American Culture: A Brief Summary

example of how life was in Russia by talking through the story and reflecting her experience

Europeans felt that civilization was the pinnacle of human achievement. When they began settling across Canada, they began making assumptions about the First Nations, Inuit & Metis people. It was assumed that the aboriginal culture was unable to adapt to a rapidly modernizing society. The aboriginals were viewed as ignorant, savage, uncivilized and quite possibly rivals. Essentially, the native ways were viewed childish. The settlers realized that the natives culture, faith, education and trade were drastically different to European ways. Their ways appeared primitive. Duncan Campbell Scott, who was the Deputy Minister of Indian Affairs in Canada in 1920, has been quoted on the record saying, "I want to get rid of the Indian problem. I do not think as a matter of fact, that the country ought to continuously protect a class of people who are able to stand alone... Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department.”

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

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.

He travels to Russia as a journalist working for Nest magazine. However, he is not chasing any particular story, he merely wishes to see what it is like to live in an orphanage—an isolated realm free of adults. After spending several days at the orphanage, interacting with the children and treating them to a picnic by the river, he realizes that, “many of the children have either no history or a severely foreshortened sense of the past,” (D’Ambrosio, pg. 205). The children he meets, like Tonia, Yana and Sasha, are fixed in time and place. The life that lies ahead for them is unreal and largely abstract, as is their scarred past.

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.

Since their conception, comic books have exhibited significant influence on American culture, especially through characters and storylines developed during times of war. Although the ideologies have changed and shifted over time, it is no secret that the writers have a message they are attempting to convey, especially through mainstream superheroes. Andrew Bolton’s definition of a superhero is, “American utopianism as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.” If we adhere to this definition, it is only practical that superheroes would play such a large part in the ideologies of the United States people while they are at war. I examine how comic book characters and

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

Long before there were grocery stores, cars or electricity, humans had the same essential survival needs that we have today – oxygen, food, water, shelter and sleep. For humans today, we can find everything we’d ever need in a store, but without the technology to make life easy, a lot of cultures around the world adopted a nomadic lifestyle. These cultures didn’t have the luxury of living in the same house or a neighborhood their entire lives, and the environments they lived in were harsh. In order to find their five basic survival needs, these nomadic cultures instead had to travel from one new location to the next in search of their next set of resources.

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.

Inevitably American culture is often misunderstood by many citizens who fail to comprehend the full scope of American culture and its impact on the nation. Some optically discern American culture as a way of life bequeathed to them from their parents and their parents afore them. Others visually perceive it as a way to be accepted into a society that they believe is a more preponderant lifestyle. No matter what culture designates to us, it is in our heritage and pastime and it plays an integral part of the way we live the day to day lives that we do. American Culture has composed virtually every ambulation of life, whether it is World War II, or the World Trade Center properties being ravaged. This is all part of a culture of what makes us who we are and optate to become. Different periods in time or events that affect us can alter who we are and make a transmutation within us that alters how we live life. American culture is rooted throughout history through patriotism, capitalism, and racism.

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

As a child, growing up in a predominantly Hispanic middle class community in East Carson California, I never felt different from anyone. I did not understand what it meant to be a little Mexican brown girl until I moved to a different part of Carson at the age of 12. From the day I was born to the age of 12, I had always lived in East Carson where it was predominantly Hispanic. I was raised in a household that incorporated our Mexican culture and traditions. My grandparents came from a generation of “Machismo” but the “Machismo” skipped the later generations of my parents. My parents and my extended family were very supportive and encouraged me that my gender was nothing to hold me back and constantly reminded me that I had American privilege and opportunities that they did not as immigrants. I never understood what they meant until I reached adulthood and everything became apparent. As an adult I did come to understand that my gender would be an issue to the outside world both in Mexican and American culture. Furthermore, I came to understand that I did indeed have American privilege as my immigrant parents and other family members did not.