Compare And Contrast The Cultural Universals Of North American Culture

Do you know what makes a culture unique? All cultures are identified by their cultural universals. Unity in Diversity defines cultural universals as, "all of the behavior patterns and institutions that have been found in all known cultures." Each culture holds their own identity by the way they behave and what they believe. Northerners and Southerners of North America differ in hometowns, eating styles, and ways of communication.
Northern and Southern people grown up in different types of hometowns. Those who grow up in the north live in more urban areas. Up north is more urban due to the big cities such as New York, Boston, and Chicago. Northern people have more busy and crowded streets, tall buildings, and everything is close together. On the other side of America, you have the southern people who grow up in more rural areas. Different from urban areas these people have less cities and more farm land. Homes and towns are spaced further apart than the big cities up north, and the buildings are smaller. Part of being in a certain hometown is going to a
favorite restaurant nearby.
Culinary choices differ based on if someone is raised in the north or the south.
Northerners tend eat out at restaurants more. For example, people in New York City are always around restaurants so it is easier to eat out. The price living is higher here, so people have more money for food and someone who is always out working tends to eat out as well. Contrary to northern folk, southerners tend to eat home more. Living on a farm makes it easier to grow and produce their own food. With these home-grown ingredients, people in the south tend to cook more meals at home. The price of living is lower than the north, so southerners eat out less often. Dishes vary between the two groups of people as well. Southerners eat grits while northerners do not. Northerners eat pastries for dessert while southerners bake pies. Just as recipes have different accents, these two groups of people have different accents when they
talk.
Northerners and Southerners communication styles are different. Northerners communicate with their hands and may talk a bit louder than some people. On the other hand, southerners talk softly and do not use their hands to communicate. Both groups also pronounce the same words differently. Words like dog, walk, mall, and so on are pronounced differently if spoken in the north or south. Going back to the example New York City, there are so many diverse cultures in one area. Because of this, different languages influence the accents of the northern people. Down south there are less diverse cultures that come together so they have less influences on the way they talk, thus pronouncing words differently. Northern people and southern people also have different slang that they use. Southern people say things like y’all while northern people say you guys. Northern kids call friend’s parents by their first names, and southern children call them using Mr. & Mrs. These two groups of people may communicate differently but they are all Americans
Families from the north and south have different lifestyles, culinary tastes, and different ways of talking to one another. Though these groups have differences, and one may identify with a side, there is never a need to judge each other. Both groups are human and both are American, whether they are southern or northern.