Preview

Chinese vs American Culture Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
828 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Chinese vs American Culture Essay Example
Sarah Gonzalez

Chinese Culture VS American Culture
It doesn’t matter what kind of ethnicity you are, or how you were brought up. Everyone is deeply rooted in their own culture. “Culture” has a different meaning to everyone. Comparing American culture to Chinese culture we will find many different meanings to the word “culture”. For example, we Americans are always looking for something bigger and better for our future, and the Chinese are content with a small reserved lifestyle with no intentions of changing it for something bigger. A culture is a way of life of a group of people-the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.
Growing up in America we are taught to never settle for less, that we can do anything that we set our minds too, and when we grow up we can be anyone we want to be. After all we are the “home of the brave and the land of the free”, right? The Chinese are more set on if you are a girl you are too be the homemaker, and the men are too make the money doing physical labor. The story “I Answer to Elaine” concluded it all perfectly to me. “She continued to sign Father’s name. I threatened legal action: “That’s forgery! It’s not your name”. [Example from I Answer to Elaine] This shows that the Chinese believe that the men are dominate, head of the household, the only say so. In the American home mom and dad have a shared liability for the children and both set of parents go out into the work force. “A deep frustration set in. I was sickened by her statement’s implication for my future. I hated helplessness, believing it unique to her alone” [Example from I Answer to Elaine]. I feel like Elaine is frustrated with her mom because she knows because of her gender her mom doesn’t expect mush out of her other than to be a care giver. This has to be confusing to Elaine when she sees all over her American friends

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Culture is the way you live your life, the way you exist, the way you survive. It is the area that you live in, the cuisine that you consume, the clothes that you dress in, the dialect that you dictate, the way you commemorate special occasions and the way you worship and believe in a religion.…

    • 2055 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The girl in China is (and likely always will be) living in a way oddly reminiscent of Ancient China. Although the nation as a whole has evolved remarkably throughout the past 4000 years, many centuries old customs and traditions have withstood the test of time and are still visible in modern China. Contrastingly, the old traditions and standards of the United States show little resemblance to what the country has become. Many of the ideals that founded this country just a few hundred years ago have since disintegrated. The underlying point is this: China is a country whose current customs and beliefs are deeply rooted in its ancient history, while the United States has customs and…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Culture is past down from generation to generation it greatly defines who the person and is and how the see and view things differently from other people in different cultures Every culture sees things differently, they all have a different perspective or a point of view that makes things abnormal to them.Culture tremendously impacts/influences the way they see others and the world.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Spread Of Culture Essay

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    First of all, culture is the total of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors shared by and passed on by the members of a specific group. It involves things like food, shelter, religion, security/protection, education, creative expressions, language, relationships to family and others, and political and social organization. Some people would say that culture acts kind of like a blueprint for things like how a person should act to fit in with a group. It ties everyone together into one group while separating them from other groups. Culture includes all products of human work and thought and helps us solve some problems that everyone faces.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. America is made up af tons of different cultures, this is caused by all the people who have immigrated to America over the years. Because of this the U.S. is also very Diverse. Diversity is a variety of different things or in this case races. It is important to learn about these different cultures and ethnic groups. This is because the more we understand of their culture the more we get the way they act. We should always treat people who are different than us with respect. This is important no matter how weird you might think there life style is.…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For example, soccer is a vital aspect of our lives in the West Indies and South America. Cultures in those areas revolve around it. However, it does not mean much for an American, Chinese, or Indian Just like, kung fu, or karate may not mean much for South Americans or West Indians. Culture influences our tastes in things and our customs, which in turn affects our identity. Churches, schools, music, and foods form the basis of culture. However, every culture has its own customs and lifestyles. For example, a Haitian boy does not pee like an American boy. An American boy usually faces up and whistles, while a Haitian boy faces down and spits at the end. Also, unlike other ethnicities, Japanese do not take cold water or juice after a meal, but a drink hot beverage. Further, Africans, muslims, Indians dress differently, from their shoes to their jewelry. Just like everyone is a part of a different culture, everyone has their own identity. Culture influences what we love, how we bring about ourselves, and why we do the things we do. It is a part of the foundation of our…

    • 2042 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Today's world is slowly developing one global culture. Countries share elements of their cultures with one another, and groups of people grow to understand one another better. The United States of America is a great example of a country whose culture is comprised of bits and pieces of many other cultures. One culture in particular that has had an effect on many Americans is the Chinese culture. China's long history has seen some extremely important inventions emerge, most noticeably gunpowder, paper making, compass, and silk.…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Culture is an important and vital component that defines who and what we are as a person. We interface with cultural difference on a daily basis. So what exactly is culture? Good Question! I will attempt to identify my own cultural and explain what cultural means to me. So, lets start by defining the term culture. “Culture is a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.”. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2015) My cultural identity consists of several parts. I am most foremost a female that has a variety of racial genetic makeup of African-American, Native American, and European descent. I was raised in a Christian religious household and in a primarily single parent home. I have a sister and a half brother on my father’s…

    • 1909 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Japanese American Culture

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How is culture defined? You may think culture is based off of your heritage and background, family traditions, or the accent you have when you speak. However, this is not necessarily the case. Culture has much more to do with what you identify with, what you have grown up around, and what experiences you have encountered in your life. You may look Asian on the outside, but you were only born there and have very little knowledge of the daily life typical Asians live in because you moved to America when you were 2 years old. In this case, you may identify more with American culture and consider yourself to feel more like an American than anything else. Because a lot of Americans feel this way regardless of their family's heritage, it is…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Culture is a learned system of a way of thinking and behavior that belong to and symbolizes a group of people; it is the combination of their shared beliefs, values and practice. Just as we…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Our society, in the United States, is made up of people from many different culturally diverse backgrounds. Culture includes both dominant and minority groups. A dominant group is the group within a country or society that has the most authority to control values and sanctions of the society, and in the United States it is composed of white middle-class people. According with Taylor, Lillis, LeMone and Lynn (2008), some of the values of our society include the following: “youth and beauty, success and achievement, independence and self-reliance, technology, duty and conscience”(p. 56). In contrast, one of the oldest cultures in the world, China has different values: high respect for age, strong sense of self-respect and self-control, strong emphasis on…

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socioeconomic Status

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages

    It is what makes us what we are. Culture has a great doing in shaping our lives; it makes us do things that separate us from each other. Culture influences a human being from the moment they are born. The way we eat, the way we dress, the way we talk, the way we act is all got to do with our culture. Culture is a way of living, it can affect humans in a positive and negative way, for example, a positive way would be that when you are a guest at a house, people treat you with respect; a negative way is that it would be looked down on if you take advantage of something that they have or even look like you are. It effects our development and growth by teaching us what to do at certain times, which changes our personality completely and if we did not have culture, we would be completely different than what we are today, which could have its positive effects and its negative effects, if we didn't have culture, the positive effect would be that we would open up more, the negative effect is that we would be like wild animals. Your ethnicity on other hand is not the same as your culture. A culture can be made up of several different ethnic groups sharing the same attributes such as religion, language, national origin, and often share the same ancestors. For example, New York City is made up of numerous different ethnicities making up one culture. Without our ethnicity influences our development would not be…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is culture? According to Cambridge Dictionary, culture is the arts of describing, showing or performing that represent the traditions or the way of life a particular people or group; literature, art, music, dance, and theater. All humans are introduced to a culture through socialization. “What we learn depends on the culture in which we live as well as our place within that culture” (Ore. T, 5). Often times race and culture are assumed to be one in the same. Race is based on the perception of physical differences in a way to classify individuals. Culture is based on how one person is raised to believe, think, and act in their society.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Culture Definition Essay

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages

    What is culture? Culture is something you and a group of people share that are similar to one another. A culture is a way of life for a group of people and their behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them. They are also passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. You might share a unique set of behaviors and attitudes with someone of the same culture. You might even share the same religion or language with that person.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday we are bombarded by culture as we walk down the streets of our city and even through the corridors of our home from our parents to our siblings. Therefore culture is the belief, laws, traditions, and many more that make a way of life unique from one another. Culture is the first stepping stone to begin creating your self identity, but it does not fully encompass our being. Therefore a balance is created between the too, we will always be influenced culture but always express our own individuality.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays