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Social class and social status
Social class and social status
Social class and social status
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Living during a period of great technological advancements, our society has been able to learn so much about other countries and their cultures with a simple tap of a finger. Cultures little quirks can be can be classified as common knowledge these days. Some of them even appear in movies and in turn watched nationally, and globally. Also, since so many people are moving to the Americas, we think all people of that culture live the same way when we see them on the street, or in the store. Cultural knowledge has been prodded so much that we think we know how people live all around the world. It has gone to the extent that when we meet someone from other countries it is no longer a shock to us. Except for an accent, we think they are the same …show more content…
However, once I got to high school I pushed that thought out of my head because of the exchange student program. The program allows students from all over the world to spend a year in America and experience our culture. Meeting these students year after year, I never really thought other cultures were extremely different. Most of the students played the same sports we did, wore the same brand of clothes and had the same phones as us. The only major difference I found after speaking to these students was that our school system was different. They put a lot more time into their schooling whereas Americans just go through the motions. However, after all these years there was one factor I never considered that might skew my whole cultural perspective, money. These students knew English well and had all the top quality items because they were usually the considered the rich of their country. So therefore, I have never really submerged myself in different cultures, and I didn 't realize that until this …show more content…
I remember thinking "This will be easy. It 's just going to be like the exchange students at school." As I got dipped into the cultural shock the next day, those feelings were impugned. These girls, who were mostly from China, could barely speak English, let alone understand what I was articulating. Most days, they would speak only Chinese around the kitchen and I would be left there like a foreigner in my own country. The more acquainted we became, I found out how they contrasted the exchange students I have met at school. These young ladies, who were mostly aged at 20, had never worked a job in their life, in turn giving them a scanty work ethic. They only strived at the menial duties given to them but yet they were still considered the middle class of their country. I was so used to the exchange students at school who worked hard in class and were always giving it their best, not the total opposite. They were utterly shocked, when they found out that I, who is three or four years younger than them had two jobs. As I saw them around when they were off duty, they would be wearing lowly clothing, not the same ensemble as I was, and as we worked side by side, you could tell we were from totally different
No one likes to be in the spotlight, or how about labeled “different”? Based off of how you dress, things you like, views on economics, or maybe a specific dress, but how about culturally? What about those who come to America to have a better life, thinking things are going to work out perfectly, but not see the reality of how Americans may treat you? I mean culture is basically cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. So why do we judge one another because of it? Being culturally
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 scene is described shows in some way her perception of what Americans are. Among their several qualities, she distinguished the idolization of achievers and their lives based on a theocentric society.
Oftentimes the children of immigrants to the United States lose the sense of cultural background in which their parents had tried so desperately to instill within them. According to Walter Shear, “It is an unseen terror that runs through both the distinct social spectrum experienced by the mothers in China and the lack of such social definition in the daughters’ lives.” This “unseen terror” is portrayed in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club as four Chinese women and their American-born daughters struggle to understand one another’s culture and values. The second-generation women in The Joy Luck Club prove to lose their sense of Chinese values, becoming Americanized.
middle of paper ... ... It seems our culture is a mixture of many cultures and is uniquely American, even with all the conflict to resist incorporating the many cultures. Many cultures have managed to retain part of their cultural identity and blend in with the dominant culture; Merriam Webster defines this as acculturation. Benjamin Disraeli, a British Statesman in the late 19th century, may well have referred to America when he stated; “In a progressive country change is constant; change is inevitable.”
I’m currently enrolled in Montgomery College, located in Maryland. Montgomery College is a community college. Community colleges are different in comparison to four-year universities. I had a choice of either getting a job or going to college. There are many reasons why I choose to go to Montgomery College. I chose to go to college because I want to pursue a degree in Psychology. When choosing a college, there are a lot of decisions to make and you have to choose what’s best in your interest. In today’s society, community colleges take up a lot of the students going to pursue their education. President Obama has proposed to make all community colleges free for all Americans and I agree with this statement. People have different perspectives
The America that we know today is filled with cultural influences, whether we realize it or not. Things such as food and entertainment are major contributers to our daily lives. Many of the dishes that we eat are that of Italian or Mexican origin. Many of the t.v. and music icons of today are British or Asian. For example, Adele has made her singing career quite a success in America though she is from England. If we did not have any cultural diversity, we would miss out on what the rest of the world has to offer us.
This cultural phenomenon is what Mary Louise Pratt has termed the “contact zone” which refers to the “social spaces where cultures meet, clash and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power such as colonialism, slavery or other aftermaths as they are lived out in many parts of the world.” (Pratt 34) I believe what Pratt is referring to is the situation that is created when two completely distinct cultures, which operate on totally different levels, attempt to interact. Each culture brings with them their own values and traditions that the other culture may not entirely understand. This can often lead to confusion, misunderstandings, or sometimes worse.
The Honors Program is less about reward and more about the push for personal growth for myself. The last four years have shown to be a challenge, from being the first year student in Pre-calculus to being the junior who is aiming for a five on the AP test. I came from having mostly A’s, with few B’s, to being the student who earned A’s in every class. Personal motivation led me to this achievement. The Honors Program at CSU looks like a program to help me continue my journey of gaining knowledge. Being a member of this program would give my motivation to continue to strive for those higher grades. It is in my interest to be in this program to keep my performance in classes at the upper level. This program would allow me to focus on academics and strive for the best grades personally possible.
No human being is culture free. We are a product of the many different cultures which surround us. Our values, worldview and experiences are structured by the society and culture that exert influences on our lives each day.
We create bias toward our culture and form an idea that one's own culture is the main standard to evaluate another group leading to view. They make the measuring stick. This means that people believe and feel in the superiority of one's own ethnic culture over other cultures. This behavior is known as ethnocentrism. This concept was created amongst different nations earlier than cultural relativism, which has to be devised to counter ethnocentrism.
When one encounters a culture that has little in common with own, one may experience culture shock. This is a sense of confusion, anxiety, stress and loss one may experience. One of the barriers in effective intercultural communication is ethnocentrism. It stems from a conviction that one’s own cultural traditions and assumptions are superior to those of others. It leads to a tendency to look the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. It is one of the fastest ways to create a barrier that inhibits, rather than enhances communication (Jandt, 2012).
IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. An IEP is a written document required for each child who is eligible to receive special education services. It is provided to a student who has been determined first to have a disability, and second, to need special education services because of that disability. An IEP is very important and should never be overlooked by anyone. The purpose of an IEP is to make sure that only students whose educational performance is affected by a disability receive special services. An individual program plan is designed to make sure that students get the kind of educational experience that they deserve; an experience that results in success. The end goals for students who are on an IEP are to be involved in
Furthermore, lack of Cultural sensitivity occurs when people generalize the idea that “we are more the same than different” or that a common culture is shared by all races, religious groups, or ethnic groups. Not p...
We can learn from other cultures, but we have to respect their differences. I think in today society, people are stereotyped based on their race and social class because we automatically judge another person without knowing them and assume they are a certain way.
Culture, what is it exactly? Many people believe that your culture defines who you are as a person, as well as in society. When in retrospect, culture is something that you have no control over. You are brought up in a certain way that your family has been brought up for generations. No amount of schooling or experience, can help shape or control who you really are as a person. Sure, in your lifetime you can see extraordinary things that might change your view or opinion on certain subjects, but overall, your culture is what defines you. For many people, it is strange and weird to see something out of the ordinary when it comes to doing thing different. For example, what some might consider to be an insult, others might see it as common courtesy. What type of foods that might be deemed as foul and disgusting in one culture, might be seen as an everyday source of nutrition for another. Culture is a part of who we are, and what we believe in, even if sometimes it seems a little crazy. I believe that is comes down to two main things when dealing with culture. One is how you were raised in this world. Two, your religious side or background, and three how it all ties you together as the person you are.