Cultural background summary

Cultural Background Summary

Cultural Background Summary
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines culture as the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon thecapacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations (2010). All cultures are unique, but many share similarities. Some cultural differences include a native language, themannerisms people use when communicating, and family values. On the other hand, some cultural similarities include the love for family, religion, and ethnic pride. My cultural background has molded the way Ilive my life. My Catholic parents were born in Ecuador and instilled in me the love for God, the significance of higher education, the importance of open communication, the value of speaking Spanish,and that respect for others is indispensable. Additionally, my parents assured me that positive values and morals would be the key to a happy life. I always have sustained the values encouraged by myparents. Today, I am married with a child and will pass everything I learned to my daughter. Assimilation, acculturation, and a climate of pluralism have also played a role in molding my identity.Identity Molded by Assimilation
Assimilation refers to merging of groups and their traditions within a society that endorses a single common culture (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2003, p. 48). Althoughassimilation is allowing one's original culture to be overridden by the dominant culture, when the original culture is so deeply rooted it is out of the question, at least to my parents. My parentsassimilated to the United States society, more specific, to the Los Angeles way of life, but never allowed their ethnic heritage to be uprooted, discarded, or superseded by the exposure to the larger dominantNorth American culture of the early 1970s. To communicate successfully both my parents had to learn the English language, North American traditions, and customs. After learning the language, my...