GRE: Nation's culture and traditions are mainly maintained and generated in major cities

Claim: Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive.
Reason: It is primarily in cities that a nation's cultural traditions are preserved and generated.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.

The issue suggests that nation's culture and traditions are mainly maintained and generated in major cities, that is why government should provide sufficient financial support to these cities. Undoubtedly every government should be concerned about protection and maintenance of cultural values and traditions in their countries. However it is debatable whether culture and traditions are presented in major cities or not. Thus government should find out the places which present culture of the nation and support these places. Besides, government should also find out which cultural institutions need funding and which can support themselves and help the former.

It is not necessarily true for every major city to be the cultural center of the country. There is plethora of big cities which are known to be industrial centers rather than cultural. Mostly these cities do not have many cultural institutions which identify the nation or country, neither you can find many traditions preserved there. For example Hong Kong, which is one of the biggest cities not only in China but also in the world, is known as one of the most important industrial and business center. Hardly anyone can say that this city presents Chinese nation, its culture and traditions, thus government should not fund it for these purposes.

In contrast, there are also many major cities, which surely present the culture and traditions of the nation. For example let consider Paris, which is known to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world and can be considered as the cultural center of France. Many museums, castles and palaces in Paris present history, culture and traditions of French. However, French government does not need to provide much funding to many cultural institutions in Paris. For example Louvre, the most famous museum in the world, has millions of visitors in a year, and its income can be sufficient for its own maintenance. And this can be true for many other museums too.

On the other hand in some countries small towns and provinces are the places, where nation's culture and traditions are preserved better. Moreover, these small towns often do not have sufficient income to maintain themselves and preserve traditions and cultural centers, thus they need funding from government and from other sources. For example Tatev: an ancient monastery in Armenia, which is one of the most famous places here. Until several years ago there was not even a proper road to get there. After government drew its attention to this place, rebuilt the roads, built the highest ropeway in the Europe there, it became easier to get to the place. Now it is one of the most popular places in Armenia and every year more and more tourists visit it.

It is very important that every government cares about places in the country, which present nation's culture and preserve its traditions. However it is also important to find which places are really the ones that have this role. Sometimes major cities do not present culture or traditions of the country. Another case is when cultural centers in major cities have sufficient income to maintain themselves. Furthermore, it is also common when small towns present nation's cultural face and traditions better, however they need financial support to maintain and preserve their role.

- While you presented an acceptable introduction to the essay and did very well in rephrasing the prompt, I did not see any indication of you taking a stand on the matter. So it is unclear to the reader as to whether you agree or disagree with the statement. Kindly add that to the statement in order to complete the introduction process :-)

... about the protection of cultural values... Thus the government should find the true places where the country's culture and tradition are truly developed and support that region to help boost their tourism industry which will be good for the economy of the country.


- ... true that... There are a plethora... Most of these cities do not have many...
- Good reasoning Xatutik!


- ... where a nation's... These small towns do not... maintain themselves while preservingtheir tradition and cultural centers. Thus... For example, take Tatev, an ancient... After the government drew... rebuilt the roads, and built...

- You should use this statement as your personal point of view that strengthens your disagreement on the topic.


- Once you reiterate your disagreement in the last sentence, you will have written a good conclusion :-)

I hope you can consider my suggestions and recommendations helpful towards the improvement of your paper :-)

Thank you very very much for your comments and suggestions. In fact they are always very helpful :)