American Popular Cultural

American Popular CulturalAs we all know, America is the most developed country in the world. It is a really amazing thing that one country can develop so fast in 200 years and become the most developed and the biggest country in the world. So there must be some unique culture in this amazing land which is different from the culture of China.I did know these two cultures are different before, but I can’t tell difference in detail. Now, I know they are different in the policy, the customs, the festivals, the food, the mode of thinking, habits and so on. Through this course my knowledge of American culture has been more comprehensive.American and Chinese cultures in the responses for compliments are at polar opposites. An American responds for compliments, is likely to say, “Oh, thank you.” And a Chinese would say “nothing” or “just so-so.” This phenomenon maybe because two different values of two countries. The Chinese take pride in “modesty”; the Americans in “straight forwardness”.Americans advocate individualism while Chinese advocate collectivism. For example, American parents seldom interfere their children’s development ，and they respect their children’s privacy. Americans prefer to do something by themselves while Chinese prefer cooperation.In a word, there are lots of difference between American culture and Chinese culture. American culture is very unique although it has only over 200 years’ history.Why American culture is unique? Why there are a lot of difference between American culture and Chinese culture? As a Chinese, I think we can understand what make up of our culture. They are our long time history, Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, Chinese customs and so on. But what made American culture unique? In my opinion, there are several factors.The first factor is rough environment. The early immigrants who were English Puritans settled down in northeast part of American. The environment there was very rough but they believed the poor land could purify their mind so they chose the place along the coast. From 1607 to 1892, frontiers were pushed further west. The American frontier consisted of the relatively unsettled regions of the United States, usually found in the western part of the country. The frontiersmen looked for a land of rich resources and a land of promise, opportunity and freedom. Actually they looked for a better life. So individualism, self-reliance, and equality of opportunity have perhaps been the values most closely associated with the frontier heritage of American.The second factor is ethnic diversity. The population of the United States includes a large variety of ethnic groups coming from many races, nationalities, and religions. In history, people from different countries in the world rushed to America three times. They brought their own culture to America and later on different cultures were mixed together. Thus the unique American culture is formed, a common cultural life with commonly shared values.The third factor is plural religion. The fundamental American belief in individual freedom and the right of individuals to practice their own religion is at the center of religious experience in the United States. Christianity is the dominant religion in American ，and Protestant is predominate. Any individuals are equal before God and they believe they can communicate directly to God so they can share the same idea. Under the protestant, many new ones are formed and different explanations produce different sect of religion. Churches are independent and American religion is no longer religion seculars. The institution permits the practice of religion and the political power is separate form religion. So there are more religions in American than in other countries.The last but not the least is current influence. Nowadays, we can see the continual influence of the three elements in the current American society. American family is typically parents and their unmarried children. Middle-aged and elderly people generally do not live with their married children. Many Americans live in mobile homes whose homes are built with wheels. They can be moved. The people in American have a very strong desire to start a new life in a new place. Quite a number of people change residences every year. The average American moves fourteen times in his lifetime. The courage to try something new has been an American characteristic. American democracy means majority rule, but it also means protection of minority rights. There are certain freedoms which the United States promises to all its citizens and members of minority group cannot be denied these rights by a vote of the majority. Americans also like to be involved in many challenge activities and sports to show their adventurous spirits. All of these are affected by the heritage of the American history.From the facts above, we can see American culture is unique which was cultivated, formed and developed by the main three factors, rough environment, ethnic diversity and plural religion and still is affected and determined by them now.。