American Culture Research Papers Samples For Students

Superstitions in American culture

Superstitions refer to belief in magic and fear of the unknown, which leads individuals to adopt irrational behaviors. The influence of superstitions on individuals has remained strong throughout human history, but this influence has been declining with increased urbanization and education of the masses. The Halloween superstition reflects a fear of some power by human beings, which is beyond their understanding and control. However, some superstitions remain prevalent in American culture and other industrialized societies. During Halloween it is traditionally believed that it is a period that common myths, omens and folklore have more weight for the people who ...

American pulp fiction is iconic; it influenced the development of American culture for decades and maintains a lasting influence to this day in the form of comic books, movies, and current literature. Pulp fiction was printed on cheap pulp paper during the 1930s and 1940s, though they were first created in 1896, and was hugely successful because of the rising literacy rates of the American population and the cheapness and proliferation of the products themselves. Pulp fiction eventually lost its popularity during World War II when paper rationing affected the population and movies, television, comic books, and normal paperbacks ( ...

Introduction

Cultural memories, as well as cultural identity, are two closely related phenomena that are part of every cultural setting in the world, are assimilated amongst generations in unique ways. Cultural memory entails the elements (Stowe, 1982); both physical and virtual those are passed down generations and are a way of giving historical meanings or origins of certain cultures. Literary publications, such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, sought to change how cultural memory and cultural identity were perceived, regarding the African American culture.
Therefore, cultural memories occur in different forms. For example, an individual from a given culture may have ...

African-American culture had a significant impact on the formation of the cultural identity of the United States. Important role in the formation of the main aspects of African American culture played a religious representation of African Americans which began in the period of slavery in the United States. Today interracial relationships are treated not as a confrontation, but the interaction that should enrich the American culture. African-American culture itself is considered as a developing, unique and at the same time organically fit into the US culture. Spiritual culture of the Black people is the result of a complex development, ...

“The storm” by kate chopin

The character of Calixta is the protagonist or main character of the story although she appears to be visible only in a few of the pages in the novel. However, the main bulk of her character comes from her personal point of view about love and life. I have chosen the character of Calixta because of her mysterious character that was slowly revealed until the end of the story. Calixta’s character is interesting because there more to her than what meets the eye.
In the beginning, the audience perceives Calixta’s character to be ordinary in the sense ...

Abstract

When Invisible Man, the seminal novel by Ralph Ellison was published in 1953, it quickly established a reputation as one of the most important literary depictions of the struggles of African-Americans in the history of fiction. The central character, the titular ‘invisible man,’ struggles with a metaphorical invisibility that was endemic to the 20th-century attitudes of white hegemony toward African-Americans, and encapsulated the black experience as one of marginalization and oppression. These elements contribute greatly to manifesting a vision of black American life that expressly prevents blacks from achieving the same level of respectability and acceptance as whites, regardless ...

New In America.

The 1900s saw the advent of mass migration from Europe to America. Every day, Ellis Island, in New York, would be inundated with hundreds of migrants seeking a higher quality of life in the United States of America. This new country posed fantastic opportunities to gain a fresh start and hundreds tried to gain permission every day. This fascination began when between 1880 and 1890, 5.3 million immigrants had come to America’s shores; another 3.7 million arrived between 1890 and 1900: “By 1900, America’s population was about 76 million, double what it had been just thirty years earlier, and ...

Introduction

Discipline is said to be one of the methods that is supposed to instill the desired behavior in the child. The issue of discipline towards the children differs from one culture to another and the meaning attached to it also differs. The bottom line however is that all cultures agree on the importance of condemning bad behavior in the children. The difference is brought about by the differences that arise on the basis of the social environment as well as the rules and norms of the society. The following discussion shall focus on the differences between the approach of ...

Purnell’s Model for Cultural Competence

Introduction
The modern health care faces multiculturalism and diversity challenges that arise due to cultural differences of the health care professionals and among the clients. As such, various initiatives and strategies have become necessary to inculcate cultural sensitivity or competence among health care professionals. Healthcare organizations face the challenges pose by multicultural diversity as well as ethnic and racial disparities among the service providers (Campinha, 2011). Therefore, they are avidly adopting various strategies to address this issue. They develop statements, initiatives, and standards to encourage health care professionals to become culturally competent.
Purnell’s Model has been proposed for ...

Art refers to a broad range of human activities in the creation of visual, auditory and performing artifacts. Such activities might include, but not limited to music, poetry, literature and painting. They express the author’s technical or imaginative skill. The authors who partake in these acts often aim to get an appreciation for the beauty and attractiveness of their works or emotional prowess.
In general, art entails the production of artwork, history of art and its aesthetic dissemination. History enables lovers of art, and cultural studies understand how various artistic components came about. They learn about the philosophies ...

Buddhism has its origin in South Asia, but it crossed cultural and geographical boundaries to make its presence felt in Western nations. Buddhism marched towards North America in around 1860s with the arrival of Chinese immigrants. The spread of Buddhism in America is also attributed to Americans and Europeans who visited Asia in the late1800s. Undoubtedly, Buddhism has blossomed fast in American culture since then.
Nonetheless, the gulf between Buddhist converts and immigrants is one of the prominent features specific to North America. This gulf is riven by deep social, cultural and linguistic variations. It is the point where ...

Abstract

The Irish leadership perspective has a crucial role in its national life due to the impact Irish political leaders have in the economic life of the country. Understanding this national leadership characteristics significantly contributes to the national awareness of its strengths and weaknesses. Based on Hofstede’s leadership categorization model, the commonly held leadership characteristics can be described as small power distance, weakly uncertainty avoidant, collectivist, masculine, and long-term oriented. American leaders who want to engage Irish leaders and population will have to make adjustments in at least three dimensions of differences, namely, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and ...

Affiliated Institution

Introduction
In order to understand the cultural practices of other people and our own without being affected by ethnocentrism, we can use the guideline of cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is about understanding the cultural practices of other cultures by examining them from the contexts of those who practice them. Similarly, we can understand our cultural practices better by examining them from the context of others or outsiders. Ethnocentrism pushes a person to perceive his/her culture as superior to others, making it difficult to understand other cultures. This also makes it difficult to understand another culture from an emic perspective ...

In the late nineteenth century, America went through a time of progress that was later dubbed the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age is known as a time of economic prosperity, industrial advancement, and population growth. However, the era included many dark times that are masked under the guise of progress and prosperity. The economy took a downward spiral, discrimination was rampant, and corrupt politicians worked with wealthy businessmen to concentrate the country’s wealth in a small population of people. Despite the tough circumstances that were caused by a boom in population growth, immigrants remained a large portion of ...

Most would respond with a jeremiad of grief if a loved one, especially a child, was afflicted with hearing impairment. One could argue that the general population has been afflicted with an acute perception of what it means to be deaf and, therefore, often respond to it with condescension, deliberately or unwittingly. The latter response being the norm, most of society is not aware that there is an aggregate culture of people who are fully functional and completely capable of achieving the same goals and dreams that a person who is not hearing-impaired can. Moreover, the notion of the ...

Surfing, which originated from pacific islands,
had a significant and lasting impact on American Culture.

“It's all about where your mind's at.”

~ Kelly Slater

It is definitely an incontestable fact that surfing has a significant and lasting influence upon the American culture in all its manifestations. Surfing was initially an integral part of the Polynesian culture, and later was adopted by the European settlers, who arrived to the Pacific Islands. Hawaii, Florida and California are considered to be the most vivid representatives of the surf culture and true examples of how surfing has influenced the American culture. Mark Twain, one ...

Executive Summary

This section looks into the inception of Disney Store in South Korea, which is the country of interest. Disney Store is a retail outlet that specializes in sales of merchandise that are unique to Disney. Disney Store traces its roots back in 1987, in Glendale, California. A country analysis of South Korea was done with detailed information being noted as far as population, GDP, per capita income, aesthetics, political system, legal system and the living conditions in the country just to name a few of the areas tackled. This was followed by an economic analysis of South Korea where ...

Roadhouse

Literature Review
In older reviews, professional critics believed that the plot and the acting in the movie were simply unbearable. The biggest issue is that the ailing plot line, established early on and never fully developed, is just too campy and lackluster. Professional critics went on to state that Road House suffered largely for its bad acting, which is considered juvenile and not worthy of cinema. In an article published by Caryn James (1989) the author focuses largely on the plot of the movie as his target. He went on to state that the star of Road House, Patrick ...

The history of the relationship between Cuba and the United States was rich and strong until 1959 when Fidel Castro took over power and created a Communist government on the island. Due to this, relations between the United States and Cuba was strained and it has been uneasy since the 1960s. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze and review the relations between Cuba and the United States and the cultural features and elements of the two nations in this process of transition.

Research Methodology

This research is done on the basis of secondary research with an interview with ...

Islamophobia

Conclusion and Recommendations10
Work Cited .11
Islamophobia

Introduction

Targeting a certain population or set of people in the world and stereotyping them and discriminating against them is not a new phenomenon as it has been around since a long time. People and nations that have been in power, always find a way to maintain their hegemony and keep their interests and benefits alive. In the same way, different people, creeds, nations and ethnicities have been discriminated against in light of the prejudices harbored by influential people. These can spread and affect the views of other people in the same way ...

Research into the Characters, Story, and Music of Guys and Dolls

The musical Guys and Dolls first premiered on Broadway in 1950; it ran for more than 1,200 performances (Liukkonen). The characters and much of the story of the musical were originally created by Damon Runyon in his work “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown.” Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling adapted the characters and story from Runyon’s writings into musical form (Liukkonen).

This play’s characteristic nature that makes it very different from other plays is that it generates its characters’ traits and story from music and this is why it is called a musical. Though criticized for going ...