Defining American Culture

Walt Whitman is a renowned American poet. He served as an example for all to follow. He put thoughts into peoples head. Whitman was very influential and had a very big effect on people. Langston Hughes was also a very influential American poet. He was known for changing others opinion of race and making their oppression evident to others. Hughes was very influenced by Whitman and he caused him to want to make a difference in people's thoughts on his race. Whitman wrote a poem called I Hear America Singing and some people believe that it influenced Hughes poem, I, Too, Sing America. Hughe builds on Whitman's poems in these categories; structure and technique, themes, and effect on people and society.

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.

Because my neighbor is considered suburban it often gets a bad rep. A lot of people think that suburbs are boring and aren't interesting. As this suggests, the problem is also cultural. For the most part, American culture and opinion are still created, even in the Internet age, in cities at either edge of the continent. If intellectuals do deign to look at the suburbs they assume that so much banality must be hiding something deeply

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.

Peter Marin’s article “Toward something American: The Immigrant Soul” explains the subtle but noticeable difference between American life and American culture. American culture is defined as primarily western, but is influenced by Native American, African, Asian, Polynesian and Latin American cultures. (Wiki) Marvin explains that American culture is not much more than a mixture of past cultures. American life is slightly different. Marvin writes American although influenced by past cultures struggles to find home. Marvin states “home” is for us, as it is for all immigrants, sometimes to be regained, created, discovered, or mourned”. There are qualities and aspects that make up culture which can be defined as American or Western. In this essay we will explore the distinction between life and culture and if culture can be easily be distinguished between American or Western.

American culture encompasses customs or traditions in the United States. Customs or traditions include, but would not be limited to, values, language, religion, or how we communicate. The population in the United States is over 325 million, (United States Census Bureau, (n.d.) and is built on immigration. In comparison to other countries, the United States is considered cultural, as most nations unite, and later mix, their culture into American culture.

American culture is in my opinion a mixture of all cultures in the world. In some states, minorities have become majorities because of the huge masses that have immigrated there. Those groups have integrated their own customs to Americans and at the same time, have made American customs part of their lives. In that enormous alloy called Americans, you can meet diverse kinds of persons, languages, foods and words. At the same time, specific traits make this culture as any other unique. The British writer Lesley Hazleton describes in the essay The First Game her experience when she attended a baseball game for the first time in her life. It was her first time visiting America as well and the way the

I find myself curious about the past. From ancient civilizations to the technological advancements that have made us who we are today, the past has been instrumental in the development of the present. Much like in essay “America” I too think of the United States when I hear the word America, even if you do an internet search for “America” the first result would be something pertaining to the United States. As an immigrant from Trinidad West Indies at the age of 13 all I knew of the United States was the name America that was associated with it. Knowing nothing more I was introduced to the American culture in the 7th grade. Never having study the history of the United States I have learned the culture and what it means to be an American from

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.

How does one define American culture? Is it the freedom and equality? The mixed religions and races? Is it a compilation of all cultures of the world? All of these qualities do define American culture. Although the nation’s forefathers established the cultural roots of the United States of America, its culture has changed over time. American culture is something unique and highly dynamic. The American culture developed as a result of immigrant settlers from all points of the world bringing in their own culture to this nation. The diversity, both culturally and ethnically, comprise the nation, but at what point does all this diversity become a problem? America’s cultural identity of freedom, equality, and diversity could soon be modified to the extreme by a massive influx of new immigrants who could become the majority of the nation. America, known for its cultural diversity, is on the verge of losing its cultural identity due to lack of restrictions with regards to immigration, the nation’s accommodating mentality towards immigrants and their culture, and racial stereotype inclination among people in the country.

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.

The obvious answer to this question would most likely be, “America is a melting pot. The many different diverse cultures that fill up the country are what makes America, America.” This answer is in fact, true. The United States of America is the land of the free and is full of opportunities. The pledge of allegiance to the U.S.A flag, does say “liberty and justice for ALL” does it not? People from all over the globe leave their families and homes to find their freedom, their purpose, and to live the lives they have always imagined, America would provide for them. But what is it about the United States of America that is so appealing to outsiders?

After the Civil War, Walt Whitman realized that the American people were in need of their own identity. Therefore, he wrote the book “Leaves of Grass” with the goal of creating a literature piece that was authentic and organic to the United States in every sense. Whitman introduced to literature the idea of the “American Dream” and highlighted how important it was for the American people to develop their own identity. Consequently, he rejected the European writing styles and adapted the use of free-verses to his writing, making it a popular writing style in American poetry. Whitman valued of humanity, nature and spirituality. Therefore, he joined the Transcendental literary movement and

In his poems and life, Walt Whitman celebrated the human spirit and the human body. He sang the praises of democracy and marveled at the technological advances of his era. His direct poetic style shocked many of his contemporaries. This style, for which Whitman is famous, is in direct relation to several major American cultural developments. The development of American dictionaries, the growth of baseball, the evolution of Native American policy, and the development of photography all played a part and became essential components of Whitman’s poetry.

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.