Preview

Introduction to Popular American Culture

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
637 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Introduction to Popular American Culture
American Popular Culture
Austin R. Lee
SOC/105 Introduction to Popular American Culture
March 28, 2012
Hilary Hicks

American Popular Culture
The Purpose of this paper is to define the term “Popular Culture” as well as identify major trends in American popular culture. After identify major trends in American Pop-culture the paper will go on to analyze the impact that each trend has on personal decision making.
In order to define the term popular culture a person must first understand the meaning of the word culture. Many people believe that culture refers to the upper elite of society. However these people are simply confusing being cultured with culture itself. Culture is a general term referring to the values, artifacts, customs, and institutions of a particular group at a particular time. Popular Culture is just a term that refers to the currant culture in a given area. The study of both popular culture as well as culture in general is extremely important because it allows our society to identify potentially harmful trends in American popular culture.
Popular culture is everywhere. Everyone is completely surrounded by Pop-culture everyday all the time and if a person is to look closely, some interesting trends may become apparent. Some trends are harmless and yet they are consistent trends, such as the downloading of games, movies, and applications to cell phones. On the other hand popular culture has been known for having a severe impact on the self-image of the young, particularly young girls. Each of these trends impacts the daily decisions of a separate group of people but at the end of the day each trend effects millions and has a lasting impact on the American people.
A person may download a specific game to his or her cell phone because his or her friend has it. This is just one very small scale example. However, it is amazing how fast a small scale example can become a cultural icon, if just for a short time. A perfect example of this is the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Comm 111G Study Guide
    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Comm 111G Study Guide

    Popular Culture: “popular culture refers to the beliefs and practices, and the objects through which they are organized, that are widely shared among a population. This includes folk beliefs, practices and objects generated in the political and commercial centers. It includes elite cultural forms that have been popularized as well as popular forms that have been elevated to the museum tradition.” (M&S, 3-4)…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Coming Of Age In Tim Delaney's Pop Culture
    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Coming Of Age In Tim Delaney's Pop Culture

    Last week, I wrote about what I thought about the word “culture”, what it meant to me, and how it related of coming of age. I discussed on how culture to me meant the customs and beliefs of your past generation passed on to you and creating that to your image. This week I’ve now realized there are many other factors of culture that influence our way of life. Pop culture plays a big role if not more on who we are and how we behave. I discovered that many aspects like television and social media affect culture and change it frequently. In Tim Delaney’s ‘Pop Culture: An Overview’ he mentioned “popular culture encompasses the most immediate and contemporary aspects of our lives. These aspects are often subject to rapid change, especially in a highly…

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    SOC/105: Introduction To Popular American Culture
    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages

    SOC/105: Introduction To Popular American Culture

    Culture is what defines a group of people, normally by: ethnicity, religion, beliefs, food, music, art, clothing, entertainment, and sometimes-generalized characters. Popular Culture is the forever changing trends, attitudes, ideas, forms of art, types of music, foods, perspectives, fitness, fashions, technologies, and overall specific themes that take place and are main stream within a culture. Popular culture can vary within a culture, but the general culture of a group mostly remains neutral.…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Is 101 Final Project
    • 1812 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Is 101 Final Project

    Current trends and areas of popular interest in arts, entertainment, and sports are often referred to as “Pop Culture.” There are numerous sources of information on the Internet that measure and report on current topics of interest within Pop Culture. Some of these areas of interest include…

    • 1812 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Soc/105 Popular Culture Study
    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Soc/105 Popular Culture Study

    The study of culture rather it is popular, American, or folk can be very important to our generation. Studying culture can help an individual understand the history as well as people. The first step one should take would be knowing the meaning of and difference between culture and popular culture. In this paper one will find out the meaning of both culture and popular culture. The term American culture will be discussed, the 3 major trends in American culture, and how does popular American culture affect personal decision making.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1865 To 1900 Analysis
    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1865 To 1900 Analysis

    Popular culture is defined as the ideas, interests, attitudes, etc. that are prominent among the majority of people, not just a specific group. With new developments in media and communications, such as the telephone and mass media, it was much easier for people to spread ideas across larger areas. As more people in an area began to have access to the same ideas, a popular culture began to emerge. Modernization, which was especially prominent in cities, also contributed to popular culture by allowing for the mass production of and wide-spread access to the same forms of products and entertainment.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Soc 105 Syllabus
    • 2382 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Soc 105 Syllabus

    | 1.1 Describe the different types of culture. 1.2 Describe the influence that popular culture has on personal decision making. 1.3 Identify major trends in popular American culture.…

    • 2382 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Air Rescue
    • 7498 Words
    • 30 Pages

    Air Rescue

    Excerpt from Common Culture: Reading and Writing About American Popular Culture. Ed. Michael Petracca, Madeleine Sorapure. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998.…

    • 7498 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Does The Spread Of American Culture Have To Be A Bad Thing?
    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Does The Spread Of American Culture Have To Be A Bad Thing?

    Everything is connected in one way or another on a global level. American culture dominates as an example for globalization. So many different things have mixed and mashed and molded together creating American Popular Culture. Although, Americans shouldn’t take full credit for originality in all of their widespread ideas as they are a melting pot of other worldwide ideas. This is a good thing, and a bad thing.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Common Culture: Reading And Writing About American Popular Culture
    • 1760 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Common Culture: Reading And Writing About American Popular Culture

    Football is one of the most popular sports in American history and culture. Whether a person’s favorite team is the Dallas Cowboys or the Denver Broncos the rivalry of football seems to never cease. Almost everyone knows about football Sunday. But some people only see the game as a violent, unpredictable sport that can only cause harm to the boys that decide to play. Some mothers dread their child going on the field. They worry about concussions and other major injuries that can occur. They say the coaches are too harsh on the boys and the practices are too long and rough. However, these mothers do not understand what it takes to be a coach or what it takes to play football and the mental stability a player needs. These people want to change the rules of football and make it a safer…

    • 1760 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Popular American Culture Paper
    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Popular American Culture Paper

    According to Merriam-Webster culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group” (2011). Popular culture is “the opposite of high cultural art forms, such as the opera, historic art, classical music, traditional theater or literature; popular culture includes many forms of cultural communication including newspapers, television, advertising, comics, pop music, radio, cheap novels, movies, jazz, etc. In the beginning of the 20th Century," High art" was the realm of the wealthy and educated classes while popular culture or." Low art" was considered commercial entertainment for the lower classes. In the 1950s and 60s the gulf between high and low art closed with the rise of Pop Art” (2011).…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    American Popular Culture -Dustin C. Nelson
    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages

    American Popular Culture -Dustin C. Nelson

    The purpose of this assignment is to discuss what Popular America Culture is and how it affects my life. The first topic will cover what culture is and more specifically what popular culture is. Next the three major trends in Popular America culture will be covered and the influences of each of these major trends. Finally the last topic that this paper will cover how Popular American Culture affects personal decision making of myself and others.…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Exemplification Essay-Pop Culture
    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Exemplification Essay-Pop Culture

    The pop culture of any area consists of many factors that ought to be considered when assessing the impact of any one specific icon. American pop culture specifically, has many symbols that represent the many different areas of pop culture and the preferences of the fans. Through an array of examples, the strong influence of celebrities on citizens of America can easily be seen through an analysis of the pop culture. The demographic, style, and behavior are three major areas in pop culture that most clearly show influence of major celebrities.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Effects Of Pop Culture On Identity
    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Effects Of Pop Culture On Identity

    Pop culture is commonly defined as: modern popular culture transmitted via mass media and aimed particularly at younger people. Generations and decades all have different pop cultures, some more influencing than others but something very unique about my generation is that pop culture seems to have taken over it. Social media is how a person in the most recent generation expresses their identity as a whole, to others, and in some ways to themselves. Pop culture can touch on issues such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, cultural imperialism and censorship therefore it works in tandem with identity. In this essay I will be exploring the effects of pop culture on identity and how the relationship between the two has morphed from older…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Coconut, by Kopano Matlwa
    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Coconut, by Kopano Matlwa

    Bibliography: * O’Brien, S. & Szeman, I. 2010. Popular Culture: A User’s Guide. Toronto: Nelson. p. 183-217.…

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics