Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Today, in the United States as in other countries populated largely by immigrants, the culture is influenced by the many groups of people that now make up the country.
* Culture refers to the 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.
* Culture is the systems ...view middle of the document...
· Extended family: Several generations living in one household, working and living together: grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins. Respect for elders is strong.
· Social classes: rank people in order of status, depending on what is important to the culture (money, job, education, ancestry, etc.)
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
· Rules of Behavior are enforced ideas of right and wrong. They can be customs, traditions, rules, or written laws.
· Answers basic questions about the meaning of life.
· Supports values that groups of people feel are important.
· Religion is often a source of conflict between cultures.
· Monotheism is a belief in one god.
· Polytheism is a belief in many gods.
· Atheism is a belief in no gods.
· Language is the cornerstone of culture.
· All cultures have a spoken language (even if there are no developed forms of writing).
· People who speak the same language often share the same culture.
· Many societies include a large number of people who speak different languages.
· Each language can have several different dialects.
ARTS AND LITERATURE
· They are the products of the human imagination.