Randy Rodriguez 04.12.

11 Soc100 Assignment 1 Strayer University

Abstract:

Take the culture that is best associated with your family's history and briefly discuss the five basic cultural components: Values, Beliefs, Norms, Symbols, and Language. How is the culture that you have identified different from what you feel is the dominant culture of the United States?

Cultural Components

What are cultural components? According to our text the cultural components consist of five major parts: symbols, language, values and beliefs, norms and material culture including technology. Now what does that mean to us? Symbols are anything that carries a particular meaning by people who share a culture. Language is what people use to communicate with one another. Values and beliefs are standards that people follow that serve as guidelines for living. Norms are rules and expectations a society uses to guide its members. Finally material culture and technology allow us to adapt to our surrounding and improve our way of life. Growing up as a kid in New York City and being from the Dominican Republic instilled a sense of pride. In my culture we are groomed to be full-fledged representatives of our country. Our culture is very strong and we believe in our core values. Every Hispanic I have come across has certain traits that are more pronounced but the one thing we all have in common is that we are proud of our countries and are not shy to express that pride we share. As little kids we are instilled with principles that set us apart from other cultures, strong and proud of our country and what it represents. As an American and former member of our Armed forces I have been exposed to many cultures by either visiting various countries or by the people I interact with. Every culture has a component they hold dear. In the US I have noticed that they are very symbolic they hold

objects and people in high esteem, but so does every country. As Americans we all hold our flag holy as it represents freedom giving us pride in what we have done and accomplished in the past. Another aspect that sets us apart is our language. As Hispanics we all speak a certain way, each country has its terminology native to its people. Even though we are all of Hispanic descent it doesnt necessarily mean we will be able to perfectly understand each other. Our language sets us apart because it helps define ourselves as a culture letting us separate ourselves from others. Many countries speak the universal language which is English not giving them much to make them unique from others. Being exposed to many cultures I havent seen too many cultures that heavily rely on symbols. Certain countries have symbols that are significant to them but I think symbols were more for the earlier forms of culture. Actually many different religion hold scared certain objects for example the catholic church holds many of their statues in high regard and many other religions do the same the hold objects that hold meaning to them to help keep their faith. Every country has their symbols one symbol I know the US holds in high regard is our flag it has significant value to us as it represents freedom and what we have fought so hard to obtain. Comparing the different components of culture I feel that the United States is very similar to the other cultures around it. Different cultures dont necessarily mean they cant have the same focuses. In the United States we are very proud of our country and what we have accomplished to get to where we are today and our pride shows it. Many cultures migrate to the United States because of how much pride we have in our country. To narrow down one dominant feature in our country will be hard we all hold many things sacred in this country our language, values and symbols. If I were to have to pick one I think our country is full of symbols that help remind us

of what we have accomplished and to help people not forget our wall of fallen heroes in DC is one of those sacred things one cant help but to remember. Our country has adapted symbols to help us remember how far we have come and honestly I wouldnt have it any other way.

References

Macionis, J. J. (2008). SOC100: Sociology: 2009 custom edition (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Cultural components . (ND). Retrieved from h t t p : / / w w w . a d v o c a t e s f o r yo u t h . o r g / c o m p o n e n t / c o n t e n t / 5 0 3 ? t a s k = v i e w