7 Elements of Culture
Most Important notes!!!
I. Culture- the way of life by a group of people;
• A. Government- Who has the power?
• *Levels of Government:
•
1.) Unitary System- National/Central Government has all the
power and they create the state or provincial gov’t & gives them
limited powers; (United Kingdom)
•
2.) Federal System- divides the powers of gov’t between the
national gov’t and the state/provincial gov’t; (United States)
• *Types of Government:
•
1. Democracy- the people have the power; ex. U.S.= voting;
2. Dictatorship- one person has all the power, mainly taken by
force/military; ex. North Korea
3. Autocracy- a single ruler has the power mainly passed down
thru inheritance rule from military power;
4. Monarchy- type of autocratic; a king or queen exercises
supreme control of the government; (Saudi Arabia)
7 Elements Continued…
• B. Arts and Literature-
How people express
themselves?
*Ex. Painting, books,
clothes, music, etc…
7
Elements
Continued…
• C. Religion- What are your spiritual
beliefs?
*3 Major Religions1.) Judaism- the 1st religion to believe
in one God; “Yahweh”=GOD
-Holy Book called the Torah; 5 books
of the Torah: Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy;
2.) Christianity- derived from Judaism;
founded by Jesus in 45 B.C.
-Holy book is called the Bible;
3.) Islamic- derived from Judaism;
-Allah is the name of their GOD.
-Holy book called the Quran or Koran;
Founded in the city of Mecca by
Muhammad;
-Five Pillars of Islam- 1.) Fasting 2.)
Prayer 3.) Hajj(pilgrimage) 4.) Faith
5.) Sharing
**Your Religion? Rituals within your
religion?**
7 Elements Continued….
• D. Social Structure- How the
family and society is
organized?
- Social classes are based on
ancestry, wealth, education,
etc...
-U.S. social class- upper,
money-gap, middle, and lower
class people within the society.
• Money gap- separation of
economic gains between a
class of people.
• How can a growing money gap
hurt the U.S. civilization?
• How can the U.S. stop this
money gap from
increasing?(Two Solutions and
explain)
Upper
Class
$200,000 and up
MONEY GAP!!
Middle Class
$200,000 to $30,000
Lower Class
Below $30,000
7 Elements Continued…
• E. Economic System- What people do within their
•
society to earn a living/make money?
- Ex. Jobs, Income, Taxes, etc…
*Types of Economic Systems
1. Mixed Economy(capitalism)- the government
supports and regulates free enterprise through decisions
that affect the marketplace; (U.S.)
2. Command Economy(communism)- the government
owns the means of productions such as land, labor,
factories- Controls the distribution of goods;(Saudia
Arabia and North Korea)
F. Language-(very important) How do people
communicate?
-Verbal- Your language?
-Non-verbal- ?
-What do dialect tell you about someone culture?
7 Elements Continued…
• G. Customs and Traditions- How & What
people celebrate?
*July 4th?
* Thanksgiving?
* December 25th?
* Yom Kippur?
Your Culture Elements
• For each of the elements of culture, write
your expression and the things you do in
each element of your culture.
• Example: Language- I know several letters
and signs to speak to deaf people using
sign language.
Canada’s Elements of Culture
• Give at least two examples of each
element of culture that exist in Canada.
• For example: Language in America-English
and Spanish: For Canada, what would
language be?