CULTURAL IDENTITY SYNTHESIS ESSAY
How does the culture of ___________ impact how one views and interacts with the world around them?
The possible topics you can choose to focus on are as follows:
1. Culture of Social Media/Technology
2. Culture of Consumerism/Advertising
3. Culture of Social Status/Class Structure
4. Culture of Educational Background
To meet the needs of the assessment, you will need to synthesize multiple sources to answer this
question in an argumentative essay format. The following are a list of resources that can be used for this
purpose.
Culture’s Impact on Humanity in General
“Your Brain on Culture” from American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/11/neuroscience.aspx
“Five Examples of How the Languages We Speak Affect the Way We Think” from TED
http://blog.ted.com/2013/02/19/5-examples-of-how-the-languages-we-speak-can-affect-the-way-wethink/
Social Media Culture
“Has social media changed the way we speak and write” from English Town
http://www.englishtown.com/blog/has-social-media-changed-the-way-we-speak-and-write-english/
“Don’t Fear the Network: The Internet is Changing the Way We Communicate for the Better” from Pacific
Standard
http://www.psmag.com/navigation/nature-and-technology/networks-changed-social-media-internetcommunication-82554/
“I Knew You Before I Met You” from Faculty Voice, the University of Maryland
http://imerrill.umd.edu/facultyvoice1/?p=3171
“Five Ways Facebook Changed Us: For Better, For Worse” from CNN Tech
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/tech/social-media/facebook-changes/
Advertising/Consumerism Culture
“Driving Teen Egos- and Buying- through ‘Branding’” from American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/driving.aspx
“The End of Cosumerism?” from The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/jun/14/collaborative-consumption
“Environmental Ills? It’s Consumerism, Stupid” from Scientific American
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2010/01/22/environmental-ills-its-consumerismstupid/
Social Status/Class Culture
“21 Ways Rich People Think Differently” from Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rich-people-think-differently-from-the-poor-2012-8?op=1
“Culture of Poverty in America” from Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linetta-j-gilbert/poverty-in-america_b_1420812.html
“Facing Social Class” from Russel Sage Foundation (book summary)
https://www.russellsage.org/publications/facing-social-class
Facing Social Class from the book, chapter one
https://www.russellsage.org/sites/all/files/Fiske_Markus_chap1.pdf
“We are not all Created Equal” from Esquire (has some profanity, but low-level)
http://www.esquire.com/features/thousand-words-on-culture/american-class-system-0112
Educational Culture
“Struggle for Smarts: How Eastern and Western Cultures Tackle Learning”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/11/12/164793058/struggle-for-smarts-how-eastern-andwestern-cultures-tackle-learning
“Hack Schooling Makes me Happy” from TED
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/01/07/this-is-what-happens-when-a-kid-leaves-traditionaleducation/
“Does Education Kill Creativity” from TED
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/01/07/this-is-what-happens-when-a-kid-leaves-traditionaleducation/
“Campus Culture or Climate” from New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_ecculture.html
“College Culture” from Galivan College
http://hhh.gavilan.edu/lhalper/hist1/collegeculture.htm