Dodson Response--Afterword

In Bill Dodson's conclusion, I liked how he addressed not just his previous topics throughout his book, but he reiterates the main challenges of China.  In more of a summary, Dodson narrows down China's trends and makes implications on how they can improve as a country.  I think Dodson makes too many implications on how China's primary issues can be solved, but he doesn't include enough of his own personal accounts to share with the readers.  I think Dodson could have included some of his opinions, likes and dislikes, and ultimately, anything he learned from the subject.  For my essay, however, I do want to reiterate my question and address solutions for my topic as Dodson did, but I also want to include personal references and my experiences as well.  I also don't want to leave my audience with a high expectancy to address another topic.  At the end of his afterword Dodson writes, "But that's a whole other story completely" (236).  That statement didn't feel as complete to his topic as I hoped it to be and I felt that it was unnecessary to bring up another topic if it was totally different from his original topic.  In my conclusion, I hope to wrap up my discussion with my question answered for myself and the readers and to include personal references, and a concluding sentence revolving around my main focus.

Dodson Afterword Reflection

Throughout  China Inside Out, I felt as if there was a disconnect between the author and the book.  Although this may have been intentional (as to not pose a bias in the information presented), I still feel that it only weakened the overall appeal of the book.  When it came to his conclusion, Dodson was no different; presenting hardly a personal touch.  However, the author makes it clear that the information in this section is his opinion, stating that “Perhaps one of China’s greatest contributions to the world, then, is . . .” (Pg. 227), which made me wonder WHY he wouldn’t then discuss his personal account of this research process (which is obviously one he is deeply committed to and impacted by).  Another thing I noticed about Dodson’s conclusion, or “Afterword” was his nice job of summarizing the past chapters.  Although this got to be a bit lengthy, I think that in his final paragraph, he did a nice job of recounting the issues discussed and analyzed (Pg. 236).  Perhaps I can take from him, if anything, his ability to (very) accurately recap what has happened in a piece of literary work.  It is in this way that I hope to give my reader a full and complete understanding of the topics I cover.  

"China Inside Out" Afterword

The Afterword of “China Inside Out” by Bill Dodson is largely a summary of all the major points that the author made while writing this book, just in case the reader forgot why they were reading. It is much like his introduction in the way that he summarizes his points, just without referring to each chapter by name. He does, however, introduce the subjects with a few different anecdotes. For example, he brings up the damage done to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina and the length of time it took them to recover compared to China coming back from its own disasters (Dodson 225). In my conclusion, I intend on referring back to the beginning of my essay. Dodson does this by referring to human flesh searches in Chapter 10, but not his Afterword (Dodson). He also speculates for future research, something that I will attempt, by leaving the open ending of “that’s a whole other story completely” (Dodson 236). Finally, he does a nice job of speaking about the global impact of China’s future, but he does not speak as much to the personal impact that his research has, something I intend to flesh out more in my own essay.

Afterword

The conclusion that I am writing for the braided essay describes more of what I personally learned about my topic through the means of the research and the information I gathered. Dodson's afterword recaps all of his main points from the previous chapters and makes some connections. He also makes predictions of the future and advises on what needs to happen. While I am doing a similar type of style in my conclusion by bringing forth my main points from previous sections and also drawing conclusions for what the future entails, my focus is a little different than Dodson. My main focus is gathering what I have learned through my research and explaining to my reader why this is important and how this information sums up the entire process. I also end with another personal story and how this really affects me whereas Dodson had no personal touches throughout his afterword. 
Haley Martin

Afterward

After reading Dodson’s Afterward I feel like what we’re asked to do for our essay is pretty much the same thing Dodson did for his book. We are supposed to find our discoveries, make assumptions, and find valuable points that tie our essay together and talk about them like Dodson does at the end of his book. We are also supposed to talk about our personal stories that we discover throughout our process of writing this essay and throughout the class. All of these elements are intended to make our essay come to a conclusion and have everything we learned come to an end. It’s the last leg of the race basically. So personally I do think that Dodson’s conclusion and the conclusion we are supposed to write for our paper will turn out to be the same thing however our conclusion and Dodson’s conclusion will be written on two different topics. Dodson’s Afterward would definitely be considered a reference for how to properly write a conclusion.  

Afterword

So as to compare the conclusions: Dodson took the approach that we are being asked for thinking about how he thinks his work can and will affect the way people in other parts of the world will be affected by his research.  Clearly he wanted some sort of worldly exposure of his work, because its is based off of the Chinese culture but written completely in English, for an English speaking audience.

To contrast: We are asked to ponder our own ideas and make connections into a grand scheme that makes sense.  Dodsons’ conclusion seemed to be just a reiteration of all of his chapters in a way that the main points of them all seemed to flow and be connected a little bit more.  He seems to connect everything in a chronological and in a flow that sums up the “Big Picture” idea that each disjunct chapter stated.

Delaney on Dodson's Afterword

In Dodson’s afterword he begins by summarizing up each chapter again. He goes through the themes and ideas of each chapter and reevaluates them. He also uses his own personal opinions again in his afterword. Offering us each more insight into what he believes to be great things about China and also it’s downfalls. This afterword is very useful for what we are asked to do with our conclusion. We are supposed to summarize the three main ideas of our paper into this conclusion. We are also supposed to engage with the reader by offering up our own opinions once again. We are challenged with putting our topic into a global and personal perspective in the fact that we need to say how it affects these things. We are also charged with trying to use something from our introduction to tie it in altogether. He ends his conclusion with a cliffhanger. We too should strive to keep our readers interested in our topic and make our conclusion reflect a need to know more. 

Dodson's Afterword: Response

Dodson’s Afterword, I think is very similar to what we are being asked to create for our own essays. Dodson kicks off with a summary of sorts of his book’s theme, themes. He kind of goes through his novel, bringing up his discoveries in shorter contexts as he weaves together his conclusion. Dodson brings up the points he found most valuable and what he thinks we should take out of his piece. He brings up his personal opinion on what he think China’s biggest accomplishment was. He also brings up an idea and then contrasts it with another he discovered in his research. In our conclusions, I think we are required to do the same. We have to summarize our key points, our layers to our topic. We also have to bring in our personal thoughts and opinions on what we have encountered and what it has led us to conclude about our topic. His ends with a cliff-hanger of sorts, saying how we don’t know everything and there is so much more to learn, but we aren’t required to do that because our point is to present what we’ve learned and gained through this research not tell our readers that we necessarily need more information.

Dodson Afterward Response

I find Dodson’s Afterward, and the conclusion we are being asked to write for our own essays are very similar in nature. In Malley and Hawkins’ Engaging Communities, we are told to put a meaning into what we have been working so long on. It moves from, “I am writing about X,” to “Why do I want to write about X?” It is important that besides summing up what we have been discussing for many pages, we must explain why this is important? We must force ourselves to look at the bigger picture. I think that Dodson does all these things in his Afterward. Dodson uses the time to sum up all his main points, and touch on each of the “10 Irreversible Trends Reshaping China and Its Relationship with the World”. However, he does so in a way that reflects his own thoughts on each matter. He attempts to show us why we have been reading this book, and what it will do for us. Dodson took China and put it in relationship to the entire world. He made conclusions about the country that would ultimately affect us all as an entire world of nations. This gives us a reason as to why we should read the book. We should do so not only to further our knowledge on China, but also to look at our lives as a whole. These are all very good ideas that we could use in our own conclusions. 

Dodson - Afterword

In the Afterword, Dodson sums up a lot of the information he mentioned throughout the book. He does not mention any personal connections to China, but does explain what “America and the rest of the world have most to be concerned about…” (pg. 23). In our own conclusions, we are asked to connect our topic to a greater picture, as well as include personal details (like why it is important to us, how we feel about it, and what we have learned). Dodson sort of has one last “fact dump”, as some would call it, in his conclusion. Also, his last sentence, “But that’s a whole other story completely”, left me feeling very incomplete (pg.236)! I would have liked to hear more about his own connection with China; perhaps that would personalize his conclusion. It could be a bit more inviting, but I do like that he was able to explain the big picture. In my own conclusion, I also need to add more personal detail. It is difficult to sum up my feelings though, because in doing so I think of more questions, which ends ultimately with me feeling bad about the whole paper because there are many questions I had not thought of. I understand the dilemma! 

Dodson's Afterword

In a brief post, compare and contrast Dodson's Afterword with the kind of conclusion you are being asked to create for your essay.  150-250 words. 

"China Inside Out" Chapter 10

In the final chapter of “China Inside Out”, Bill Dodson describes the idea of the self-identity of the Chinese people, including the psychology of their overzealous nationalism. As long ago as the building of the Great Wall of China, Chinese people have developed a high sense of xenophobia. In the ancient past, it was the terrifying hordes of militant Mongols astride their horses that the Chinese emperors sought to keep out, but as time progressed, they tried to keep everyone out. It took a long time for them to open their doors to foreign traders, and longer still to open their country completely. During World War II, invasions by the Japanese made the Chinese people even more xenophobic. The Chinese government, intent on keeping control on its people, continues to encourage that feeling. TV shows being produced in China continually depict brutal outsiders that engross viewers, but also make them more afraid of other countries. The “Great Firewall of China” keeps the internet from interfering with Chinese citizens and showing them what other countries are actually like. Even so, with this reinforced sense of xenophobia, China is not all powerful over western influences. They still leak through, small piece by piece. I agree with Dodson's statement in this chapter because of how holed up China is. The government is so restrictive on its people that they have little choice but to believe what they are told: that their way is the best, even though it likely is not. I think the best way to research this would be ethnographic studies in China itself, speaking to citizens in China, examining the place, and seeing what the internet restrictions are like, to get the best possible idea of what information Chinese citizens are fed by their government.

Dodson--Chapter 10 Response

China is successful and unsuccessful in many ways.  Based on the 10 trends that Dodson introduces the readers too, China's main pursuit is to become the world's dominant modern society involving all the country's endeavors.  From chapter 10, however, China's psychological stance is not fully developed at all.  China is trying to transition from a totalitarianism government into a more modern government.  However, how can they maneuver into such modern ways if they won't simply let go of old customary values?  On page 223, Dodson states that, "The society itself has to be ready to accept and adapt to a model of relationship  between the government  and its people that flies in the face of national identity...".  That's what the government of China wants: National Identity.  In order for them to gain that national identity they have to be something that I refer to as the Pursuit of Perfection.  That is,   nothing satisfies the government, unless what they're doing, making, or accomplishing is bigger and better than other countries around the world.  I agree with Dodson's assessment believing that China will always want to be the powerhouse of the world, driving their financial, social, and educational standards to the next level.  The government wants so much out of their 21st century modern vision, that people who live in China are effected by the outcomes of it all.  Overall Dodson's assessment included numerous anecdotes and interviews involving his own experiences in China, which I believe, is one of the best way to gain information about a subject.  The only major concern that I had about his writing was the validity and accuracy of his sources.  In chapter 1, Dodson discusses the government's plans to restrict its citizens from world based media, such as sites on the internet and national news outlets like BBC, CNN, and The Washington Post.  Because the Chinese government censors numerous amounts of their resources and try to block most of their corrupted information from their people and the world, how was it that Dodson was the only individual to find resources about China?  I honestly don't know how resourceful, supportive, and legit his sources are about China considering that some of his information came out of Chinese newspapers and journals, but I do know that it has dearly assisted Dodson with the information he provides for his readers.  For future reference, I would check the validity of my resources to be certain that I'm not dishing it out of somewhere that could be confusing, moreover, unsupportive to the readers.

Chapter 10 Response

For me I feel that China is a very modern and up to date culture that tries to continue to maintain the old ways of China. I feel that most of the citizens of China try to stay with what their culture was built upon in the ancient times even though China wants new and better things as the days come and go. I also feel that a lot of the younger generations of China really try to become someone else, the reason I say that is because in Last Train Home the main girl doesn’t want to stay in the country working, she wants to go out and party and have fun in the city. Her parents try to keep her in the country but I know from being a teenager if my parents did that I would get upset but I would never want to leave home but I feel like for teenagers in China they would feel stuck and wouldn’t know who they really were if they stayed home because of their parents. So the teenagers in China end up leaving home and going into the city to find a job and spend it on things they don’t need or our unnecessary.

When it comes to agreeing or disagreeing with Dodson…well I don’t really agree with everything that he’s done. The book was very predictable and boring and somewhat dry. I knew most of what Dodson wrote about from previous history classes and from the news that my parents would talk about every morning. Don’t get me wrong China creates wonderful, magnificent items that they distribute to the public eye and they are one of the smartest students in the world but they are a difficult country as I’ve stated before. Dodson did his best to describe China but China is such a big country and there’s so much that goes on that it’s difficult to put everything you know into 10 chapters of a book. 

Chapter 10

The way that Dodson describes the Chinese culture is one of a self motivating feeling of being victimized.  He explained how the media there divides the broadcasts into sections that portray the past, where things went wrong and at the conclusion of the mini series there is a sense of success and that the Chinese did not lose anything and came out triumphant.  He explained how the propaganda propels itself and and makes the Chinese generate a hate to the outside world.  The way the Chinese make the country feel like it’s the victim in a lot of different situations, allows for the anger to be generated easily in the culture and exploded on any individual that they believe is a traitor of the country, like the example he used of the foreign exchange student that was hunted down by the Human Flesh Search.  What he portrayed through the examples was a sort of communal mindset that rallies all of the Chinese together.  I do think how Dodson addressed this was good as he used many examples.  Based on the limit of information that the Chinese government has set up, I think that Dodson has done a great job with the amount of information that he has collected and written about.  The only other way to question it, would be to actually live in CHina for a while and learn about the culture and the language to fully submerge ones self in the mindset of the area.

Delaney on Dodson Chapter 10

In chapter 10 of Dodson’s China Inside Out he explains how the Chinese seem to perceive themselves. What I get from reading the chapter is that they make themselves feel like victims and that they are far more superior to the rest of the world. They seem to play the victim because of the fact that “nearly a quarter of all national and local television programming in China is devoted to the wrongs perpetrated on the Chinese people by any,” (Dodson 204) number of groups of people, especially the Japanese. The reason that they are portrayed as feeling superior to the rest of the world is through their language. They believe it to be the “most cultivated,” (Dodson 206) because it is so difficult to learn. They also feel that just in general they are the “most culturally advanced civilization in the world” (Dodson 206). First of all I do not understand how one can even measure something such as cultural advancement. It just seems to be too abstract an idea. Second, they learn English as well as Chinese, yet we do not learn Chinese alongside English so to feel superior with that is just odd. Another thing that Chinese people have come to be very prideful of is their military. Even though they are second to us, they still feel as if they are just better overall. This chapter makes me question how many people actually feel this way. It seems as if Dodson is making claims based on a select group of individuals and is not posing an opposite view. One way he could make his research better is by adding numbers to back up his findings. 

Chapter 10 Response

The “Chinese psychology”, meaning the way Chinese think about themselves in relation to the rest of the world consists of several viewpoints. They view themselves as a victim, and a yet a body of power. They see themselves as the only real human beings in the world, who can dictate anything. They make foreigners look like a fantasy. I do agree with this assessment of China and their perspective in relation to the rest of the world. China views themselves as a victim in the eyes of other countries, but to themselves they are so much more then that. They have power. They produce so many goods and control so much media that they have to believe that they have power. This control they have on the media allows their government paint other countries in a certain light. Personally, I think the government wants to keep out Westerners and foreigners so that their people don’t get any ideas. I do agree with Dodson’s assessment of China’s perspective because it makes sense logically and through his examples. I might question that his Western, outside perspective could be clouding his judgment so I may look up his sources and make sure they weren’t put in a slanted perspective. I would’ve put more of a personal perspective from the Chinese citizens if it was me. It would help verify the perspective if it was more of a personal aspect.  

Dodson Chapter 10 Response

It seems that China is an ancient culture struggling to grasp the new and more modern ways that a government is run; it is as if they do not know how to gracefully shift into this new identity of a diverse people.  I feel that the people in China really cry out for their own identity, but are instead suppressed by the idea that “culture” is something passed down, and not evolving.  It is in this way that they are stagnant with their identity; never really evolving or changing, but rather simply identifying so heavily with what their ancestors or past leaders have done, that it is almost as if they do not learn the lessons of government leaders until it is long past when they have been in office.  

One thing that Dodson says that really interests me is that the Chinese are said to victimize themselves, while also saying that they are very heroic and great (pg.’s 205-206).  I find this really interesting, it is almost as if they are saying about themselves “I am the best of the worst.”  

I’m not really sure just how much of Dodson I really agree with, because I feel that this generalization is a very big one to just throw on every citizen within one of the most populated countries in the world.  I constantly feel torn between the wonderful and hospitable people I met there, and Dodson’s observations, if not mostly assumptions.  Perhaps the Chinese do consider themselves more prestigious in knowledge, but look at the statistics - it’s not like they’re that far off!  America is at the bottom of the academic boards and charts, while China dominates in science and math.  Perhaps there is a boastfulness, but there is also a rebellion against the government within this nation.  And just because the people who have a voice in this piece of work come off a certain way, does not mean that the majority of the country is not humble and extremely hardworking.  And that is where Dodson is wrong.

Dodson Chapter 10 Response

What I mainly took away Dodson’s chapter 10 is that the Chinese think of themselves as strictly that…the Chinese community. They do not step away from their culture, or they are reprimanded. Dodson introduces Grace Wang, a freshman student from China attending Duke University. Grace tried to make peace at a riot over the Tibetan protests of 2008. She never once spoke out against China, however, just by acting in a public mediation, she was branded a traitor. Her family was forced to go into hiding, and she was told if she ever returned to China, she would be murdered and cut into 10,000 pieces. This example shows just how serious China is about loyalty to their country. Media plays a large part in this, as the Chinese people are only exposed to stories, books, movies, and news of China prevailing. Dodson says, “Chinese nationalism knows no borders except its own…”(208). This quote sums up his view on how the Chinese view themselves. While I think this may be true for some people in China, I don’t think it is fair to say this for everyone. I know many people from China that are attending school here in Chicago. It seems that most of them have both positive and negative things to say about their culture. While they love where they come from, they find things that have room for change. Just because they share these views with me, they do not feel they would be shunned from coming home.