Susan described her economic status in Romania as upper middle class. She always felt that she had everything she needed. She had a lot of friends and a good education and she maintained straight A’s in school. She spent most of her time with extended family when her parents would get into physical altercations, furthermore; she felt it was the only way to escape the craziness. Susan stated that she went to church with her aunt and cousin and they practiced catholic faith. Although her household was dysfunctional she had a lot of support from her extended family. When her parents migrated to the United States her extended family stayed in Romania. Susan expressed that she was sad because she knew what her household would be like without her extended family’s support. Upon her arrival to the US, she felt that it was very difficult to adjust to the American culture. …show more content…
The (Hudnall Stamm, 2003) article reflects on the theory of cultural trauma in understanding disruptions where the “original” culture may suffer opposition of an “arriving” culture and it would result in vulnerabilities of individuals. This article relates to Susan’s experience in the United States were the children in her school represented the original American culture that could not embrace her cultural difference; whereas, it caused her to feel vulnerable and rejected. Susan mentioned that it was very hard to develop friendships especially adjusting to a new
Rereading America begins by discussing the obstacles that students will face when entering college, and how cultural myths play a significant role in the way we think, and how we react to situations in our environment. In order to be a successful, intellectually-minded college student, one must engage in critical thinking in their academic work. Critical thinking involves the examination or consideration of various perspectives, realizing that what is commonly appeared to be “normal” or “crystal clear” is not from analysis, but rather from the cultural myths unconsciously embedded in our lives. While it can be argued that cultural myths provide social order in society, they also discourage individuals from forming their own beliefs after thinking
The United States and cultural myths pertaining to this country have been a topic of discussion for many years. Stephanie Coontz’s “The Way We Wish We Were”, David Brooks’ “One Nation Slightly Divisible” and Margaret Atwood’s “A Letter to America” are all essays about different American cultural myths. Each author focuses on a different cultural myth that pertains to the United States. They explain how these myths are thwarting a realistic view of America. As well as changing the perception of the country as a whole. The major cultural myths of America among the texts are about “ideal families”, “ideal lifestyles, and a “ideal country.”
1,165 miles south of Atlanta, lies a fairly small island in the Caribbean Sea named Jamaica. This country is no bigger than the state of Rhode Island, yet holds its own unique culture. My mother and grandmother migrated to America about twenty years ago. About ten years ago my Grandmother and Uncle started a Jamaican shop, “Caribbean Connection” that sold an array of Caribbean goods and cooked a good selection of Jamaican dishes. This shop is my family’s way of preserving our culture. I don’t actually recall learning my family’s native language, which they call Patios, or otherwise known as Broken English or Creole English. Certain things such as religion, mannerism, our language, our food and our customs are very important to my family and
American culture is a nontraditional and individualism culture. Americans are open to new principles, ideas, and practices. Many Americans are also more concerned about themselves and their immediate family and friends. Music and television exhibit aspects of both the nontraditional and individualism culture. The focus of American culture is technology, consumers, capitalism, sports, and politics. Almost everything in America revolves around technology, such as cell phones, computers, TV, social media, video games, etc. Money seems to play a major role. Wealth is an achievement everyone wants to have, living the American dream is getting rich. Advertisements constantly convince consumers to buy products (even products they don’t necessarily
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
A) There were a couple of things that surprised me when I started citizenship classes. First, the urge that some students had to feel like they were a part of the American culture. During, some conversations that I held with students, some felt like they were not a part of the American culture, nor their native country. In all, feeling alienated and shunned by non-immigrants in the United States. In lecture, we spoke that migrants felt like “they were not here, nor there,” and I can only imagine what it is like not to be a part of society, simply because they made a sacrifice to improve my family’s lives. We also, have to take into consideration that many of the students were aware that they were still at risk of deportation, being
Think about what we’ve studied in ENGG 1100. What are some things Americans values in their culture? Why?
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.
One of the most prominent components of American culture is to be the best that we can be due to our individualistic based mindset. Although this can be viewed as a weakness, I see it as a strength when it comes to expressing my own emotions and opinions in writing. However, I comprehend that I am limited to only what I have learned thus far in high school level writing classes, and need to expand my horizons by taking more advanced level education courses. The American culture I have been surrounded by and writing education system has pushed me to pursue betterment in my literary langue skills and critical thought process, and that is what I intend to continue on doing while I am taking this course. Without a continued stream of information and teaching, I would be unable to advance from my current views and ideas and be placed at a standstill with no room for growth, but plenty for ignorance.
Early North American cultures often used their art to express their spiritual rituals and beliefs. North American Eastern Woodlanders were an established, settled community. Their burial rituals led them to build great burial mounds such as the Serpent Mound in Ohio. The Eastern Woodlanders believed that tobacco was sacred, and that smoking it was a form of prayer. It is interesting that, although the tobacco originated in the South and was brought North, the stone pipe originated in the North. These woodlanders were famous for their intricate beadwork and quillwork, which was regularly used to portray symbolic, spiritual scenes.
This paper will be reviewing an American family experience in Russia. Clifford J. Levy became a foreign correspondent for The New York Times and brought his entire family with him to Moscow, Russia in 2006. He and Julie are parents of three children – Danya (fifth grade), Arden (third grade), and Emmett (kindergarten). This journal mostly focuses on their kids’ experience throughout the years and how they blended into Russian education system and its culture. The kids’ view of changing their environment and the language was really interesting aspects to bilingualism and bilingual kids.
I do believe that there is such a thing as American culture. I know it’s hard to see America as having it’s own culture because the US is considered a melting pot, and so many different cultures contribute to our everyday lives, but the US does have it’s own culture. Just as other cultures influenced the United States, the US has also influenced other cultures.
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.
The United States of America being the third largest country in the world with more than 315 million inhabitants, consists of multicultural societies with ethnically diverse population. Since there are a lot of foreigners, the US culture has evolved in such a way accepting and tolerating other foreign cultures. US is very much influenced by protestant work ethics according to which people believe in themselves and their efforts to attain the goal of self-actualization and success. The rich diversity in the culture brought by foreigners, prevailing values of protestant ethics, hard work etc. have helped US to emerge as a superpower in the past years. Nearly every religion had its impact on US culture in one way or the other. The
What is American culture? America’s culture is hard to describe because it’s so unlike any other countries in the world. We are a nation of immigrants who fought for our independence and now have many freedoms that many other countries do not. You can worship whatever religion you want, get any job you want (as long as you put in the effort), and have the ability to express any opinions you may have. Although America is a nation greatly built on freedom, we also have many other values that make us American. Fast Food Nation reveals how the fast food industry has affected America’s culture, for the better and for the worse. It reveals that we’ve become a nation built on productivity, opportunities, and profits. Fast Food Nation depicts the hard working, the lazy, the fortunate, the unfortunate, the good, and the bad; despite all these different kinds of people, we all come together to make up the great nation known as the United States of America.