Một số câu hỏi ôn tập môn - American Culture

1. 1. The 6 basic traditional American values.
The majority of children in US have private room when they were born. And parents have to
knock the door if they want to come into their children’s room. It is one of 6 basic values.
Individual freedom: In America, parents can not come to their children’s room if their children
do not allow. One of important came why people want to settle on American is the belief that
everyone has a change to success which is hard to be happen in some other countries. In
American, they have equal opportunities to live, to race with others. And in Ameica, they would
not have to live among noble families who possessed great power and wealth. Beside that,
people want to immigrate to America because of its credibly abundant natural resources. Many
of immigration achieved material success and many became very attached to material things.
Material wealth became a value to the American people. Next, the fourth value is self-aliance.
Americans believe they should take care of themselves, solve their own problems and stand on
their own feet. Then because American have equality in opportunities, so that they also have
equal change in compotion. And American often compete to improve themselves and learn
experiment from others. And finally, most American believe in the value of hard work they
believe that people should hold jobs and not live off welfare payment from the government.
6. What is E PLURIBUS UNUM?
The motto E Pluribus Unum was first proposed by the U.S. Continental Congress in 1782, for use
on the Great Seal of the United States.
The immediate inspiration for the use of this term is generally believed to be Gentlemen's
Magazine, which was an important men's magazine published in England beginning in the early
18th century.
It was a very influential magazine among the intellectual elite(thanhphan tri thuc).
Every year, Gentlemen's Magazine would do a special issue, comprised of the best of the year's
articles, and the Latin term "E Pluribus Unum" appeared on the title page as a way of explaining
that this issue of the magazine became "one issue from many previous issues."
Facts: E pluribus unum was officially replaced as the motto of the U.S. when, in 1956, Congress
passed an act making “In God We Trust” the official motto.
The Melting Pot (the nation of nations): focuses on the many subcultures with different ethnic
and racial groups, each group brought the own distinct culture when it immigrated to US.
The multiculturalists is seen as the metaphor of the patchwork quilt. It is appropriate in that the
multiculturalists see the US as a mosaic of separate, autonomous subculture.

2. 3. The feature of culture
There are some seven of the important characteristic of culture:
Culture is learned: culture isn’t inherited biologically but it is learnt socially by man from the
association of others ex eating,drinking, walking..
Culture is shared: culture is something shared. It is nothing that an individual can possess. Ex
traditionm ideas, values,,culture is shares by people of a group or society.
Culture is patterns: Cultures, though related in some patterns, also possess patterns of
uniqueness. Cultures, in order to be understood, need to be done so in their own unique
context.
Mutually constructed: through a constant process of social interaction
Arbitrary: it dont base on: natural laws external to humans but created by humansaccordings to
the whims of the society
Symbolic: culture,language and thought are based on symbol and symbolic meaning
Internalizes: habitual. Taken for granted .perceived as nutural.
AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS
American culture contains a number of ideals and values shown through individual freedom
and way of life.
First, today, Americans tend to define liberty as individual freedom for people to do what they
want. They also believe that liberty is essential to personal fulfillment and happiness.
Nevertheless, liberty must be restrained on some levels in order to create a establish society. A
widely accepted principle of freedom is that we are free to do whatever we want as long as we
do not affect others’ freedom. Everyone is equally born with certain unalienable rights of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Americans appreciate individualism and respect others
making independent choices. The best example is the eagle on American flag as an honor
symbol of freedom in the United States.
Second, American way of life refers to a national culture that complies the principles of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The American way of life is individualistic, dynamic, and
pragmatic. It confirms value and dignity of the individual, and stresses incessant activity on
personal themselves. They are always striving to “keep moving forward” which defines an ethic
of self-reliance, merit, and character, and also judges by achieving deeds what are countable.
Moreover, the American way of life is humanitarian and optimistic. Americans believe in
progress, self-improvement, and education. But above all, the American is idealistic, they tend
to be moralistic. They likely see all issues as plain and simple, black and white, issues of
morality. For example, American friendship is typified by warmth, informality, and other signs
of acceptance. Individual freedom and way of life are parts of shaping American culture, also
American characteristics.

3. SIX BASIC TRADITIONAL AMERICAN VALUES
The United States has long been known as a nation of immigrants coming from all over the
world. They have nurtured a set of values which formed six traditional basic American values –
individual freedom, equality of opportunity, material wealth, self-reliance, competition and
hard work.
Two first values are individual freedom and self-reliance. Many people came to America to seek
for freedom, getting free from the controls, persecution, and religious and political restraints
that existed in their countries. Consequently, that greatly influenced the forming of the value of
individual freedom. Moreover, there is a price to be paid for the value: self-reliance. In another
word, the aim of the value of self-reliance is to maintain individual freedom.
Two next values are equality of opportunity and competition. The U.S has no such rank in the
areas of society, economy, race or religion. Equality of opportunity means that everyone will be
treated equally to get success. The opportunity is the chance that anyone must take an equal
competition to be successful by their own talents, not the one for them do cheating.
Two last values are material wealth and hard work. With the expectation to become wealthy,
many people immigrated to America with its large size of land. Traditionally, Americans have
sought to realize the dream of success, fame and wealth through thrift and hard work. Owing to
the success of the early settlers, the value of hard working gradually roots in the hearts of the
Americans.
These six traditional basic American values – individual freedom, equality of opportunity,
material wealth, self-reliance, competition and hard work are the ethics of the American
heritage, and these values have led the U.S to be a world power.

4. FORCES THAT SHAPED THE AMERICAN CULTURE
American culture was shaped by these five forces – imported traditions, American voice,
immigration and diversity, mass media, and consumerism.
The first force is imported traditions. The U.S was considered as cultural provincial and its arts
of painting and literature which artists often took their cues from Europe and started seeking
items from China and Japan in the 19th century.
Second is the emergence of American voice. It first developed during the 19th century through
literature, poetry, and paintings. They often spoke about American freedom, diversity, and
connected to natural sources.
Third are immigration and diversity. People came to America from all over the world. Different
immigrants create different cultures in a country. That makes a greatly diverse culture in areas
of customs, races, religions, languages, etc.
Fourth is the development of mass media. Before the 20th century, there was the appearance
of newspaper, cinema and phonograph, radio, and music. After that, there were television,
magazines, and Internet. All mass media have influenced in the inspiration of fashion, the
foundation of entertainment industry and devices, etc.
The last force is the impact of consumerism. Popular culture is linked to the growth of
consumerism, and a variety of goods and services. Therefore, the production of goods has
allowed people to live more comfortably.
Thanks to these five forces, it has greatly contributed the American culture.

5. EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
The United States has one of the most extensive and diverse educational system in the world.
Education in the U.S is compulsory until a certain age or grade level, starting from age five and
ending about ages sixteen and eighteen, depending on the state.
Education is provided by both public and private schools. Public schools provide free education
for students in local area, with control and funding coming from the state and federal
government. Most students in the U.S attend public schools, a small percentage of students
attend private schools which charge a fee for attendance.
They are often governed by a private board. In most schools, education is divided into three
levels: elementary school, middle or junior school and high school.
First, basic subjects are taught at elementary school, and students often remain in one
classroom, except for physical education, library, music and art classes.
Second, at middle or junior school, students are given more independence, learning different
subjects in different classrooms, and being allowed to choose their class subjects.
Third, at high school, students are required a certain number of mandatory subjects such as
Science, Social Science, Mathematics, English and Physical Education.
However, there is no nationwide curriculum and examinations set by the federal government.
State governments set curriculum and standardized tests for public schools while private
schools are generally free to determine their curriculum and staffing policies, with accreditation
through regional authorities.
Final, after finishing secondary education (level of middle or junior and high school), students
continue higher education at college, or university. Years of study depend on which schools and
study programs students attend. Thanks to its great variety, educational system is fundamental
to American culture. It is the best way for students and people to define objectives for the
future.

6. In dealing with immigration groups and their cultures, there are essentially four approach:
+ Monoculturalism: In some European states, culture is very closely linked to nationalism, thus
government policy is to assimilate immigrant, although recent increases in migration have led
many European states to experiment with form of multiculturalism.
+Leitkultur: A model developed in Germany by Bassam Tibi. The idea is that minorities can have
an identify of their own, but they should at least support the core concepts of the culture on
which the society on which the society is based.
+Melting Pot: In the US, the traditional view has been one of a melting pot where all the
immigration cultures are mixed and amalgamated without state intervention.
+ Multiculturalism: A policy that immigrants and others should perverse their cultures with the
different cultures interacting peacefully within one nation.
The way nation state treat immigration cultures rarely falls neatly into one or another of the
above approachs.