Cultural Norms And Folkways In American Culture

Culture can be just about anything passed down from one generation to the next. It can also be categorized as a norm, value, body of knowledge, behavior pattern, and/or an artifact. This cultures are said to be unique to each society with no two culture holding exact resemblance (Appleby, 2011).
Norms are easily defined as something that typical and considered standard. What is considered usual for one culture may considered disrespectful within another culture. A larger number of people who immigrate to the United States have difficulty determining the difference between what is acceptable and the home of origin. Among these norms, folkways are the most often violated (Appleby, 2011). Folkways are traditional behaviors that are unique to one particular community or group of people. Mores are characteristic customs of a set community that set standards for behaviors. Mores general carry intense consequences, however they are not immune

Smith and Preston believed that what society values is shown through its norms chosen to lead behavior. Values reflect what the community considers to be quality. This country was founded on the basic value of freedom, however it also acts upon one person’s freedom may possess the ability to limit another persona’s freedom both figurative and literal. Another value dear to American’s is equality despite the constant fight among many to obtain both equality and freedom. The value of achievement has been over idealize while success on several different levels has become the ultimate goal of many (Appleby,2011).
Culture and language are intertwined and somewhat inseparable. Language determines how culture is delivered and passed down from generation to generation. The book suggest that language is the glue that holds self-perception, experiences, attitude and knowledge together (Appleby, 2011). This means that in order to fully grasp one’s culture you must first understand the