Contemporary American Culture

1. How can an understanding of the complexities of culture help us make sense of the day-to-day world which we live? Give an example from your life to illustrate your answer.

American culture has been referred to as a “melting pot.” Different cultures have added their own distinct aspects to society, making America a diverse country. Despite the plethora of cultures, certain norms, mores, and folkways are evident in American society. These ideas are vital to the function and stability of America. They provide guidelines for what is acceptable and not. In virtually every society, there are people who engage in deviant behavior and do not abide by the values that the rest of society follows. Theorists have debated if people are socialized into acting this way and if it is a social or personal problem. The sociological study of culture focuses on norms, mores, and folkways.

The book “The Yin and Yang of American Culture A Paradox” by Eunice Yinter. The book is quite interesting to read, and learning the views of a person born and raised in Asia was very revealing. It can be difficult to determine other people's views of Americans from casual observation. Five of the virtues listed as Yang in the book seem true to me and related to each other. These virtues are: dreaming the impossible, frontier spirit, daring to be yourself, individual merit, and competitive spirit.

Culture is something that defines what society is and how it will act. As a result of this cultures will evolve and shift over time. This evolution of culture is encouraged, a culture that is stagnant and not changing is one that will ultimately die and fade away. However since this evolution is caused by humans, it is an imperfect evolution and as a result harmful elements come to be integral parts of society. As stated in “Evolving Ideals of Male Body Image as Seen Through Action Toys” we can identify one of the negative results of this evolution is the drive to perfect one's image so that it will match that of the stated “standard”. This essay goes into great detail about how action figures of male

The shaping of any culture requires adaptation to their environment and its problems, such as economical, social and geographical, and the learning from these in order for their culture to live by and survive. The Christian Church would prove the most important in shaping a new European religious civilization. In as much as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam undergirded civilizations in Asia and Africa, Christianity served as the basic unifying force that held together the new European civilization. (Sivers 2015) This process entails having the ability of shaping ones behavior in order to survive and have this same behavior passed onto the following generations.

Throughout the 1960s there was a cultural phenomenon that started in the United States and spread like wildfire to multiple other cultures in the world. This phenomenon was also known as countercultures. This decade raised the 76.4 million Americans born during the baby boom generation. The babies of this boom entered their teen years during the 1960s and they definitely embraced a multitude new standards, dramatically different from the way their parents were raised. While some encompassed new ideals in dress, music and movies others joined countercultures and rebelled against the social norms with poetry, novels and art. Three of the most altering countercultures were the Hippies, the Sexual Revolution and the Gay Liberation.

"Our great nation was founded on the lofty principles of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and guaranteed representation. In this modern day and age, these principles still stand as the bedrock foundation of our society, and their preservation is essential to the health of our union. The America of today is a far cry from that of yesteryear, but some things remain the same, each individual, no matter their financial standing or social status, has the right to say their piece in the public square, and in turn, have their piece be heard by those who deem fit to hear it.

The introduction of movies at the theater and radio broadcasting open a new era of how information gets around to people. It made it easier to pass on information to people in hard to reach places. It also open new opportunities for employment. It created movies stars and radio personalities. In the 1920's, the radio was well-thought-out to be one of the most powerful way of communication. the radio broadcasts popular music, classical music, sporting events, lectures, fictional stories, newscasts, weather reports, market updates, political commentary, religious stories, events, and even operas during certain seasons. “New communications media reshaped American culture in the 1920's, and much of the new mass culture was exported to the rest

The study of culture is very important to our society, as we have been studying our past and identities for as long as we can recall. Studying our cultures allows us to understand each other as a people, so we can comprehend what we have done, and possibly, what we may do. As we study American popular culture, we see something that began as almost nothing, to a group of patterns that has captured the minds of not only the American people themselves, but the whole world, as well.

Culture is like the gentle, cool breeze that sweeps about the smoldering summer air to the delight of all, but misconceived by many of in its origin and purpose. Many wipe the sweat from their brow yet covet the whirls of natural coolant produced by the Earth, ignorant to the fact that these phenomenon work in conjunction and would be better together. In the same way, many countries, especially America, boast of their nations vast diversity and wealth of material items, but are not aware of the etiology of said objects. Japan is a nation of knowledge, mystery, and music that the common American does not know very much about.

Twenty-first-century culture is inclined to award trophies to all participants of a sport, even if the participant did little to contribute to the team’s success; they all receive participation awards. In doing this, it may remove the incentive to be the best in that sport. Mathematical equations no longer have right or wrong answers; there is partial or full credit given for following the correct procedure. The students may not be learning where they are making mistakes; therefore, they may not be benefiting from the common core arithmetic’s. Today's society strives to protect children from experiencing failure or negative feelings. Of course, parents want their children to think positively as this reinforces desirable behavior; however, thinking

I grew up in a small town, which was highly populated with individuals of Basque descent. My grandfather severed in the military and was stationed in Basque Country. Despite the large Basque population surrounding me, I knew very little of the culture and traditions commonly found within the Basque Country. “The homeland of the Basque people, commonly called the Basque Country, is located on the Bay of Biscay at the western end of the Pyrenees mountain range, straddling the border of France and Spain. The nearly 8,000-square-mile Basque Country is divided into seven administrative districts, four in Spain and three in France. Basque culture is distinctive from that of the rest of Spain in many ways” (Thomas, par. 1). This assignment has allowed me the privilege to interview and spend time with Maria Begona Narvaiza-Peck. I was able to experience the Basque culture through conversation, photographs, museum, and meals.

The evidence of documents from the Carolingian period was much more full of information than any other era since the fourth century. While our knowledge of France during the sixth century were little bits and pieces of the Merovingian kingdom along with along with around 900 pages of the chronicles and other forms of documents and treaties. Their literacy was one of their biggest improvement for their civilization. It has overcome things like the invasion of Germany, the expansion of land that Islam has taken over, and even the arrival of a new cult and society that was in western Europe. The civilization of Rome was the Mediterranean while, France, England, and Rhine valley where around to help improve

In North America the culture is very diverse. In Canada french and english are the dominant languages. Just south of Canada is the United States of America the dominant language in the US is english. In Mexico spanish is the dominant language. North America is one of the most diverse places in the world.

American culture refers to the traditions and practices of the people of the United States. Culture comprises of the nature of buildings, religion, music language and marriage. The population of the United States is more than 320 million people making it the most culturally diverse country in the globe. Books such as Crabgrass Frontier, Manifest Destination and Muscular Christianity are important sources of information about American culture. This paper is a reflection on the methods that these books use in providing information about the evolution of the US culture. The paper examines the relationship between these three sources and ways they challenge or inform an understanding of the American society during the late 19th and early 20th century. There is an analysis of the efficiency of the issues tackled by these books in influencing the contemporary discourse surrounding American culture. The major argument of this paper is that Crabgrass Frontier, Manifest Destination and Muscular Christianity provide reliable information about the evolution of the US culture and they supplement each other through the use of relevant examples.