American culture

AMERICAN WAYS
AN INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN CULTURE
THIRD EDITION

Maryanne Kearny Datesman
JoAnn Crandall
Edward N. Kearny

What is “culture?” There are many definitions. Some would defineit as the art, literature, and music of a people, their architecture, history, religion, and traditions. Others might focus more on the customs and specific behavior of a people. We have chosen touse a sociological definition of culture as the way of life of a group of people, developed over time and passed down from generation to generation. This broad definition includes every aspect ofhuman life and interaction. However, it would be impossible to cover every facet of American culture in a single book. We have, therefore, taken a values approach to our discussion, focusing on thetraditional mainstream values that have attracted people to the United States for more than two hundred years. After explaining how these traditional values developed, we will trace how they influencevarious aspects of American life.
Why a book on American culture? There are many reasons. Those of us who have worked with foreign students in American universities or who have taught English tostudents both here and overseas repeatedly encounter questions about life in the United States. These students are frequently confused or even mystified about American values, attitudes, and culturalpatterns. Even those students who have mastered enough English to take courses in an American university often find that they do not understand the cultural rules well enough to be successful asstudents. Many of these rules can be understood only within the broader context on American cultural patterns.
What do we really learn when we study other cultures? First and foremost, we learn aboutour own. Until we are confronted by a different way of doing things, we assume that everyone does things the same way that we do, and thus our own culture—our values, attitudes, behavior—is largely...