Non Traditional American Culture Research Paper

It is different from others such as British, Soviet culture. American culture is to entertain the common man and woman. American culture drives today’s culture and American products sell. America itself is a melting pot

There were several distinct cultures that existed within the United States of America during the 18th century, particularly in the early part of this century (No author, 2010). Despite the fact that European colonialists had been attracted to this land in earnest since the 17th century, there were still many tribes of the region's native inhabitants, Native American Indians, that still populated the country. Of the many cultural differences that existed between these two population groups Europeans and Native Americans the most salient was the regard that each culture had for land and its inherent value. This difference proved so influential because it was one of the contributing factors that eventually led to the displace and eventual demise of the Native American population.

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.”

Three cultural aspects that I observed in the movies are assimilation, acculturation, and enculturation. I saw assimilation in both Spanglish and Crash. In Spanglish, Cristina was the one who went through assimilation. She adapted the American culture and left behind her Hispanic culture. She learned English, Mrs. Clasky took her shopping, and she was able to go to a private school. In the movie Crash, assimilation is seen through all the different people who have adopted the American lifestyle. One example for this is Farhad and Dorri. They are both Persian who still speak Persian, but they have learned to speak English and adopt American culture. I saw acculturation in Spanglish. Flor was the one who went through acculturation. She had a hard time adjusting to the new culture. She wanted to stay with her Hispanic culture, even though she moved to Los Angeles. Flor does not learn to speak English until near the end of the movie. I saw enculturation in Spanglish and Crash. In Spanglish, Cristina finds enculturation. At the end of the movie, Cristina acknowledges that her life rest firmly on the fact that she is her mother’s daughter. I want to believe that Cristina has become bicultural. She still has her American culture as well as going back to her Hispanic culture. In the movie Crash, Farhad and Dorri are both keeping their Persian culture and adapting to the American culture.

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.

I agree with you about the change in the culture. I think that many people left agriculture and moved into urban areas because of the lack of work on the farm. This was blamed on the falling off of agriculture products being sent to Europe after the war. The people moved into the urban areas and the American industrial economy was booming and the people had money like they never had in the past. So the culture of these people changed and they became buyers of the new products that were invented. Because they had money to spend, their lives

Philip DeVita and James Armstrong, the authors of this collection, decided to produce this work for the purpose of "understanding ourselves" (the title of the introductory remarks). They start by pointing out the remarkable freshness Alexis de Tocqueville's observation of America in the mid-19th century offered at the time. They note that concerns for understanding the "other" have always interested anthropologists. And this collection, as they argue, is an attempt to understand America as the "other" by looking at American culture, society, politics, intellectual traditions, and attitudes from the perspectives of outsiders.

In my opinion, American culture controls remaining parts of the world. It has a great impact in business system that is “......a new class of people who are generally well-educated, trained professionals in the business field, who have developed a kind of global common culture”. English is becoming the most commonly spoken language in the world. Several nations chose English as their second language due to the influence of America in global market. Influence in media also is a strong proof of the spread of American culture. TV broadcasting station like Cable News Network (CNN) is a representative example. The movie industry has a powerful effect to people worldwide. What people wear, eat and even they way people speak has been influenced by American culture. For instance, McDonal’s – a American food brand has millions of restaurant all over the

For an American, Asia is a distant land that is polluted, poor, and unmodern. For an American taking a business trip to Asia living amongst people with different values, a different culture, and a completely different life. For my dad this became reality. He had been given the chance to experience a small part of Asia through a business trip. However, for him this wasn’t just a business trip and yet not a vacation. This was the chance he was given to experience more of the world for himself instead of what other people or what the news told him. My dad is one of the most intelligent people I know both in school, in a career, and in life. He was valedictorian of his class at his Notre Dame high school and graduated from Clarkson with an

In America, the aspect of culture is deeply rooted into the society. The major elements of American culture are symbols, language, norms and the rituals. The elements of culture are maintained through a myriad of ways. Barbara Miller provides a deep evaluation of how this cultural elements are maintained in the society. From the anthropological point of view, the interaction between different components in the society are synchronised into their existence. Cultural components are an important feature of the society. Barbara Miller provides an overview on how the anthropological perspective can be used in social organizations. Anthropological perspectives could focus on several aspects mainly Holism, diffusionism and Evolutionism. Therefore the focus of this anthropological theories will be on social organizations in America and reasons for the existence of various social groups.

Although being family-oriented has always been a beneficial characteristic for me, it was both difficult and mundane to deal with my extended family during my earlier years. No one cared to ask for my opinion for anything because I was too little and in the Indian culture, it is a norm to do what the elders say. However, when I got older, I became more aware hence my thoughts changed and I started thinking more independently. Growing up, initially, it was tough to balance the American and Indian cultures because there were always high expectations and many of the elders were narrow minded, refusing to adapt to a new lifestyle and acknowledge cultural changes. There was something that would always contradict one another. Though,

STACEY: I’m Stacey Sparks, and I am talking with my sister-in-law, Angela Park. Angela was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1968 and immigrated to the United States when she was two years old. She and her family first lived in Detroit, Michigan. Angela, what were some of the major differences you felt between yourself and other kids when you started school?

There are numerous specific customs, traditions, beliefs, cultures, and heritages. The United States is an extremely diverse country and has a bunch of these different ways of life. We need to be able to understand and respect the particular beliefs of people.

America has been known to be a successful and free country. Through popular music, art, film and literature, we can discern that American identity is defined as being based on freedoms within the country, helping others and treating everyone as equals.

1. Family: What was the culture(s) (home culture) that you were exposed to as you were growing up? What food, music, and languages were you exposed to? Describe a few things that were important to you during this time in your life.