CULTURE
Chapter 1
Section III
What is culture?
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Culture
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All the things that make up a people’s entire
way of life.
7 Elements of Culture
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Social Organization
Customs and Traditions
Language
Arts and Literature
Religion
Forms of Government
Economic Systems
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SCLARFE
Social Organization
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Purpose: Help people of a culture work
together to meet basic needs
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What are basic needs?
Social Organization
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Family Patterns
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Nuclear Family
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Parts:
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Wife, Husband, Children
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Typical in industrial societies
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What are some other industrial societies?
United States – Family Arrangements
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Purple – 2000
Blue 1970
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What does this
show us?
Extended Family
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Several generations living in one
household.
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Generations?
Characteristics:
May not have a lot of money
 Common in farming societies
 Respect for elders
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Patriarchal/Matriarchal Families
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Patriarchal Families
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Men exercise more authority than women
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Typical the eldest male is decision maker.
Matriarchal Families
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Women exercise more authority than men.
Social Classes
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Purpose:
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Rank people in order of status.
Basis:
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Money
Occupation
Education
Ancestry
Land Owned
Animals Owned
Religious leader
Social Mobility
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The ability to move amongst classes
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Was it always this way?
Is it this way everywhere?
How might one rise in society?
Family and Society
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5 Minutes
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Write about your families history:
How did you come to be where you are today.
Think about Family Structure
 Think about Social Classes
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Do you know?
 If not, consider another families history, or make-up a
logical history one might be a part of.
Customs and Traditions
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Rules and Behavior
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How to sleep
How to greet
How to eat
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SOCIAL NORMS – Customs and Traditions
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What are some differences between our culture and
other cultures customs and traditions?
Language
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The CORNERSTONE of culture
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How would you communicate thoughts,
feelings, and knowledge without it?
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INDIA
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OVER 700 Languages!
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Government recognizes 15 official languages.
Should the U.S. have an official language?
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Arts and Literature
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Products of the human imagination.
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Teach a culture’s beliefs and values.
Example?
Folk Tales
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Art and Literature
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Help promote pride and unity
Religion
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Helps a culture answer questions about
the meaning and purpose of life.
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Monotheism – the worship of one God
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Polytheism – the worship of more than one
God
The Major Religions
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Hinduism
Buddhism
Judaism
Islam
Christianity
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What kind of
problems has
religion caused?
Sources of Religious Conflict
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Internal
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Fighting within a religion
External
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Fighting outside of religion (against another)
Forms of Government
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Government
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1) Refers to
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People who hold power in a society
2) Refers to
Society’s Laws
 Political Institutions
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Government
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Why are governments formed?
Types of Government
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Democracy
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Republic
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People have supreme power
Government can only act with the people’s consent
People choose leaders who represent them
Dictatorship
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A ruler or group holds power by force
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Sometimes will claim to be republics
Economic Systems
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Economics
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How people use limited resources to satisfy
their wants and needs.
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3 Basic Questions
3 Basic Economic Questions
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What goods and services should be
produced?
How should the goods and services be
produced?
For whom should the goods and services
be produced?
Traditional Economy
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People produce most of what they need to
survive.
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For thousands of years most cultures had
traditional economies.
Market Economy
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Individuals answer the three basic
economic questions by buying and selling
goods and services.
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Businesses/Manufacturers decide what to produce
based on what people will buy.
Command Economy
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Government controls what goods and
services are produced, and what they will
cost.
Mixed Economy
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Individuals make some economic
decisions and the government makes
others.
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Example?
Causes of Culture Change
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Technology
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Changing Environment
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New Ideas
Diffusion
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The movement of ideas or customs from
one place to another
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Peaceful Diffusion
War/Forced Diffusion
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Subculture
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Group of people within a society that
share certain beliefs, values, and customs.
Ethnocentrism
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Judging other cultures by the standards of
one’s own.
Racism
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Believing one racial group is NATURALLY
SUPERIOR than another racial group.
Essay – 40%

Name and explain the 7 elements of
culture. Be sure to provide an example
of each and justify how it fits the
category.