Damitu Beyene

Professor White
Anthropology 103
February 29, 2012
Question 1
Culture is learned, shared, symbolic, all-encompassing, integrated, actively
used, maladaptive, and/or adaptive. There is a wide spectrum ideas and beliefs
within each category, effecting every human being. Culture is has an enormous
influence on our lives, and as stated in the lecture, whether we were born into our
culture or acquired one on our own, it is a way of thinking and feeling. Culture is
learned in that peers within the same culture acquire the knowledge based on a
specific culture. The learned aspect of each culture is what makes it uniquely
different from other cultures, tying ways of life back to its roots. To learn about the
culture it must be shared. Culture is shared by being spread, especially with others
within the culture. Being apart of a culture is being apart of a community of people
sharing beliefs, experience, and trust. Also, culture represents a variety of unique
and inevitably shared symbols, from flags to clothing. Symbols give a cultural
identity that separates and differentiates it. With such a large variety and wide
scope of cultural styles, it is distinctly all-encompassing. It is stretched across the
world involved in every country and race. Culture is traditions and customs
[transmitted through learning] that form and guide the beliefs and behavior of the
people exposed (page 5). The ability for cultures to learn and share is what made it
all-encompassing, through each cultures ability to adapt.
Integration of culture is the separation of people into specific communities,
in which each individual plays a part in the entirety of the culture. It combines these
groups harmoniously and interrelates the whole as a structure. Cultures are known
for common norms within that culture, with organized values. Aspects of each
culture are actively used through each individual. The action of each member and
the ability each individual takes upon themselves is what makes a culture thrive.
Integration simultaneously supports a cultures adaptation. Adaptation refers to the
processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses, such as
those posed by climate and trains (5). Every individual works within his or her
culture to support the life of that culture. The ability for a culture to live in high
altitudes and extreme climates is due to their ability to unite as integrated and
adaptive people. Alternatively can be maladaptive if it lacks these essentials.

Question 2
From the book Distant Mirrors by Philip R. DeVita and James D Armstrong
we were directed to read a tasteful variety of essays written by anthropologists.
From ass the essays, I related and supported The American Culture Configuration
by Lowell D Holmes and Ellen Rhoads Holmes. The Holmes write about a
generalized, yet understandable view on American culture, with topics like
conformity, the common man, authority, youth, education, technology, and religion.
With such a variety of topics, they cover important parts of observed American
culture. The Holmes essay consists of inoffensive honesty about the American
culture reiterating basic stereotypes. The primary anthropological tool I noticed
was participant observation. Mister and misses Holmes dip into ethnocentric topics
but then transition into a persuasive explanation of each topic.
The article is a bit ethnocentric because it talks about Americans acting a
certain way and measures their predictability. It alleviates the ethnocentrisms by
stating, not all, but the average American. The article is more so the factor of
participant observation which is why Im drawn to this essay. Despite the few areas
of stereotyping the American culture, I agree with the clear and concise conclusion
of what the American culture has become, or will become.
Alternatively, I did not agree as much with American Graffiti: Curious
Derivatives of Individualism by Jin K. Kim. His letter decribes American issues on
privacy, manners, sexual mores, individuality, interpersonal relations, and
doublespeak. Kim begins his letter to MK by introducing the idea that MK will not be
the center of MKs family. I disagree with Kims statement, or more fashionably the
way he stated it, because he was giving off the idea that American was a country that
did not support what MK found necessary in his culture. Kim tells MK that once here
his wife will be an individual and he will no longer carry as much power. I
understand Kims reasoning behind saying this, but the negativity behind something
so broad as how you raise your family in America threw me off. Obviously our
culture will be different compared to Koreas, but America doesnt consist of
personal guidelines. American are almost brutally honest and frank about issues
that belong to public domains; they are not afraid of discussing an embarrassing
topic in most graphic details as long as the topic is a matter of public concern. Kim
goes on to attempt to describe America as a participant observer but it comes across
as ethnocentric. He is specifying the American culture to given experiences, rather
that thoughtfully generalizing such a topic as mister and misses Holms did.