• Research Paper on:
    Influences on Culture

    Number of Pages: 8

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    In eight pages the ways in which culture is influenced by religion, language, and symbols are examined. Four sources are cited in the bibliography.

    Name of Research Paper File: JR7_RAculinf.rtf

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    Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
    that varies little, if at all. However, the truth is that culture is something that is incredibly flexible, altering in the face of new forms of thought and new ideas.  For example, the culture of native peoples who were at the mercy of European expansion slowly altered their culture to better assimilate into their new world. Religion, language, symbols, and  many other components of culture are often items which are incorporated or altered in any given culture. Bearing these realities, and the possibilities, in mind we present the following paper  which examines how language, symbols, and religion influence cultures and cultural change. Culture It is generally agreed upon that culture "involves at least three components: what people think,  what they do, and the material products they produce. Thus, mental processes, beliefs, knowledge, and values are parts of culture" (Bodley, 2002; bodley-text.html). There are incredible variances outside of these  generally presumed qualities, however. For example, there are some anthropologists who would argue that culture is defined entirely through mental rules which guide "behavior, although often wide divergence exists between  the acknowledged rules for correct behavior and what people actually do. Consequently, some researchers pay most attention to human behavior and its material products" (Bodley, 2002; bodley-text.html). In addition, it  is often noted that "Culture also has several properties: it is shared, learned, symbolic, transmitted cross-generationally, adaptive, and integrated" (Bodley, 2002; bodley-text.html). Culture is primarily something that is shared  and learned. It is not "biologically inherited, and involves arbitrarily assigned, symbolic meanings. For example, Americans are not born knowing that the color white means purity, and indeed this is  not a universal cultural symbol" (Bodley, 2002; bodley-text.html). In light of these facts we can see how such elements as language, symbols, and religion would play a very large role 

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