that neither family, school, pop culture or religion played any role in the personal beliefs I advocate as they are an outcome of my personal explorations through extensive reading. The ideas were thus communicated to me because from reading motivational stories of people who are able to make money and acquire lots of wealth by going the extra mile, I have developed a deeper interest in the values identified.

Application of Knowledge

I, however, want to emphasize that while the knowledge gained through personal research has enabled me to thrive in various creative activities, I believe that the knowledge will be better used in advancing my value orientations. I feel that awareness and the appreciation of one’s social sphere are highly influenced by repetitive exposure to a given cultural trait. The knowledge that I have gathered will thus be instrumental in my efforts of increasing how I perceive the world (Carey 2). I intend to integrate all the five principles and identify even more values that can be integrated with the five key ones I believe in to better my appreciation of the world around me. For instance, there is a related value of getting married which I believe needs to be integrated among the major traits. Once I accomplish this goal, I will be in a better position to explore the world from a different perspective as I will integrate my reasoning with that of the opposite gender. I trust that through such a mechanism, I will broaden my understanding of what defines right and wrong ad as well appreciate the orientation of my spouse.

Conclusion

In summary, I trust that communication and culture are interchangeable and remain the defining features that have enabled me to thrive in the social context. The key traits that I believe in include honesty, being spiritual, exploring new concepts, acquiring wealth and engaging in recreation and fun activities. The five traits are further justified by the fact that they compare to the models identified by Kluckholn, Hofstede, and Hall through their research. The inspiration from Robert Kiyosaki and other entrepreneurs has acted as a further source of encouragement to act in ways that I deem fit in my conscience. I hope that I will increase my appreciation of the world around me through engaging in extensive research and exploring new values such as marriage and appreciate others value orientations.

Works Cited

Carey, James W. Communication as Culture. 1st ed. New York: London: Routledge, 1999. Web.

Domini, Anno. “Defining Communication as an Element of Culture.” Communication and an element of culture (2011): n. pag. Web.

Nardon, Luciara, and Richard Steers. “The Culture Theory Jungle: Divergence and Convergence in Models of National Culture.” The culture theory jungle (2010): n. pag. Web.