Make sure you discuss “folk culture,” “popular culture,” and “high culture.” What definition(s) is/are more compelling and why? Popular culture is a group think in which people have similar or like interests, shared values, norms, beliefs, images, attitudes, and living habits. Popular, or mass, culture is defined by some as what is left over from high culture and considered widely acceptable as manifested from mass commercialization. Pop culture is the mean of the three types of cultures that are included in this dialogue. From an abstract panoramic point of view, the upper classification of high culture and the lower being folk culture, both are micro cultures in comparison to the colossus of pop culture.
Things have changed. Not only do we concern ourselves with trends, we become them. Advancements in technology and communication have reached an all time high. These advancements have changed the world, and the way in which we live. Media and communication have the utmost control over our lives, allowing marketing ploys, advertisements, and campaigns to become our greatest influencers as a society.
Culture can be defined in many different ways; however, culture is mainly defined as patterns of behaviors, interactions, cognitive constructions and learning through a process of socialization (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, 2010). Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred through an informal consensus within the mainstream of any given society (Petracca & Sorapure, 2007). Pop culture can influence millions of individuals because the culture includes all types of cultures into one big culture or living. America has by far influenced many individuals and countries through major trends. A couple of American popular cultures include digital technology, film and television, and politics.
Julia Bacon July 8, 2012 Dr. Amanda Berry LIT-125-F01L Defining Great Books Defining “Great Books” in one thousand words is no simple a task. Merriam-Webster defines this term as “of, relating to, or centered in certain classics of literature, philosophy, history, and science that are believed to contain the basic ideas of western culture.” This seems somewhat vague and oversimplified for a term that has sparked many conversations and debates over many years since the nineteenth century. Intellectuals, academics, writers and critics alike have contributed to the discussion. There are several keywords and key concepts in this conversation, specifically in regard to the conceptual nature and criteria of what makes a Great Book; these include excellence, universality, and culture. Excellence Excellence means “the quality of being superior or eminently good,” according to Merriam-Webster.
lar American CultureRunning head: Popular American Culture Popular American Culture SOC/105: Introduction to Popular American Culture August 27, 2012 Popular American Culture Mahatma Gandhi once said, “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people,” (BrainyQuote, 2011, p. 1). In this paper the area under discussion are the definitions of culture and popular culture. There is a vast variety of major trends that are apparent in popular culture. Three major trends in popular American culture are the FaceBook , reality television shows, and Barbie doll. Popular American culture affects personal decision-making and is another subject for discussion in this paper.
Popular American Culture In today’s society culture is unique. Parts of the past are used to form present cultures. Culture is behaviors and beliefs from a particular social, ethnic, or age group (Dictionary.com, 2012). Culture is also the grouping of traditions, attitudes, and standards that divides one group of people from another. Culture can be represented through art, schools, material objects, and communication.
Popular American Culture Yuliana Diaz SOC/105 Dr. Cheryl Y. Avant Popular American Culture Currently, people cannot turn to the right without being influenced by technology, it can be said that the popular American culture in 2011 is mainly leaded by technological devices and their products. Oxford University Press defines culture as “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group” (“culture,” 2011) there are many factors that affect the different cultures around the world such as trends, which are elements of popular culture. Popular Culture and Trends “Popular culture encompasses the most immediate and contemporary elements in our lives.” (Petracca & Sorapure, 2007, para 8) although it does not give a specific definition, it states that popular culture is contained by the everyday elements people use, for example the Internet, which has become a powerful tool for anything thinkable in peoples’ lives. Another powerful “element” is the telephone, it became more than a useful communication tool, (the main reason it was invented for), it is used as a productivity, organizational, and recreational tool in the American popular culture. Popular culture also can be a term that refers to what other cultures look up to, from a personal experience, people who grew up in another country always say how the American culture has the most influential trends around the world.
Rampant Consumerism Consumerism is considered to be a life style to the modern population. In todays society rampant consumerism is at an all time high due to evolution. Currently newly introduced products are becoming an essential to life. Consumerism is profited by commercialism using the social network to force product to people, Industries offering online shopping, and societal trends. Today's mass Commercialism plays a big role in assisting the profit of consumerism.
It is obvious that media has taken over our lives in more than one way. Due to modern technology, we are all closer than ever. The media industry has taken advantage of this fact because the stakes are huge. This can mean a variety of things but one thing is for certain, media has power in society. In a society that knows that "sex sells", most fail to realize that there is a very strong connection between body-image and advertisement.
These two quotes clearly show that the media is a powerful and important tool, with the ability to inform and educate, and possibly entertain. The quotes then were based on the two earlier forms of media – Print and broadcast, such as newspapers, TVs and radio channels. However, with the introduction of new media, such as text, audio and visual material available on the internet, the media’s influence and power has increased, due to the greater efficiency of the new media in disseminating information and reaching out to wider and larger audiences. These two quotes also show that the media has both positive and negative influences on society. As such, it is important to stop the negative influences from the media, whilst harnessing its positive aspects for the greater good.