Monthly TOEFL Essay #1:Know your ancestors and know yourself

Describe a custom from your country that you would like people from other countries to adopt. Explain your choice, using specific reasons and examples.

Know your ancestors and know yourself

           On Thanksgiving in the States, family members gather together to celebrate the holidays. It’s a boisterous and jolly period of the year when friends and families share new pleasant memories and reminisce about the past. In Korea, we have a holiday named Chuseok, which is exactly like Thanksgiving. It’s a chance to get closer with relatives and add some additional layers of fat to prepare for the upcoming winter. However, something exclusive about Chuseok is that relatives go visit the burial places of their ancestors to perform a commemorative ritual. This ritual started out as a method of thanking our ancestors for another successful harvest, during the times when agriculture formed the center of civilization. Although it lost this function after industrialization started off in Korea, this custom still remained as a part of Korean culture and was taken on by each following generation. Now, there is a moderate amount of families that have ceased carrying on this custom, but it still has a unique meaning to those who still appreciate this tradition. It’s a great way to spend one’s holidays in a more meaningful manner and it helps one develop his or her self-identity. These two factors are the main reasons that make this custom valuable enough to be shared by other countries.

             To begin with, visiting one’s ancestor’s grave makes up for how many people lock themselves in their rooms and spend the holidays aimlessly. It’s hard to deny that holidays are awaited by businessmen and student alike mostly due to the fact that they provide an opportunity to refresh one’s body and soul. However, when it comes to Chuseok, it’s not just a normal break from the frenzy at work or school. It’s one of the few times one gets to meet his or her grandparents, uncles, aunts, and nephews. In modern society, not many people understand the true value of this opportunity and they merely lock themselves in a room to get intimate with their phone or laptop. The perfect method to prevent this from happening is to take on the custom of visiting the tomb of one’s predecessors. Some might wonder why this is necessary when there are movie theatres and amusement parks that are available. The problem with these recreational activities is that they lack practicality as they aren’t compulsory and they attract people’s attention to a screen or some other medium, distracting them from having actual conversations. On the other hand, this custom has a mandatory tone to it as it’s an “important ritual.” Adding on, a trip back and forth from the tomb gives relatives plenty of time to talk about current issues or what’s new that’s going on in their lives. Although this may be completely different from this ritual’s original function, it’s meaningful that this custom serves the purpose of bringing relatives together, just like how Chuseok is supposed to be.

             Most importantly, getting to know one’s ancestors and their hometown helps to develop a better idea of his or her self-identity. In society, many people tend to question their existence on Earth and the importance of their life. They don’t understand why they have to suffer at work or at school to achieve something when there are many others who can do exactly the same thing. The first step in solving this problem is to acknowledge the fact that every single person has his or her own traits that non other has and build up one’s self-identity. This process usually starts with very fundumental questions, such as “Where am I from?” The ritual I mentioned above is how one could gain answers to these questions. Getting to know the home town from which his ancestors are from and excavating little pieces of information about the deeds of the ancestors could give one an idea of the family he’s included in. Such questions that seem very simple are what help students explain their uniqueness and develop a sense of self-identity.

             Of course, there are some religions that prohibit having any rituals for anybody who’s not their holy god. However, putting such differences aside, the role that this ritual plays for those who practice this ritual can’t be found anywhere else. Not only does it bring the family members close together on the holidays, but it also takes part in developing an individual’s self- identity. There may be difficulties, such as religious differences, in sharing this custom, but it does bring about personal gains to those who participate.