Sooo... a culture specific America exists?

This week in class we talked about American culture, and what it was that defined us as Americans. Going into this lesson I was certain there was no such thing. I always thought of America as a melting pot of different nationalities and a mixture of different cultures. However, I was wrong. There really are certain values that label us as Americans. For instance Americans see change as positive, believe in equality, believe in competition, and are future orientated to name a few. While, other cultures seem to see change as dangerous and destructive to order, believe in rank and different social statuses, believe in cooperation, and are past orientated. I always pictured my self as Polish, and influenced heavily by Polish culture. After seeing these "American Values" I saw that most of them are reflected in me. For instance I am a strong believer in future orientation and looking at what will be next which ties into support of change. Whereas Polish culture is primarily past orientated (however my parents/relatives do not reflect this). Though, I do maintain a lot of Polish material culture, my symbolic culture is no doubt dominated by American values.

Material & Non-Material Culture

This week in class we've been looking at culture, in particular material and non-material culture. Material culture is concerned with food, technology, books, movies, and more of a culture. Non-material culture is concerned with language, gestures, and values. These two sub-categories define a culture and how it functions. Outsiders of this culture may experience a culture shock when thrown into it. They may feel troubled when they are made to abide by the cultures material and non-material aspects, we got a taste of this in class when we played the card game. When the winners or losers changed tables they were unknowingly introduced to a new set of rules, and they often got frustrated when they couldn't deal with the new rules. They may have also felt some ethnocentrism and thought that their original rules were better than the new ones. I personally deal with two cultures on a regular basis because I'm Polish-American. I eat both American food and Polish food, and at school I experience American material culture while, when I visit Poland over summers I then experience Polish values which are much more traditional than American values. Material and non-material culture help us better analyze culture to see how individual aspects of culture affect our lives and how we are raised.

Groups in "A Bronx Tale"

This week in class we began watching the film "A Bronx Tale" directed by Robert DeNiro to finish up the chapter in sociology. In the film Collogero has membership in many groups which ultimately shape his life when he is growing up. He is part of his families group, Sonny's groups, and his friends group. Those are the major groups which shape his life. His master status in my opinion belongs in Sonny's group because as a child he tried so hard to emulate them, and as he got older and after he caught the attention of Sonny his involvement in the group became more prevalent. Though, I do not believe Collogero is in Sonny's group exactly, I see him and Sonny as being a part of their own group. Although Sonny does all these illegal things and may be a criminal Collogero has a connection with him, a type of father-son connection. This is seen in the way Sonny gives Collogero advice about the African-American girl he likes. Collogero only asks his father and Sonny about the girl which shows how close they really are. This is just like my master statuses, my family and my friends shape who I have become. My morals and my beliefs are a reflection of my families beliefs, and my opinions are also a reflection of my friends opinions.

Groups in a Sociological Sense

This past week in sociology we did an activity based on the 1957 movie titled Abandon Ship. In the activity we analyzed the process by which seven of the passengers of a life boat were chosen to be set adrift due to the limited space on the boat. Through this activity we saw the underlying groups that influenced the decisions, and the reasoning behind them. The criteria tended to be whether or not you were healthy and how useful you were. People like the college student who was epileptic and the traveling poet who did not bring anything to the table in terms of survival were set a drift because of these reasons. This helps us see the groups formed on both a macro level and on a micro level. The macro groups created the reasoning behind which the decisions were made, (ie: health, family, age, usefulness, etc.) However the micro groups were not as easily seen as the macro groups. The micro groups are the level of outspokenness of a person, where people sit, who is a leader/follower, etc. Through the micro groups, the criteria for which macro groups to set a drift was created. This relates the everyone because everyone belongs to certain macro and micro groups. For instance in terms of macro groups I am a high school student, a student at Stevenson, and seventeen years of age just to name a few. And in terms of micro groups I am a little more reserved, opinionated, and like to sit in the back of the room. The groups we are in also tend to affect the decisions we make for instance since I am a member of the Swiech family my decisions are affected by the morals my family has taught me, and since I am friends with a particular groups of people my tastes tend to mirror theirs. The groups we are in shape our overall lives, and how we are raised. They shape our decisions, our likes, and also what is expected of us.

Sociological Mindset

This week in class we read Survivors of the F227. It was about a plane that went down in the mountains and the survivors of the plane crash had the feed off the bodies of their friends and loved ones in order to survive. More specifically it was about a group of people who’s mindsets had been shaped by the society they grew up in, and then those people had to go against those mindsets to survive being stranded in the mountains. To us who have been raised to believe cannibalism is wrong, and who have not been in the situation where cannibalism was essential to survival see this act as savage and barbaric. The survivors also felt this way but adapted in order to survive. Even as they were engaging in the act they tried to ease the uncertainty raised by the situation by convincing themselves what they were doing was right. That god had left them these bodies to be eaten so that they may survive. It is interesting to look deeper into the way that society morphs our mindsets and the way we think. How we are raised by our parents, the culture we live in, and the sorts of media we are exposed to all are factors into creating our way of thinking. This reminds me of when I was younger I went on a cruise with my father, my grandfather, and my uncle. My uncle lived in Poland in an isolated town, barely ever left his town, and never left the country until now. He was not used to the people of various cultures and races that were on the cruise. He certainly did not hate them, he was more afraid of them. So much so he often hesitated leaving his room. I remember I found it funny that he refused to leave the room one night when we were going to have dinner. Now though, I realize this is a direct result of how/where he was raised and the type of mindset he had created because of this. When he was put on the cruise he was thrown out of his comfort zone but, eventually he got used to it and he began to enjoy himself. Once again this weeks lesson has changed how I view other people and how they think. And… my power just went out so I'm going to have to save this to word and post it later.