Preview

Culture: Differences Make the World Go Round

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1010 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Culture: Differences Make the World Go Round
Culture: Differences Make the World Go Round
ANT101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Instructor: Wendell Johnson

Culture is what defines a person; it is the way in which he or she behaves, what he or she believes, and what sets one apart from the rest of the world. It is the beauty, difference, and intelligence that at times require study to understand, but is an acceptable way of life for those born into that particular society. Because the United States believes itself to be the epitome of normalcy and standard living, we come across as critical, when judgment is passed upon civilizations that act in ways that are uncommon or improper in our culture. Americans that take the time to respectfully explore cultures different from their own are rewarded to find that distinction encourages awareness and awareness leads to appreciation. Life in Vietnam centers around the family and the village. Life in the village revolves around the growing of rice. Each family member’s role is clearly defined. The young men plow the fields at the beginning of the rainy season and young women plant the young rice shoots that have sprouted in the tiny seedbeds. As they plant, the women sing centuries-old rice-planting songs. (When labor was short during the war in the north, a slightly more efficient method of planting was developed-so new songs with a faster rhythm had to be written.) The children care for the buffalo and make sure they don 't eat the rice plants. And often the children are sent to the irrigation ditches to catch a few fish for dinner. The grandparents take care of the babies. In the evening, the family gathers to preserve food and listen to the grandparents tell stories of when they were children. The shared character of Vietnamese people is that of tremendous respect for their elders and humility. The family is the basic unit of society and everything a Vietnamese person does is seen in light of how it affects their family. Harmony in all



References: 1. http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/learn_about_vietnam/culture/ 2. http://www.sa-venues.com/sa_languages_and_culture.htm 3. http://www.nigeriamasterweb.com/igbomarriage.html

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Vietnamese culture

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Geoffrey Murray the author of Customs and Etiquette of Vietnam wrote in his book that the Vietnamese do not shake hands but clasp their hands together above waist level and bow slightly as a sign of acknowledgement. It is said that the Vietnamese value system is based on four basic tenets, which is their allegiance to their family, yearning for a good name, love of learning, and respect for other people.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnamese Culture Essay

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Viet Nam War or Pho are the two popular things that people usually think about when the words “Viet Name” are mentioned. However, there are many interesting things about Viet Nam and its culture that people need to learn and explore more. Throughout the history, Vietnamese’s culture has been shaped and influenced by the Chinese, the French, the Russians, and the Americans. Even though the culture has impacts from all of the outside influences, Vietnamese people still maintain and embrace their own culture.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Culture is defined as the beliefs, language, values and beliefs that are shared by people in a specific society and cultural competency while is not easy to define precisely enough to make into actions it’s defined as a “set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency or among professionals and enable that system, agency or those professions to work effectively in cross-cultural situations” (Cross et al, 1989), which basically means being able to evolve from diverse perspectives, it is about being aware of one’s cultural identity, views and being able to learn and build on the varying cultural and community norms others.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnam is a remote land with a vast array of forests and wetlands, which are rich in wildlife and natural resources. For this reason, many more advanced nations attempted to overtake Vietnam in conquest. Vietnamese history is scattered with war, slavery, and triumph. Outside influences attempted to help the struggling country re-build and repair a torn culture (Hai Venu, 2009). To better understand a culture there needs to be an understanding of the people that made up the history. In this paper, a better understanding will be gained to why the Vietnamese people are so passionate and have fought so hard for their freedom (Vietnam & 20th Century Experience, Lesson 1).…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Vietnamese Americans

    • 3134 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Unfortunately, Vietnamese Americans make up only a small percent of the total American Population today. There are many stereotypes associated with the Vietnamese, but the truth is, we really know very little about their culture. After the Viet Nam War, many Vietnamese citizens immigrated to the United States to escape political Prosecution and poverty. Faced with a variety of obstacles and challenges, true to Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese Americans persevered and soared above any tribulations they were faced with. Today, children are integrating smoothly within the United States public school system while still holding on strongly to their native culture.…

    • 3134 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnam was at a time of intense political confusion during the time period of this novel. Just coming out of the Vietnam War with first France and then the United States, the country emerged as a fragile, torn state in which Communism ruled the country. The North and the South were only recently combined from two opposing sides to one country, making politics and reforms difficult for the population. Land reforms and others being implemented began creating problems in the social systems over whether or not the new, modernized, Communistic Vietnam should come forward or the old traditional Vietnam should stay as the highest priority for citizens. People such as Aunt Tam wanted to keep to the traditional values, continuing to wear the Ao Dai, and continuing to live with the more traditional values. People such as Uncle Chinh were against the old traditional values and wanted to move society toward the Communistic ways, leading his family into the Communistic changes.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cultural globalization is a term often used to describe the influence of one national culture on another. This is perhaps more prevalent in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Although America is often viewed as the villain with regard to globalization, it is clear by the diversity of cultural groups in America, that this nation is also the recipient of global culture. With such a diverse cultural population it’s foreseeable to think there will be differences of opinion when it comes to discussion cultural importance. For every society believes it is their culture that sets them apart and makes them unique. Differences in cultural beliefs often leads to the “Us vs Them” mentality, but it is also cultural beliefs that unite Americans.…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Throughout history, from the beginning of mankind to present day, there have always been many different types of cultures. These cultures can define an entire race of people, or define a single village. These cultures can also define where a community will live, and what methods are used in their day-to-day survival. This paper will focus on one such culture; the Mbuti Pygmy tribe. The Mbuti are a foraging society, and this type of society impacts many aspects of their culture. This paper will further identify and examine their cultural subsistence. The impact of their society type on kinship, social organization, political organization, economic organization, and their beliefs and rituals will be examined as well. A close look at their beliefs system will show how all aspects of their culture are in some way affected by the center of their spiritual symbolism. So, what exactly is a foraging culture, and how do they function?…

    • 2198 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Little Saigon Case Study

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages

    One of the great importance to the growth of Little Saigon, was the strong sense of community that was established by the Vietnamese Americans. It was likely that the socioeconomic diversity of the Vietnamese population played an instrumental role in creating such an interconnected occupational structure and enabling them to build a community. They were lumped together as downtrodden “refugees,” which masks their internal differences, such as how they escape, arrived, and the variations in their social economic status. Although as refugees, they did lack material capital, but they however came with a range of human and social capital, most notably the first wave that arrived in 1975. Nonetheless, to see such capital in action, we first have…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American culture is comprised of many customs that have come from older cultures. Our history, religions, food and literature all have been inspired by Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan and China, amongst others. I believe that these elder countries understand the American culture in some degree, yet tend to judge us in ways we do not understand. It is important that we as Americans educate ourselves in the older ways, just as it is for other cultures to try and educate themselves in our ever-changing ways.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Humbleness In Vietnam

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page

    From these passages we can infer the people of Vietnam were very proud and fair warriors. Some examples of this is that they were exceedingly patriotic, would fiercely fight for their independence, and that they were very humble. For example, we know they are very patriotic because when in battle, if they knew that they would lose, they would commit suicide because they would rather die than fail their country. Furthermore we know they would fight to the end for their independence because when fighting the French they were overpowered by hundreds, but still fought fearlessly and defeated the French in the end. Finally we can infer their humbleness because of their reaction when defeating the Chinese when they invaded Vietnam. Instead of forcing…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Race Versus Culture

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Race and culture are two powerful and meaningful traits in humans, and both have strong affects on society through stereotypes and racism. The effects have been seen throughout history, but which is more important? The meaning of important in this sense is the one which has a greater effect on society, and the one which generally means more to the people of a certain social or ethnic group. The one that is more important is clear. Culture has a much greater effect than race.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One being the point of view of an American soldier and the other being a Vietnamese family. The personal experiences of these characters help us to understand the war itself. Our generation can learn from these experiences by reading and acknowledging the first hand retellings of Vietnam. These narratives offer a real perspective of the Vietnam War, much different from that of the twisted and glamorized Hollywood angle. First person Vietnam narratives are the most insightful and dignified pieces of historical context we can obtain. While is necessary to recognize the bigger scheme of things it is important to understand the perspectives of the individuals involved on both sides, in order to put the Vietnam War itself in…

    • 1422 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Azande Culture

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Editor’s notes: Azande culture is surprising simple in structure, or at first glance from a western perspective, it appears to be simple. This culture is very different from what Americans or even Westerners experience on a day-to-day basis. The Azande culture is hierarchal and patriarchal, and has many actions, beliefs, and superstitions that have manifested themselves out of centuries of attempts to justify natural occurrences with a logical, understandable, and believable explanation. What follows are Azande observations concerning American society.…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Americans had failed to win the hearts and minds of the people. Their use of often indiscriminate violence against suspects and those who appeared to be helping them, alienated the people and moved them firmly into the arms of the anti-US Vietcong forces. Most Vietnamese were peasants, usually living in small villages with small houses made of bamboo with roofs of palm leaves or grass that lacked electricity and running water. American soldiers could not conceive of ‘real’ people living like this, and the resultant sense of alien world goes a little way towards explaining why Americans sometimes treated the Vietnamese peasants as sub-human and consequently unable to win many of them over to their side. Many Americans considered the Vietnamese peasants in particular as less than human.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics