Seventeen Traditions
Textual Analysis: The Seventeen Traditions
Ralph Nader's Seventeen Traditions, published in 2007 is a short and slim 150 page novel. Nader was born and raised in Winsted, Connecticut and is an American political activist, author, lawyer, and lecturer. Nader reflects on the seventeen traditions that shaped his life as a child of Lebanese immigrants, growing up in a small town. The traditions reveal the importance of social values and the role families play as the transporter of those values which explains Nader's purpose that, traditions offer guidance and inspiration for the parents, children and grandchildren of today. This novel not only reveals much about Nader's own life and values, it also challenges the reader to self-reflection. Nader states that learning how to listen was a core, if subtle, part of our early education. His mother always told her children to listen more than they speak and to think before they speak in order to learn. For example, “I learned that good listening meant asking leading questions, and inserting verbal nudges that would tease out what you were really interested in learning. The early training helped me develop my interviewing skills, which helped me throughout my career”. ( Nader, 37) Through my own life experiences, I believe listening is a very important skill that is beneficial to both work and everyday life. As a university student, being a good listener takes skill and lots of practise. It took me two years to learn how to properly listen to the professors and learn the style of fast pace teaching. Listening will allow you to understand what is required of you and will allow you to ask the proper questions. As a co-op student, I have extensive training with interviews. Listening is an essential skill an interviewee must have in order to engage in a successful job interview. It shows the interviewer that you are interested in the job and are able to ask questions that are appropriate to the specific role. I believe
Ralph Nader's Seventeen Traditions, published in 2007 is a short and slim 150 page novel. Nader was born and raised in Winsted, Connecticut and is an American political activist, author, lawyer, and lecturer. Nader reflects on the seventeen traditions that shaped his life as a child of Lebanese immigrants, growing up in a small town. The traditions reveal the importance of social values and the role families play as the transporter of those values which explains Nader's purpose that, traditions offer guidance and inspiration for the parents, children and grandchildren of today. This novel not only reveals much about Nader's own life and values, it also challenges the reader to self-reflection. Nader states that learning how to listen was a core, if subtle, part of our early education. His mother always told her children to listen more than they speak and to think before they speak in order to learn. For example, “I learned that good listening meant asking leading questions, and inserting verbal nudges that would tease out what you were really interested in learning. The early training helped me develop my interviewing skills, which helped me throughout my career”. ( Nader, 37) Through my own life experiences, I believe listening is a very important skill that is beneficial to both work and everyday life. As a university student, being a good listener takes skill and lots of practise. It took me two years to learn how to properly listen to the professors and learn the style of fast pace teaching. Listening will allow you to understand what is required of you and will allow you to ask the proper questions. As a co-op student, I have extensive training with interviews. Listening is an essential skill an interviewee must have in order to engage in a successful job interview. It shows the interviewer that you are interested in the job and are able to ask questions that are appropriate to the specific role. I believe