essay about tradition

Essay on Importance of Culture and Tradition

Students are often asked to write an essay on Importance of Culture and Tradition in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Importance of Culture and Tradition

Introduction.

Culture and tradition are vital aspects of our lives. They define our identity, guide our behavior, and connect us to our history.

The Role of Culture

Culture is the shared values, beliefs, and customs of a group. It shapes our thinking and decisions, making us unique.

Significance of Traditions

Traditions are practices passed down generations. They foster unity and continuity, strengthening our bond with our ancestors.

In essence, culture and tradition are the backbone of our society. They provide a sense of belonging and help preserve our heritage.

250 Words Essay on Importance of Culture and Tradition

Understanding culture and tradition.

Culture is the lens through which we perceive and evaluate what is around us. It influences our perspectives, attitudes, and behaviors, serving as a roadmap for both individual and community behaviors. It fosters a sense of belonging and security, reinforcing societal norms and expectations.

Significance of Tradition

Traditions, on the other hand, are specific practices or customs that are perpetuated across generations. They provide a sense of continuity and connection to our past. Traditions can foster unity, create positive memories, and build strong relationships within communities.

Culture, Tradition, and Identity

Both culture and tradition are integral to identity formation. They define our roots and give us a sense of belonging. They shape our worldview and influence our values, thus impacting our decisions and actions.

Preserving Culture and Tradition

In an increasingly globalized world, there’s a risk of cultural erosion. It is essential to preserve culture and tradition, not as unchangeable relics of the past, but as dynamic entities that evolve while retaining their core essence. This preservation promotes diversity and enriches global understanding.

In conclusion, culture and tradition are not just about the past. They are living, dynamic aspects of social life that play a critical role in shaping our present and future. Their importance lies in their capacity to promote social cohesion, personal identity, and mutual understanding.

500 Words Essay on Importance of Culture and Tradition

The essence of identity and belonging.

Culture and tradition are the bedrock of our identity. They offer a unique lens through which we view and interpret the world. Our cultural heritage, expressed through language, art, rituals, and social norms, shapes our worldview and forms our unique identity. This identity, in turn, fosters a sense of belonging, a vital aspect of our psychological well-being.

Preservation of Historical Continuity

Traditions serve as a bridge between the past, present, and future, ensuring historical continuity. They preserve and pass on the wisdom, knowledge, and experiences of previous generations. This continuity provides a sense of stability and predictability, which is essential in a rapidly changing world.

Contribution to Social Cohesion

Role in moral and ethical development.

Culture and tradition also play a significant role in moral and ethical development. They instill values, norms, and moral codes that guide individual behavior and social interactions. These ethical frameworks help maintain social order and harmony, promoting cooperative and responsible behavior.

Challenges and Evolution

Despite their importance, culture and tradition are not static; they evolve over time. Societies must balance the preservation of cultural heritage with the need for adaptation and progress. Unquestioned adherence to outdated traditions can hinder societal growth and development. Conversely, the complete abandonment of cultural practices can lead to a loss of identity and historical continuity.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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Why Are Traditions Important (22 Reasons)

Every Sunday, we whip up a batch of pancakes at home—it’s our longstanding tradition. This goes beyond sharing breakfast. It’s a ritual that ties our family together.

Now, on the flip side, you might ask, “Aren’t these traditions kind of outdated? Why not start new ones?” Those are great questions. What may not be clear is the value these traditions hold today. Stick around, and I’ll show you how these old customs are surprisingly handy in modern times.

Table of Contents

Traditions Give Us Who We Are

Traditions keep our culture alive, traditions connect us to our ancestors, traditions keep families close, traditions keep communities together, traditions show off all the diverse cultures, traditions make us feel like we fit in, traditions help us get our history, traditions get us out and together, traditions share old wisdom with new generations, traditions feel like home no matter where you are, traditions help us make awesome memories, traditions guide moral values, traditions inspire creative expression, traditions keep us connected to our home, traditions help us take care of our planet, traditions honor those who came before us, traditions show us how time flows, traditions keep our faith strong, traditions show us how to respect older people, traditions help teach kids, traditions shape our everyday life, frequently asked questions, final thoughts.

What makes you ‘you’? That’s where traditions step in. They’re like your own personal signature but for your whole culture. They shout out where you’re from and the things your people love doing.

Think about yourself rocking clothes that your culture is known for. That’s like wearing a badge that says, “I’m proud of where I come from.”

Example:  Consider the Japanese tea ceremony. Participating in or even observing this ceremony can immerse you in the deep cultural identity that it represents, showcasing the intricate balance between who we are and where our roots lie.

Your cultural heritage—everything your community has ever made or thought of—is like a super cool heirloom, and it’s free! Traditions are all the stories, buildings, tunes, and crafts that we’ve got from our parents and grandparents.

Take a look at an old building in your place that’s been there forever. That’s not just an old pile of bricks; it’s like a diary of the past.

Keeping traditions around isn’t about stopping the future; it’s about making sure we don’t forget the awesome stuff that’s already happened.

Now, about those people who came before us—our ancestors. We’re not literally going to sit and chat with ghosts, but every time you do something the traditional way, you’re connecting with your family’s history.

Keeping up with traditions is like catching up with your great-great-great-grandpeeps. The things they loved—their songs, their skills—don’t just have to be old stories. They can be part of what you do every day.

Example:  Dia de los Muertos in Mexico honors those who have passed away, mixing memories with celebration to show that our love for our ancestors lasts forever.

Think about things your family does over and over. These things are like a secret handshake — they make your family feel special.

Having the same meal on a special day or going to the same beach every summer, we’re making memories that’ll stick around longer than just about anything.

Example:  Say your family makes pizza together every Friday night. It’s not just about eating; it’s about laughing, talking, and messing up together in the kitchen.

• Everyone piling on their favorite toppings.
• Taking pictures of the pizza fails.
• Sharing the same jokes every time.

Now let’s talk about where you live — your community. Traditions here are like the neighborhood’s group handshake. They’re the things that everyone shows up for, like:

• The fun street parties.
• Local sports games.
• The big yearly parade.

Doing stuff like this makes everyone feel part of the team, like all our neighbors are friends.

Our world is full of amazing cultures, each with their unique traditions. Celebrating these is a great way to show everyone’s invited to the party, no matter where they’re from. It’s a chance to see how other people live, share, and have fun.

Check out all the different holidays: there are the mooncakes and lanterns for the Mid-Autumn Festival , the bright lights of Diwali , and the wild colors and dances at Mardi Gras .

There’s something cool about being part of a group, and traditions are one way we get that feeling. Whether you’re cheering for your school team or singing the same songs your grandma did, traditions remind you that you’re part of a bigger family.

What this looks like:

• Wearing your team’s colors on game day.
• Joining in on local festivals.
• Celebrating the same holidays your community does.

Let’s talk history, but in a way that’s not snooze-worthy. Traditions let us live it .

When you’re stirring up a batch of cookies using your great-grandma’s recipe or sitting around hearing stories about your town’s first days, you’re getting a taste of history without cracking open a textbook. You’re in the thick of it, learning through action.

It’s like when you drop by historical spots or museums right in your backyard, and you get a real, up-close feel for the life, hustle, and bustle from days gone by.

Getting out and doing things together—because of tradition—is a great excuse to hang out and meet people. It’s not just about having fun; though let’s be honest, that’s a huge perk. It’s about being part of the community action.

You could be lending a hand at a local charity, stopping by the house next door where there’s a barbecue going on, or handing out sweets when your town is throwing a big bash. 

Here’s an idea: An outdoor movie night brings everyone to the town square with blankets and popcorn, turning a regular night into something special we all share.

Traditions go beyond just hearing old sayings or advice; it’s about observing and picking up the smart choices and valuable lessons others before us have figured out.

When your granddad fixes something with his own two hands, you learn practical skills that you can’t get from a book. And those folk tales filled with clever tricks and life hacks? When grandparents share them, it’s more than story time — they’re giving us a whole box full of clever knowledge.

There’s this warm and fuzzy feeling we all love, like a favorite cozy blanket. That’s what traditions are.

For instance, no matter where you find yourself, if you celebrate your usual holidays, you’re instantly back to a familiar place. Your family’s yearly camping trip or the big pot of soup mom makes after a long day—it’s a built-in safety net of feel-goods.

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Traditions are things we do a lot, like family dinners on Fridays or going to the same spot for each vacation. These are the times when we have fun and remember the good stuff in life.

When we keep doing these things, they become special memories—like the best days we always want to remember.

Example: Friends who now live in different places around the world meet once a year for a meal or a trip. They laugh and catch up, and those moments become great memories they treasure.

Traditions give us a set of rules that make it easier to know how to live right. They’re built on the good stuff that our families and teachers have been following for a long time.

By sticking to these traditions, we learn how to act and treat others, like being honest or kind. They help us grow up to be good people who know the difference between what’s okay to do and what’s not.

Traditions give us a chance to be creative. They’re not just about doing things the same old way; they let us add our own touch.

Traditions get us to sing, dance, paint, and tell stories that have been around for ages but still feel new when we do them.

They encourage us to tap into our imagination and share what’s special about our culture. This helps us keep old art alive and gives us a cool way to show who we are and what we love to everyone else.

Traditions also keep us close to the place where we come from. Whether it’s a city or a countryside, traditions can be about planting trees, fishing, or cooking with local ingredients.

Doing these things reminds us of our home and keeps us connected to the land and the environment. Traditions help us respect nature and remember the importance of taking care of our home turf.

Traditions often include ways of doing things that don’t waste resources or harm the environment. They teach us to use what we have wisely, like reusing old things or growing our own food.

These practices have been around for a long time because they work without causing damage. Tradition is about doing things in a way that we can keep doing them for many, many years.

Traditions connect us to our ancestors — our family members from the past. They keep the stories and achievements of our ancestors alive. It’s like saying “thank you” to them for the good things they’ve passed down to us.

Here’s an idea:  Some families have a tradition of visiting their ancestors’ graves, cleaning them, and maybe leaving flowers. 

Traditions like celebrating birthdays, annual holidays, or the first day of school are markers that another year has gone by. They help us remember the important stuff as time passes. Without these traditions, it would be harder to keep track of the special moments that make up our lives. 

Here’s an idea :  Think about how we celebrate New Year’s Eve. It helps us say goodbye to the past and welcome the future with hope.

For many people, traditions are tied to their religion and help make those beliefs stronger. These are things like:

• Going to worship.
• Saying prayers at meals.
• Celebrating religious holidays.

When people practice these, they’re reminded of their faith and what they believe in. It helps them feel connected to something bigger and keep up their religious practices as part of their everyday life.

Traditions often involve listening to and learning from older family members. This might be through stories, recipes, or just their way of doing things.

When we follow these traditions, we’re showing our grandparents and other older people that we value their knowledge and experience . It’s like giving them a thumbs-up and saying their lives and stories are important to us.

Kids learn a lot from traditions, like how to behave, what’s important to their family, or skills they can use in life.

Traditions work like a fun class where kids learn about their culture and the world around them just by being part of a family doing its thing.

Example:  Making a craft or cooking a traditional dish together can be a fun activity, but it’s also a way for kids to learn about their culture and pick up new skills.

Think about the regular things you do every day or week—that’s where traditions fit into our lives. It might be a morning coffee, a walk after dinner, or a weekend sport. These little routines might seem simple, but they’re a big part of who we are.

They set the rhythm of our days and weeks, making life feel more predictable and comfortable. They’re small, but they have a big effect on how we go about our daily life.

Can traditions change over time?

Yep, traditions can change. As families and societies grow and change, the way we do things might get a little update to fit better with how we live now.

Can traditions be individual, or do they have to be shared with others?

Traditions can totally be individual. If you have a special way of doing something that’s just yours, that’s a personal tradition. Sharing with others is great, but not a must.

Do traditions have to be serious and formal?

Not at all! Traditions can be fun and relaxed. It’s all about doing things that have meaning to you—and that can be as goofy or as chill as you like.

What if someone doesn’t want to follow a tradition?

That’s their choice, and it’s cool. Everyone has their own way of living, and what’s important is to be respectful of each other’s decisions, whether that’s keeping a tradition or letting it go.

Remember when we asked if sticking with old traditions was really a good idea? The answer is yes because traditions keep us grounded. They remind us who we are and link us to our past and future. It’s not just about making pancakes on a Sunday; it’s about belonging to a bigger story.

So, don’t just sit on the sidelines! Jump in the mix with your family recipes, group hangouts, and all those yearly get-togethers. Make the most of these traditions; they’re yours to enjoy and pass down.

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Jessa Claire

Jessa Claire is a registered healthcare provider. Music lover. Daydreamer. Thalassophile. Foodie. A hardworking Capricorn. Most days, an incurable empath. An old soul. Down-to-earth. Vibrant.

When she's not writing, she can be seen relaxing with headphones on or engrossed in her favorite fan fiction book.

Essays about Culture and Identity: 9 Examples And Prompts

Writing essays about culture and identity will help you explore your understanding of it. Here are examples that will give you inspiration for your next essay.

Culture can refer to customs, traditions, beliefs, lifestyles, laws, artistic expressions, and other elements that cultivate the collective identity. Different cultures are established across nations, regions, communities, and social groups. They are passed on from generation to generation while others evolve or are abolished to give way to modern beliefs and systems.

While our cultural identity begins at home, it changes as we involve ourselves with other groups (friends, educational institutions, social media communities, political groups, etc.) Culture is a very relatable subject as every person is part of a culture or at least can identify with one. Because it spans broad coverage, there are several interesting cultural subjects to write about.

Our culture and identity are dynamic. This is why you may find it challenging to write about it. To spark your inspiration, check out our picks of the best culture essays. 

1. Sweetness and Light by Matthew Arnolds

2. how auto-tune revolutionized the sound of popular music by simon reynolds, 3. how immigration changes language by john mcwhorter, 4. the comfort zone: growing up with charlie brown by jonathan franzen, 5. culture and identity definition by sandra graham, 6. how culture and surroundings influence identity by jeanette lucas, 7. how the food we eat reflects our culture and identity by sophia stephens, 8. identity and culture: my identity, culture, and identity by april casas, 9. how america hinders the cultural identity of their own citizens by seth luna, 1. answer the question, “who am i”, 2. causes of culture shock, 3. your thoughts on dystopia and utopia, 4. gender inequality from a global perspective, 5. the most interesting things you learned from other cultures, 6. the relationship between cultural identity and clothes, 7. describe your culture, 8. what is the importance of honoring your roots , 9. how can a person adapt to a new culture, 10. what artistic works best express your country’s culture, 11. how has social media influenced human interaction, 12. how do you protect the cultures of indigenous peoples, 13. are k-pop and k-drama sensations effectively promoting korea’s culture , 14. what is the importance of cultural diversity.

“… [A]nd when every man may say what he likes, our aspirations ought to be satisfied. But the aspirations of culture, which is the study of perfection, are not satisfied, unless what men say, when they may say what they like, is worth saying,—has good in it, and more good than bad.”

Arnolds compels a re-examination of values at a time when England is leading global industrialization and beginning to believe that greatness is founded on material progress. 

The author elaborates why culture, the strive for a standard of perfection, is not merely driven by scientific passions and, more so, by materialistic affluence. As he esteems religion as “that voice of the deepest human experience” to harmonize men in establishing that ideal society, Arnolds stresses that culture is the effort to “make reason and the will of God prevail” while humanizing gained knowledge to be society’s source of “sweetness and light.”

“Few innovations in sound production have been simultaneously so reviled and so revolutionary. Epoch-defining or epoch-defacing, Auto-Tune is indisputably the sound of the 21st century so far.”

Reynolds shows how Auto-Tune has shaped a pop music genre that has cut across cultures. The article maps out the music landscape Auto-Tune created and examines its impact on the culture of song productions and the modern taste for music. While the author debunks accusations that Auto-Tune destroyed the “natural” process of creating music, he also points out that the technology earned its reverence with big thanks to society’s current custom of using technology to hide blemishes and other imperfections.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about culture shock .

“… [T]he heavy immigration that countries like Italy are experiencing will almost certainly birth new kinds of Italian that are rich with slang, somewhat less elaborate than the standard, and… widely considered signs of linguistic deterioration, heralding a future where the “original” standard language no longer exists.”

American linguist McWhorter pacifies fears over the death of “standard” languages amid the wave of immigration to Europe. On the contrary, language is a vital expression of a culture, and for some, preserving is tantamount to upholding a cultural standard. 

However, instead of seeing the rise of new “multiethnolects” such as the Black English in America and Kiezdeutsch in Germany as threats to language and culture, McWhorter sees them as a new way to communicate and better understand the social groups that forayed these new languages.

“I wonder why “cartoonish” remains such a pejorative. It took me half my life to achieve seeing my parents as cartoons. And to become more perfectly a cartoon myself: what a victory that would be.”

This essay begins with a huge fight between Franzen’s brother and father to show how the cultural generation gap sweeping the 60s has hit closer to home. This generation gap, where young adults were rejecting the elders’ old ways in pursuit of a new and better culture, will also be the reason why his family ends up drifting apart. Throughout the essay, Franzen treads this difficult phase in his youth while narrating fondly how Peanuts, a pop culture icon at the time, was his source of escape. 

“…Culture is… your background… and Identity is formed where you belong to… Leopold Sedar Senghor and Shirley Geok-Lin Lim both talks about how culture and identity can impact… society…”

In this essay, Graham uses “To New York” by Senghor and “Learning To Love America” by Lim as two pieces of literature that effectively describe the role of culture and identity to traveling individuals. 

The author refers to Sengho’s reminder that people can adapt but must not forget their culture even if they go to a different place or country. On the other hand, Lim discusses immigrants’ struggle to have double identities.

“Culture is something that surrounds all of us and progress to shape our lives every day… Identity is illustrated as the state of mind in which someone or something distinguishes their own character traits that lead to determining who they really are, what they represent.”

Lucas is keen on giving examples of how his culture and surroundings influence an individual’s identity. She refers to Kothari’s “If you are what you eat, then what am I?” which discusses Kothari’s search for her identity depending on what food she eats. Food defines a person’s culture and identity, so Kothari believes that eating food from different countries will change his identity.

Lucas also refers to “Down These Mean Streets” by Piri Thomas, which argues how different cultural and environmental factors affect us. Because of what we encounter, there is a possibility that we will become someone who we are not. 

“What we grow is who we are. What we buy is who we are. What we eat is who we are.”

Stephens’ essay teaches its readers that the food we grow and eat defines us as a person. She explains that growing a crop and harvesting it takes a lot of effort, dedication, and patience, which mirrors our identity. 

Another metaphor she used is planting rice: it takes skills and knowledge to make it grow. Cooking rice is more accessible than cultivating it – you can quickly cook rice by boiling it in water. This reflects people rich in culture and tradition but who lives simpler life. 

“Every single one has their own unique identity and culture. Culture plays a big role in shaping your identity. Culture is what made me the person I am today and determines who or what I choose to associate myself with.”

Casas starts her piece by questioning who she is. In trying to learn and define who she is, she writes down and describes herself and her personality throughout the essay. Finally, she concludes that her culture is a big part of her identity, and she must understand it to understand herself.

“When it comes to these stereotypes we place on each other, a lot of the time, we succumb to the stereotypes given to us. And our cultural identity is shaped by these expectations and labels others give us. That is why negative stereotypes sometimes become true for a whole group or community.”

In this essay, Luna talks about how negative stereotyping in the United States led to moral distortion. For example, Americans are assumed to be ignorant of other countries’ cultures, making it difficult to understand other people’s cultures and lifestyles. 

She believes that stereotyping can significantly affect an individual or group’s identity. She suggests Americans should improve their intellectual competence by being sensitive to other people’s cultures.

14 Prompts on Essays about Culture and Identity

You can discuss many things on the subject of culture and identity. To give you a starting point, here are some prompts to help you write an exciting essay about culture. 

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips and our round-up of the best essay checkers .

Understanding your personality is vital since continuous interaction with others can affect your personality. Write about your culture and identity; what is your personality? How do you define yourself? Everyone is unique, so by writing an essay about who you are, you’ll be able to understand why you act a certain way and connect with readers who have the same values. 

Here’s a guide on writing a descriptive essay to effectively relay your experience to your readers.

Sometimes, people need to get out of their comfort zone and interact with other individuals with different cultures, beliefs, or traditions. This is to broaden one’s perspective about the world. Aside from discussing what you’ve learned in that journey, you can also focus on the bits that shocked you. 

You can talk about a tradition or value that you found so bizarre because it differs from your culture. Then add how you processed it and finally adapted to it.

Dystopia and Utopia are both imagined worlds. Dystopia is a world where people live in the worst or most unfavorable conditions, while Utopia is the opposite. 

You can write an essay about what you think a Dystopian or Utopian world may look like, how these societies will affect their citizens, etc. Then, consider what personality citizens of each world may have to depend on the two worlds’ cultures.

Today, more and more people are fighting for others to accept or at least respect the LGBTQ+ community. However, countries, territories, and religions still question their rights.

In your essay, you can talk about why these institutions react the way they do and how culture dictates someone’s identity in the wrong way. Before creating your own, feel free to read other essays and articles to learn more about the global gender inequality issue. 

The world has diverse cultures, traditions, and values. When you travel to a new place, learning and writing about your firsthand experiences with unique cultures and rituals will always be an interesting read.

In this prompt, you’ll research other cultures and how they shaped their group’s identity. Then, write about the most exciting aspects you’ve learned, why you found them fascinating, and how they differ from your culture.

Those proud of their culture will wear clothes inspired by them. Some wear the same clothes even if they aren’t from the same culture. The debate over cultural appropriation and culture appreciation is still a hot topic. 

In this essay, you may start with the traditions of your community or observances your family celebrates and gathers for. Then, elaborate on their origins and describe how your community or family is preserving these practices. 

Learning about your roots, ancestors, and family cultures can help strengthen your understanding of your identity and foster respect for other cultures. Explore this topic and offer examples of what others have learned. Has the journey always been a positive experience? Delve into this question for an engaging and interesting essay.

When a person moves country, it can be challenging to adapt to a new culture. If there are new people at work or school, you can interview them and ask how they are coping with their new environment. How different is this from what they have been used to, and what unique traditions do they find interesting?

Focus on an art piece that is a source of pride and identity to your country’s culture, much like the Tinikling of the Philippines or the Matryoshka dolls of Russia. Explore its origins and evolution up to its current manifestation and highlight efforts that are striving to protect and promote these artistic works.

The older generation did not have computers in their teen years. Ask about how they dated in their younger years and how they made friends. Contrast how the younger generation is building their social networks today. Write what culture of socialization works better for you and explain why.

Take in-depth navigation of existing policies that protect indigenous peoples. Are they sufficient to serve these communities needs, and are they being implemented effectively? There is also the challenge of balancing the protection of these traditions against the need to protect the environment, as some indigenous practices add to the carbon footprint. How is your government dealing with this challenge?

A large population is now riding the Hallyu or the Korean pop culture, with many falling in love with the artists and Korea’s food, language, and traditional events. Research how certain Korean films, TV series, or music have effectively attracted fans to experience Korea’s culture. Write about what countries can learn from Korea in promoting their own cultures.

Environments that embrace cultural diversity are productive and innovative. To start your essay, assess how diverse your workplace or school is. Then, write your personal experiences where working with co-workers or classmates from different cultures led to new and innovative ideas and projects. Combine this with the personal experiences of your boss or the principal to see how your environment benefits from hosting a melting pot of cultures.

If you aim for your article to effectively change readers’ perspectives and align with your opinion, read our guide to achieving persuasive writing . 

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Tradition and the Individual Talent

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Often hailed as the successor to poet-critics such as John Dryden, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Matthew Arnold, T.S. Eliot’s literary criticism informs his poetry just as his experiences as a poet shape his critical work. Though famous for insisting on “objectivity” in art, Eliot’s essays actually map a highly personal set of preoccupations, responses and ideas about specific authors and works of art, as well as formulate more general theories on the connections between poetry, culture and society. Perhaps his best-known essay, “Tradition and the Individual Talent” was first published in 1919 and soon after included in The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism (1920). Eliot attempts to do two things in this essay: he first redefines “tradition” by emphasizing the importance of history to writing and understanding poetry, and he then argues that poetry should be essentially “impersonal,” that is separate and distinct from the personality of its writer. Eliot’s idea of tradition is complex and unusual, involving something he describes as “the historical sense” which is a perception of “the pastness of the past” but also of its “presence.” For Eliot, past works of art form an order or “tradition”; however, that order is always being altered by a new work which modifies the “tradition” to make room for itself. This view, in which “the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past,” requires that a poet be familiar with almost all literary history—not just the immediate past but the distant past and not just the literature of his or her own country but the whole “mind of Europe.” Eliot’s second point is one of his most famous and contentious. A poet, Eliot maintains, must “self-sacrifice” to this special awareness of the past; once this awareness is achieved, it will erase any trace of personality from the poetry because the poet has become a mere medium for expression. Using the analogy of a chemical reaction, Eliot explains that a “mature” poet’s mind works by being a passive “receptacle” of images, phrases and feelings which are combined, under immense concentration, into a new “art emotion.” For Eliot, true art has nothing to do with the personal life of the artist but is merely the result of a greater ability to synthesize and combine, an ability which comes from deep study and comprehensive knowledge. Though Eliot’s belief that “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality” sprang from what he viewed as the excesses of Romanticism, many scholars have noted how continuous Eliot’s thought—and the whole of Modernism—is with that of the Romantics’; his “impersonal poet” even has links with John Keats, who proposed a similar figure in “the chameleon poet.” But Eliot’s belief that critical study should be “diverted” from the poet to the poetry shaped the study of poetry for half a century, and while “Tradition and the Individual Talent” has had many detractors, especially those who question Eliot’s insistence on canonical works as standards of greatness, it is difficult to overemphasize the essay’s influence. It has shaped generations of poets, critics and theorists and is a key text in modern literary criticism.

In English writing we seldom speak of tradition, though we occasionally apply its name in deploring its absence. We cannot refer to “the tradition” or to “a tradition”; at most, we employ the adjective in saying that the poetry of So-and-so is “traditional” or even “too traditional.” Seldom, perhaps, does the word appear except in a phrase of censure. If otherwise, it is vaguely approbative, with the implication, as to the work approved, of some pleasing archaeological reconstruction. You can hardly make the word agreeable to English ears without this comfortable reference to the reassuring science of archaeology.

Certainly the word is not likely to appear in our appreciations of living or dead writers. Every nation, every race, has not only its own creative, but its own critical turn of mind; and is even more oblivious of the shortcomings and limitations of its critical habits than of those of its creative genius. We know, or think we know, from the enormous mass of critical writing that has appeared in the French language the critical method or habit of the French; we only conclude (we are such unconscious people) that the French are “more critical” than we, and sometimes even plume ourselves a little with the fact, as if the French were the less spontaneous. Perhaps they are; but we might remind ourselves that criticism is as inevitable as breathing, and that we should be none the worse for articulating what passes in our minds when we read a book and feel an emotion about it, for criticizing our own minds in their work of criticism. One of the facts that might come to light in this process is our tendency to insist, when we praise a poet, upon those aspects of his work in which he least resembles any one else. In these aspects or parts of his work we pretend to find what is individual, what is the peculiar essence of the man. We dwell with satisfaction upon the poet’s difference from his predecessors, especially his immediate predecessors; we endeavour to find something that can be isolated in order to be enjoyed. Whereas if we approach a poet without this prejudice we shall often find that not only the best, but the most individual parts of his work may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously. And I do not mean the impressionable period of adolescence, but the period of full maturity.

Yet if the only form of tradition, of handing down, consisted in following the ways of the immediate generation before us in a blind or timid adherence to its successes, “tradition” should positively be discouraged. We have seen many such simple currents soon lost in the sand; and novelty is better than repetition. Tradition is a matter of much wider significance. It cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour. It involves, in the first place, the historical sense, which we may call nearly indispensable to any one who would continue to be a poet beyond his twenty-fifth year; and the historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence; the historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole of the literature of Europe from Homer and within it the whole of the literature of his own country has a simultaneous existence and composes a simultaneous order. This historical sense, which is a sense of the timeless as well as of the temporal and of the timeless and of the temporal together, is what makes a writer traditional. And it is at the same time what makes a writer most acutely conscious of his place in time, of his own contemporaneity.

No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead. I mean this as a principle of aesthetic, not merely historical, criticism. The necessity that he shall conform, that he shall cohere, is not onesided; what happens when a new work of art is created is something that happens simultaneously to all the works of art which preceded it. The existing monuments form an ideal order among themselves, which is modified by the introduction of the new (the really new) work of art among them. The existing order is complete before the new work arrives; for order to persist after the supervention of novelty, the whole existing order must be, if ever so slightly, altered; and so the relations, proportions, values of each work of art toward the whole are readjusted; and this is conformity between the old and the new. Whoever has approved this idea of order, of the form of European, of English literature will not find it preposterous that the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past. And the poet who is aware of this will be aware of great difficulties and responsibilities.

In a peculiar sense he will be aware also that he must inevitably be judged by the standards of the past. I say judged, not amputated, by them; not judged to be as good as, or worse or better than, the dead; and certainly not judged by the canons of dead critics. It is a judgment, a comparison, in which two things are measured by each other. To conform merely would be for the new work not really to conform at all; it would not be new, and would therefore not be a work of art. And we do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value—a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity. We say: it appears to conform, and is perhaps individual, or it appears individual, and many conform; but we are hardly likely to find that it is one and not the other.

To proceed to a more intelligible exposition of the relation of the poet to the past: he can neither take the past as a lump, an indiscriminate bolus, nor can he form himself wholly on one or two private admirations, nor can he form himself wholly upon one preferred period. The first course is inadmissible, the second is an important experience of youth, and the third is a pleasant and highly desirable supplement. The poet must be very conscious of the main current, which does not at all flow invariably through the most distinguished reputations. He must be quite aware of the obvious fact that art never improves, but that the material of art is never quite the same. He must be aware that the mind of Europe—the mind of his own country—a mind which he learns in time to be much more important than his own private mind—is a mind which changes, and that this change is a development which abandons nothing en route , which does not superannuate either Shakespeare, or Homer, or the rock drawing of the Magdalenian draughtsmen. That this development, refinement perhaps, complication certainly, is not, from the point of view of the artist, any improvement. Perhaps not even an improvement from the point of view of the psychologist or not to the extent which we imagine; perhaps only in the end based upon a complication in economics and machinery. But the difference between the present and the past is that the conscious present is an awareness of the past in a way and to an extent which the past’s awareness of itself cannot show.

Some one said: “The dead writers are remote from us because we know so much more than they did.” Precisely, and they are that which we know.

I am alive to a usual objection to what is clearly part of my programme for the métier of poetry. The objection is that the doctrine requires a ridiculous amount of erudition (pedantry), a claim which can be rejected by appeal to the lives of poets in any pantheon. It will even be affirmed that much learning deadens or perverts poetic sensibility. While, however, we persist in believing that a poet ought to know as much as will not encroach upon his necessary receptivity and necessary laziness, it is not desirable to confine knowledge to whatever can be put into a useful shape for examinations, drawing-rooms, or the still more pretentious modes of publicity. Some can absorb knowledge, the more tardy must sweat for it. Shakespeare acquired more essential history from Plutarch than most men could from the whole British Museum. What is to be insisted upon is that the poet must develop or procure the consciousness of the past and that he should continue to develop this consciousness throughout his career.

What happens is a continual surrender of himself as he is at the moment to something which is more valuable. The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.

There remains to define this process of depersonalization and its relation to the sense of tradition. It is in this depersonalization that art may be said to approach the condition of science. I, therefore, invite you to consider, as a suggestive analogy, the action which takes place when a bit of finely filiated platinum is introduced into a chamber containing oxygen and sulphur dioxide.

Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry. If we attend to the confused cries of the newspaper critics and the susurrus of popular repetition that follows, we shall hear the names of poets in great numbers; if we seek not Blue-book knowledge but the enjoyment of poetry, and ask for a poem, we shall seldom find it. I have tried to point out the importance of the relation of the poem to other poems by other authors, and suggested the conception of poetry as a living whole of all the poetry that has ever been written. The other aspect of this Impersonal theory of poetry is the relation of the poem to its author. And I hinted, by an analogy, that the mind of the mature poet differs from that of the immature one not precisely in any valuation of “personality,” not being necessarily more interesting, or having “more to say,” but rather by being a more finely perfected medium in which special, or very varied, feelings are at liberty to enter into new combinations.

The analogy was that of the catalyst. When the two gases previously mentioned are mixed in the presence of a filament of platinum, they form sulphurous acid. This combination takes place only if the platinum is present; nevertheless the newly formed acid contains no trace of platinum, and the platinum itself is apparently unaffected; has remained inert, neutral, and unchanged. The mind of the poet is the shred of platinum. It may partly or exclusively operate upon the experience of the man himself; but, the more perfect the artist, the more completely separate in him will be the man who suffers and the mind which creates; the more perfectly will the mind digest and transmute the passions which are its material.

The experience, you will notice, the elements which enter the presence of the transforming catalyst, are of two kinds: emotions and feelings. The effect of a work of art upon the person who enjoys it is an experience different in kind from any experience not of art. It may be formed out of one emotion, or may be a combination of several; and various feelings, inhering for the writer in particular words or phrases or images, may be added to compose the final result. Or great poetry may be made without the direct use of any emotion whatever: composed out of feelings solely. Canto XV of the Inferno (Brunetto Latini) is a working up of the emotion evident in the situation; but the effect, though single as that of any work of art, is obtained by considerable complexity of detail. The last quatrain gives an image, a feeling attaching to an image, which “came,” which did not develop simply out of what precedes, but which was probably in suspension in the poet’s mind until the proper combination arrived for it to add itself to. The poet’s mind is in fact a receptacle for seizing and storing up numberless feelings, phrases, images, which remain there until all the particles which can unite to form a new compound are present together.

If you compare several representative passages of the greatest poetry you see how great is the variety of types of combination, and also how completely any semi-ethical criterion of “sublimity” misses the mark. For it is not the “greatness,” the intensity, of the emotions, the components, but the intensity of the artistic process, the pressure, so to speak, under which the fusion takes place, that counts. The episode of Paolo and Francesca employs a definite emotion, but the intensity of the poetry is something quite different from whatever intensity in the supposed experience it may give the impression of. It is no more intense, furthermore, than Canto XXVI, the voyage of Ulysses, which has not the direct dependence upon an emotion. Great variety is possible in the process of transmutation of emotion: the murder of Agamemnon, or the agony of Othello, gives an artistic effect apparently closer to a possible original than the scenes from Dante. In the Agamemnon , the artistic emotion approximates to the emotion of an actual spectator; in Othello to the emotion of the protagonist himself. But the difference between art and the event is always absolute; the combination which is the murder of Agamemnon is probably as complex as that which is the voyage of Ulysses. In either case there has been a fusion of elements. The ode of Keats contains a number of feelings which have nothing particular to do with the nightingale, but which the nightingale, partly, perhaps, because of its attractive name, and partly because of its reputation, served to bring together.

The point of view which I am struggling to attack is perhaps related to the metaphysical theory of the substantial unity of the soul: for my meaning is, that the poet has, not a “personality” to express, but a particular medium, which is only a medium and not a personality, in which impressions and experiences combine in peculiar and unexpected ways. Impressions and experiences which are important for the man may take no place in the poetry, and those which become important in the poetry may play quite a negligible part in the man, the personality.

I will quote a passage which is unfamiliar enough to be regarded with fresh attention in the light—or darkness—of these observations:

And now methinks I could e’en chide myself For doating on her beauty, though her death Shall be revenged after no common action. Does the silkworm expend her yellow labours For thee? For thee does she undo herself? Are lordships sold to maintain ladyships For the poor benefit of a bewildering minute? Why does yon fellow falsify highways, And put his life between the judge’s lips, To refine such a thing—keeps horse and men To beat their valours for her? . . .

In this passage (as is evident if it is taken in its context) there is a combination of positive and negative emotions: an intensely strong attraction toward beauty and an equally intense fascination by the ugliness which is contrasted with it and which destroys it. This balance of contrasted emotion is in the dramatic situation to which the speech is pertinent, but that situation alone is inadequate to it. This is, so to speak, the structural emotion, provided by the drama. But the whole effect, the dominant tone, is due to the fact that a number of floating feelings, having an affinity to this emotion by no means superficially evident, have combined with it to give us a new art emotion.

It is not in his personal emotions, the emotions provoked by particular events in his life, that the poet is in any way remarkable or interesting. His particular emotions may be simple, or crude, or flat. The emotion in his poetry will be a very complex thing, but not with the complexity of the emotions of people who have very complex or unusual emotions in life. One error, in fact, of eccentricity in poetry is to seek for new human emotions to express; and in this search for novelty in the wrong place it discovers the perverse. The business of the poet is not to find new emotions, but to use the ordinary ones and, in working them up into poetry, to express feelings which are not in actual emotions at all. And emotions which he has never experienced will serve his turn as well as those familiar to him. Consequently, we must believe that “emotion recollected in tranquillity” is an inexact formula. For it is neither emotion, nor recollection, nor, without distortion of meaning, tranquillity. It is a concentration, and a new thing resulting from the concentration, of a very great number of experiences which to the practical and active person would not seem to be experiences at all; it is a concentration which does not happen consciously or of deliberation. These experiences are not “recollected,” and they finally unite in an atmosphere which is “tranquil” only in that it is a passive attending upon the event. Of course this is not quite the whole story. There is a great deal, in the writing of poetry, which must be conscious and deliberate. In fact, the bad poet is usually unconscious where he ought to be conscious, and conscious where he ought to be unconscious. Both errors tend to make him “personal.” Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.

δ δε νους ισως Θειοτερον τι και απαθες εστιν

This essay proposes to halt at the frontier of metaphysics or mysticism, and confine itself to such practical conclusions as can be applied by the responsible person interested in poetry. To divert interest from the poet to the poetry is a laudable aim: for it would conduce to a juster estimation of actual poetry, good and bad. There are many people who appreciate the expression of sincere emotion in verse, and there is a smaller number of people who can appreciate technical excellence. But very few know when there is an expression of significant emotion, emotion which has its life in the poem and not in the history of the poet. The emotion of art is impersonal. And the poet cannot reach this impersonality without surrendering himself wholly to the work to be done. And he is not likely to know what is to be done unless he lives in what is not merely the present, but the present moment of the past, unless he is conscious, not of what is dead, but of what is already living.

The 1948 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, T.S. Eliot is highly distinguished as a poet, a literary critic, a dramatist, an editor, and a publisher. In 1910 and 1911, while still a college student, he wrote “ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ,” published in Poetry magazine, and...

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Indian Culture and Tradition Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on indian culture and tradition.

India has a rich culture and that has become our identity. Be it in religion, art, intellectual achievements, or performing arts, it has made us a colorful, rich, and diverse nation. The Indian culture and tradition essay is a guideline to the vibrant cultures and traditions followed in India. 

India was home to many invasions and thus it only added to the present variety. Today, India stands as a powerful and multi-cultured society as it has absorbed many cultures and moved on. People here have followed various religion , traditions, and customs.

Although people are turning modern today, hold on to the moral values and celebrates the festivals according to customs. So, we are still living and learning epic lessons from Ramayana and Mahabharata. Also, people still throng Gurudwaras, temples, churches, and mosques. 

The culture in India is everything from people’s living, rituals, values, beliefs, habits, care, knowledge, etc. Also, India is considered as the oldest civilization where people still follows their old habits of care and humanity.

Additionally, culture is a way through which we behave with others, how softly we react to different things, our understanding of ethics, values, and beliefs.

People from the old generation pass their beliefs and cultures to the upcoming generation. Thus, every child that behaves well with others has already learned about their culture from grandparents and parents.

Also, here we can see culture in everything like fashion , music , dance , social norms, foods, etc. Thus, India is one big melting pot for having behaviors and beliefs which gave birth to different cultures. 

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Indian Culture and Religion

There are many religions that have found their origin in age-old methods that are five thousand years old. Also, it is considered because Hinduism was originated from Vedas.

Thus, all the Hindu scriptures that are considered holy have been scripted in the Sanskrit language. Also, it is believed that Jainism has ancient origin and existence in the Indus valley. Buddhism is the other religion that was originated in the country through the teachings of Gautam Buddha. 

There are many different eras that have come and gone but no era was very powerful to change the influence of the real culture. So, the culture of younger generations is still connected to the older generations. Also, our ethnic culture always teaches us to respect elders, behave well, care for helpless people, and help needy and poor people.

Additionally, there is a great culture in our country that we should always welcome guest like gods. That is why we have a famous saying like ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’. So, the basic roots in our culture are spiritual practices and humanity. 

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Home — Essay Samples — Arts & Culture — Tradition

Essays on Tradition

1. examples of tradition essay prompts.

• Prompt 1: Explore a cherished cultural tradition in your family or community and its significance.
• Prompt 2: Discuss the evolution of a specific cultural practice over time and its impact on society.
• Prompt 3: Analyze the role of tradition in shaping the identity and values of individuals and communities.

2. Nurturing Tradition Essay Ideas

Choosing the right essay topic is like planting a seed; it needs care and attention. Here's how to brainstorm and select a fantastic topic:

• Relevance: Consider traditions that are relevant to your life or the culture you want to explore.
• Uniqueness: Look for distinctive and less-explored traditions to make your essay stand out.
• Personal Connection: Reflect on traditions that have personal significance or have influenced your upbringing.

3. Inspiring Tradition Essay Topics

• 1. The Art of Tea Ceremonies in Japanese Culture: Explore the intricacies of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
• 2. The Evolution of Thanksgiving Celebrations: Trace the history and significance of Thanksgiving in America.
• 3. The Role of Henna in Indian Weddings: Analyze the cultural importance of henna application in Indian marriage rituals.
• 4. Mardi Gras: Tradition and Transformation: Investigate the origins and evolution of the Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans.
• 5. Traditional Chinese Medicine: Ancient Wisdom in Modern Healthcare: Discuss the relevance of traditional Chinese medicine practices today.
• 6. The Impact of Carnival in Brazil: Explore how Carnival influences Brazilian culture and identity.
• 7. The Revival of Native American Traditions: Examine efforts to preserve and revitalize indigenous traditions in North America.
• 8. The Art of Sushi Making: Dive into the history and cultural significance of sushi in Japan.
• 9. Folk Music and Identity: Discuss how folk music reflects and shapes the cultural identity of different regions.
• 10. The Tradition of Storytelling in Indigenous Cultures: Explore the oral storytelling traditions of indigenous communities around the world.
• 11. The Role of Carnival Masks in Venetian Culture: Analyze the symbolism and history of masks in Venice's Carnival.
• 12. The Influence of Yoga in Western Society: Discuss how the practice of yoga has become a global tradition.
• 13. The Art of Traditional Korean Hanbok: Explore the beauty and cultural significance of Korean traditional attire.
• 14. The Passing Down of Family Recipes: Investigate how cooking and food traditions are preserved within families.
• 15. The Rituals of Day of the Dead in Mexico: Examine the symbolism and practices associated with Dia de los Muertos.
• 16. Traditional African Drumming and Dance: Discuss the role of music and dance in African cultural celebrations.
• 17. The Craftsmanship Behind Traditional Carpets: Explore the artistry and cultural significance of handmade carpets.
• 18. Tattooing as a Rite of Passage: Analyze the cultural significance of tattoo traditions in various societies.
• 19. The Impact of K-Pop on Korean Traditions: Discuss how the global phenomenon of K-Pop influences traditional Korean culture.
• 20. The Connection Between Folklore and Traditions: Explore how folklore stories shape and reflect cultural traditions.

4. Inspirational Paragraphs and Phrases

Seeking some creative sparks to light up your essay? Here are sample paragraphs and phrases to ignite your inspiration:

Sample Introduction: "Tradition, like an ancient tapestry, weaves its threads through the fabric of our lives, connecting generations and preserving our cultural heritage."

Sample Body Paragraph: "The art of tea ceremonies in Japanese culture is more than just a ritual; it's a profound reflection of harmony, respect, and mindfulness."

Sample Conclusion: "As we explore the rich tapestry of traditions worldwide, we discover not only the diversity of our planet but also the universal human need to celebrate, remember, and connect through the rituals that define us."

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• Table Of Contents

culture , behaviour peculiar to Homo sapiens , together with material objects used as an integral part of this behaviour. Thus, culture includes language , ideas, beliefs, customs, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, and ceremonies, among other elements.

The existence and use of culture depends upon an ability possessed by humans alone. This ability has been called variously the capacity for rational or abstract thought, but a good case has been made for rational behaviour among subhuman animals, and the meaning of abstract is not sufficiently explicit or precise. The term symboling has been proposed as a more suitable name for the unique mental ability of humans, consisting of assigning to things and events certain meanings that cannot be grasped with the senses alone. Articulate speech—language—is a good example. The meaning of the word dog is not inherent in the sounds themselves; it is assigned, freely and arbitrarily, to the sounds by human beings. Holy water, “biting one’s thumb” at someone ( Romeo and Juliet , Act I, scene 1), or fetishes are other examples. Symboling is a kind of behaviour objectively definable and should not be confused with symbolizing, which has an entirely different meaning.

The concept of culture

Various definitions of culture.

What has been termed the classic definition of culture was provided by the 19th-century English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in the first paragraph of his Primitive Culture (1871):

Culture . . . is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief , art, morals , law , custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.

In Anthropology (1881) Tylor made it clear that culture, so defined, is possessed by man alone. This conception of culture served anthropologists well for some 50 years. With the increasing maturity of anthropological science, further reflections upon the nature of their subject matter and concepts led to a multiplication and diversification of definitions of culture. In Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions (1952), U.S. anthropologists A.L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn cited 164 definitions of culture, ranging from “learned behaviour” to “ideas in the mind,” “a logical construct,” “a statistical fiction,” “a psychic defense mechanism,” and so on. The definition—or the conception—of culture that is preferred by Kroeber and Kluckhohn and also by a great many other anthropologists is that culture is an abstraction or, more specifically, “an abstraction from behaviour.”

These conceptions have defects or shortcomings. The existence of behavioral traditions—that is, patterns of behaviour transmitted by social rather than by biologic hereditary means—has definitely been established for nonhuman animals. “Ideas in the mind” become significant in society only as expressed in language, acts, and objects. “A logical construct” or “a statistical fiction” is not specific enough to be useful. The conception of culture as an abstraction led, first, to a questioning of the reality of culture (inasmuch as abstractions were regarded as imperceptible) and, second, to a denial of its existence; thus, the subject matter of nonbiological anthropology, “culture,” was defined out of existence, and without real, objective things and events in the external world there can be no science.

Kroeber and Kluckhohn were led to their conclusion that culture is an abstraction by reasoning that if culture is behaviour it, ipso facto, becomes the subject matter of psychology; therefore, they concluded that culture “is an abstraction from concrete behavior but is not itself behavior.” But what, one might ask, is an abstraction of a marriage ceremony or a pottery bowl, to use Kroeber and Kluckhohn’s examples? This question poses difficulties that were not adequately met by these authors. A solution was perhaps provided by Leslie A. White in the essay “The Concept of Culture” (1959). The issue is not really whether culture is real or an abstraction, he reasoned; the issue is the context of the scientific interpretation.

When things and events are considered in the context of their relation to the human organism, they constitute behaviour; when they are considered not in terms of their relation to the human organism but in their relationship to one another, they become culture by definition. The mother-in-law taboo is a complex of concepts, attitudes, and acts. When one considers them in their relationship to the human organism—that is, as things that the organism does—they become behaviour by definition. When, however, one considers the mother-in-law taboo in its relationship to the place of residence of a newly married couple, to the customary division of labour between the sexes, to their respective roles in the society’s mode of subsistence and offense and defense, and these in turn to the technology of the society, the mother-in-law taboo becomes, again by definition, culture. This distinction is precisely the one that students of words have made for many years. When words are considered in their relationship to the human organism—that is, as acts—they become behaviour. But when they are considered in terms of their relationship to one another—producing lexicon, grammar, syntax , and so forth—they become language, the subject matter not of psychology but of the science of linguistics. Culture, therefore, is the name given to a class of things and events dependent upon symboling ( i.e., articulate speech) that are considered in a kind of extra-human context.

Universalist approaches to culture and the human mind

Culture, as noted above, is due to an ability possessed by man alone. The question of whether the difference between the mind of man and that of the lower animals is one of kind or of degree has been debated for many years, and even today reputable scientists can be found on both sides of this issue. But no one who holds the view that the difference is one of degree has adduced any evidence to show that nonhuman animals are capable, to any degree whatever, of a kind of behaviour that all human beings exhibit. This kind of behaviour may be illustrated by the following examples: remembering the sabbath to keep it holy, classifying one’s relatives and distinguishing one class from another (such as uncles from cousins), defining and prohibiting incest, and so on. There is no reason or evidence that leads one to believe that any animal other than man can have or be brought to any appreciation or comprehension whatever of such meanings and acts. There is, as Tylor argued long ago, a “mental gulf that divides the lowest savage from the highest ape” ( Anthropology ).

In line with the foregoing distinction, human behaviour is to be defined as behaviour consisting of, or dependent upon, symboling rather than upon anything else that Homo sapiens does; coughing, yawning, stretching, and the like are not human.

Next to nothing is yet known about the neuroanatomy of symboling. Man is characterized by a very large brain, considered both absolutely and relatively, and it is reasonable—and even obligatory—to believe that the central nervous system , especially the forebrain, is the locus of the ability to symbol . But how it does this and with what specific mechanisms remain to be discovered. One is thus led to the conclusion that at some point in the evolution of primates a threshold was reached in some line, or lines, when the ability to symbol was realized and made explicit in overt behaviour. There is no intermediate stage, logical or neurological, between symboling and nonsymboling; an individual or a species is capable of symboling, or he or it is not. The life of Helen Keller makes this clear: when, through the aid of her teacher, Anne Sullivan , Keller was enabled to escape from the isolation to which her blindness and deafness had consigned her and to effect contact with the world of human meanings and values, the transformation was instantaneous.

But even if almost nothing is known about the neuroanatomy of symboling, a great deal is known about the evolution of mind (or “ minding ,” if mind is considered as a process rather than a thing), in which one finds symboling as the characteristic of a particular stage of development. The evolution of minding can be traced in the following sequence of stages. First is the simple reflexive stage, in which behaviour is determined by the intrinsic properties of both the organism and the thing reacted to—for example, the contraction of the pupil of the eye under increased stimulation by light. Second is the conditioned reflex stage, in which the response is elicited not by properties intrinsic in the stimulus but by meanings that the stimulus has acquired for the responding organism through experience—for example, Pavlov’s dog’s salivary glands responding to the sound of a bell. Third is the instrumental stage, as exemplified by a chimpanzee knocking down a banana with a stick. Here the response is determined by the intrinsic properties of the things involved (banana, stick, chimpanzee’s neurosensory-muscular system); but a new element has been introduced into behaviour, namely, the exercise of control by the reacting organism over things in the external world. And, finally, there is the symbol stage, in which the configuration of behaviour involves nonintrinsic meanings, as has already been suggested.

These four stages exhibit a characteristic of the evolution of all living things: a movement in the direction of making life more secure and enduring. In the first stage the organism distinguishes between the beneficial , the injurious, and the neutral, but it must come into direct contact with the object or event in question to do so. In the second stage the organism may react at a distance, as it were—that is, through an intermediate stimulus. The conditioned reflex brings signs into the life process; one thing or event may serve as an indication of something else—food, danger, and so forth. And, since anything can serve as a sign of anything else (a green triangle can mean food, sex, or an electric shock to the laboratory rat), the reactions of the organism are emancipated from the limitations that stage one imposes upon living things, namely, the intrinsic properties of things. The possibility of obtaining life-sustaining things and of avoiding life-destroying things is thus much enhanced , and the security and continuity of life are correspondingly increased. But in stage two the organism still plays a subordinate role to the external world; it does not and cannot determine the significance of the intermediary stimulus: the bark of a distant dog to the rabbit or the sound of the bell to Pavlov’s dog. This meaning is determined by things and events in the external world (or in the laboratory by the experimenter). In stages one and two, therefore, the organism is at the mercy of the external world in this respect.

In the third stage the element of control over environment is introduced. The ape who obtains food by means of a stick (tool) is not subordinate to his situation. He does not merely undergo a situation; he dominates it. His behaviour is not determined by the juxtaposition of things and events; on the contrary, the juxtaposition is determined by the ape. He is confronted with alternatives , and he makes choices. The configuration of behaviour in stage three is constructed within the dynamic organism of the ape and then imposed upon the external world.

The evolution of minding is a cumulative process; the achievements of each stage are carried on into the succeeding one or ones. The fourth stage reintroduces the factor of nonintrinsic meanings to the advances made in stages two and three. Stage four is the stage of symboling, of articulate speech. Thus, one observes two aspects of the evolution of minding, both of which contribute to the security and survivability of life: the emancipation of behaviour from limitations imposed upon it by the external world and increased control over the environment. To be sure, neither emancipation nor control becomes complete, but quantitative increase is significant.

The direction of biologic evolution toward greater expansion and security of life can be seen from another point of view: the advance from instinctive behaviour ( i.e., responses determined by intrinsic properties of the organism) to learned and freely variable behaviour, patterns of which may be acquired and transmitted from one individual and generation to another, and finally to a system of things and events, the essence of which is meanings that cannot be comprehended by the senses alone. This system is, of course, culture, and the species is the human species. Culture is a man-made environment, brought into existence by the ability to symbol.

Once established, culture has a life of its own, so to speak; that is, it is a continuum of things and events in a cause and effect relationship; it flows down through time from one generation to another. Since its inception 1,000,000 or more years ago, this culture—with its language, beliefs, tools, codes, and so on—has had an existence external to each individual born into it. The function of this external, man-made environment is to make life secure and enduring for the society of human beings living within the cultural system. Thus, culture may be seen as the most recent, the most highly developed means of promoting the security and continuity of life, in a series that began with the simple reflex.

Society preceded culture; society, conceived as the interaction of living beings, is coextensive with life itself. Man’s immediate prehuman ancestors had societies, but they did not have culture. Studies of monkeys and apes have greatly enlarged scientific knowledge of their social life—and, by inference , the scientific conception of the earliest human societies. Data derived from paleontological sources and from accumulating studies of living, nonhuman primates are now fairly abundant, and hypotheses derived from these are numerous and varied in detail. A fair summary of them may be made as follows: The growth of the primate brain was stimulated by life in the trees, specifically, by eye-hand coordinations involved in swinging from limb to limb and by manipulating food with the hands (as among the insectivorous lemurs). Descent to the ground, as a consequence of deforestation or increase in body size (which would tend to restrict arboreal locomotion and increase the difficulty of obtaining enough food to supply increased need), and the assumption of erect posture were other significant steps in biologic evolution and the eventual emergence of culture. Some theories reject the arboreal stage in man’s evolutionary past, but this does not seriously affect the overall conception of his development.

The Australopithecines of Africa, extinct manlike higher primates about which reliable knowledge is very considerable today, exemplify the stage of erect posture in primate evolution. Erect posture freed the arms and hands from their earlier function of locomotion and made possible an extensive and versatile use of tools. Again, the eye-hand-object coordinations involved in tool using stimulated the growth of the brain, especially the forebrain. It is not possible to determine on the basis of paleontological evidence the precise point at which the ability to symbol (specifically, articulate speech) was realized, as expressed in overt behaviour. It is believed by some that man’s prehuman ancestors used tools habitually and that habit became custom through the transmission of tool using from one generation to another long before articulate speech came into being. In fact, some theorists hold, the customary use of tools became a powerful stimulus in the development of a brain that was capable of symboling or articulate speech.

The introjection of symboling into primate social life was revolutionary. Everything was transformed, everything acquired new meaning; the symbol added a new dimension to primate—now human—existence. An ax was no longer merely a tool with which to chop; it could become a symbol of authority. Mating became marriage, and all social relationships between parents and children and brothers and sisters became moral obligations, duties, rights, and privileges. The world of nature, from the stones beside the path to the stars in their courses, became alive and conscious spirits. “And all that I beheld respired with inward meaning” (Wordsworth). The anthropoid had at last become a man.

Thus far in this article, culture has been considered in general, as the possession of all mankind. Now it is appropriate to turn to particular cultures , or sociocultural systems. Human beings, like other animal species, live in societies, and each society possesses culture. It has long been customary for ethnologists to speak of Seneca culture, Eskimo culture, North American Plains culture, and so on—that is, the culture of a particular society (Seneca) or an indefinite number of societies (Eskimo) or the cultures found in or characteristic of a topographic area (the North American Plains). There is no objection to this usage as a convenient means of reference: “Seneca culture” is the culture that the Seneca tribe possesses at a particular time. Similarly, Eskimo culture refers to a class of cultures, and Plains culture refers to a type of culture. What is needed is a term that defines culture precisely in its particular manifestations for the purpose of scientific study, and for this the term sociocultural system has been proposed. It is defined as the culture possessed by a distinguishable and autonomous group (society) of human beings, such as a tribe or a modern nation. Cultural elements may pass freely from one system to another (cultural diffusion), but the boundary provided by the distinction between one system and another (Seneca, Cayuga; United States , Japan) makes it possible to study the system at any given time or over a period of time.

Every human society, therefore, has its own sociocultural system: a particular and unique expression of human culture as a whole. Every sociocultural system possesses the components of human culture as a whole—namely, technological, sociological, and ideological elements. But sociocultural systems vary widely in their structure and organization. These variations are attributable to differences among physical habitats and the resources that they offer or withhold for human use; to the range of possibilities inherent in various areas of activity, such as language or the manufacture and use of tools; and to the degree of development. The biologic factor of man may, for purposes of analysis and comparison of sociocultural systems, be considered as a constant. Although the equality or inequality of races, or physical types, of mankind has not been established by science, all evidence and reason lead to the conclusion that, whatever differences of native endowment may exist, they are insignificant as compared with the overriding influence of the external tradition that is culture.

Since the infant of the human species enters the world cultureless, his behaviour—his attitudes, values , ideals, and beliefs, as well as his overt motor activity—is powerfully influenced by the culture that surrounds him on all sides. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the power and influence of culture upon the human animal. It is powerful enough to hold the sex urge in check and achieve premarital chastity and even voluntary vows of celibacy for life. It can cause a person to die of hunger, though nourishment is available, because some foods are branded unclean by the culture. And it can cause a person to disembowel or shoot himself to wipe out a stain of dishonour. Culture is stronger than life and stronger than death. Among subhuman animals, death is merely the cessation of the vital processes of metabolism, respiration, and so on. In the human species, however, death is also a concept; only man knows death. But culture triumphs over death and offers man eternal life. Thus, culture may deny satisfactions on the one hand while it fulfills desires on the other.

The predominant emphasis, perhaps, in studies of culture and personality has been the inquiry into the process by which the individual personality is formed as it develops under the influence of its cultural milieu . But the individual biologic organism is itself a significant determinant in the development of personality. The mature personality is, therefore, a function of both biologic and cultural factors, and it is virtually impossible to distinguish these factors from each other and to evaluate the magnitude of each in particular cases. If the cultural factor were a constant, personality would vary with the variations of the neurosensory-glandular-muscular structure of the individual. But there are no tests that can indicate, for example, precisely how much of the taxicab driver’s ability to make change is due to innate endowment and how much to cultural experience. Therefore, the student of culture and personality is driven to work with “modal personalities,” that is, the personality of the typical Crow Indian or the typical Frenchman insofar as this can be determined. But it is of interest, theoretically at least, to note that even if both factors, the biologic and the cultural, were constant—which they never are in actuality—variations of personality would still be possible. Within the confines of these two constants, individuals might undergo a number of profound experiences in different chronological permutations. For example, two young women might have the same experiences of (1) having a baby, (2) graduating from college, and (3) getting married. But the effect of sequence (1), (2), (3) upon personality development would be quite different than that of sequence (2), (3), (1).

Cultural comparisons

Ethnocentrism is the name given to a tendency to interpret or evaluate other cultures in terms of one’s own. This tendency has been, perhaps, more prevalent in modern nations than among preliterate tribes. The citizens of a large nation, especially in the past, have been less likely to observe people in another nation or culture than have been members of small tribes who are well acquainted with the ways of their culturally diverse neighbours. Thus, the American tourist could report that Londoners drive “on the wrong side of the street” or an Englishman might find some customs on the Continent “queer” or “boorish,” merely because they are different. Members of a Pueblo tribe in the American Southwest, on the other hand, might be well acquainted with cultural differences not only among other Pueblos but also in non-Pueblo tribes such as the Navajo and Apache.

Ethnocentrism became prominent among many Europeans after the discovery of the Americas, the islands of the Pacific, and the Far East. Even anthropologists might characterize all preliterate peoples as being without religion (as did Sir John Lubbock) or as having a “prelogical mentality” (as did Lucien Lévy-Bruhl) merely because their ways of thinking did not correspond with those of the culture of western Europe. Thus, inhabitants of non-Western cultures, particularly those lacking the art of writing, were widely described as being immoral, illogical, queer, or just perverse (“Ye Beastly Devices of ye Heathen”).

Increased knowledge led to or facilitated a deeper understanding and, with it, a finer appreciation of cultures quite different from one’s own. When it was understood that universal needs could be served with culturally diverse means, that worship might assume a variety of forms, that morality consists in conforming to ethical rules of conduct but does not inhere in the rules themselves, a new view emerged that each culture should be understood and appreciated in terms of itself. What is moral in one culture might be immoral or ethically neutral in another. For example, it was not immoral to kill a baby girl at birth or an aged grandparent who was nonproductive when it was impossible to obtain enough food for all; or wife lending among the Eskimo might be practiced as a gesture of hospitality, a way of cementing a friendship and promoting mutual aid in a harsh and dangerous environment, and thus may acquire the status of a high moral value.

The view that elements of a culture are to be understood and judged in terms of their relationship to the culture as a whole—a doctrine known as cultural relativism—led to the conclusion that the cultures themselves could not be evaluated or graded as higher and lower, superior or inferior. If it was unwarranted to say that patriliny (descent through the male line) was superior or inferior to matriliny (descent through the female line), if it was unjustified or meaningless to say that monogamy was better or worse than polygamy, then it was equally unsound or meaningless to say that one culture was higher or superior to another. A large number of anthropologists subscribed to this view; they argued that such judgments were subjective and therefore unscientific.

It is, of course, true that some values are imponderable and some criteria are subjective. Are people in modern Western culture happier than the Aborigines of Australia? Is it better to be a child than an adult, alive than dead? These certainly are not questions for science. But to say that the culture of the ancient Mayas was not superior to or more highly developed than the crude and simple culture of the Tasmanians or to say that the culture of England in 1966 was not higher than England’s culture in 1066 is to fly in the face of science as well as of common sense.

Cultures have ponderable values as well as imponderable, and the imponderable ones can be measured with objective, meaningful yardsticks. A culture is a means to an end: the security and continuity of life. Some kinds of culture are better means of making life secure than others. Agriculture is a better means of providing food than hunting and gathering. The productivity of human labour has been increased by machinery and by the utilization of the energy of nonhuman animals, water and wind power , and fossil fuels. Some cultures have more effective means of coping with disease than others, and this superiority is expressed mathematically in death rates. And there are many other ways in which meaningful differences can be measured and evaluations made. Thus, the proposition that cultures have ponderable values that can be measured meaningfully by objective yardsticks and arranged in a series of stages, higher and lower, is substantiated . But, it should be noted, this is not equivalent to saying that man is happier or that the dignity of the individual (an imponderable) is greater in an industrialized or agricultural sociocultural system than in one supported by human labour alone and sustained wholly by wild foods.

Actually, however, there is no necessary conflict between the doctrine of cultural relativism and the thesis that cultures can be objectively graded in a scientific manner. It is one thing to reject the statement that monogamy is better than polygamy and quite another to deny that one kind of sociocultural system contains a better means of providing food or combating disease than another.

Cultural adaptation and change

Every sociocultural system exists in a natural habitat, and, of course, this environment exerts an influence upon the cultural system. The cultures of some Eskimo groups present remarkable instances of adaptation to environmental conditions: tailored fur clothing, snow goggles, boats and harpoons for hunting sea mammals, and, in some instances, hemispherical snow houses, or igloos. Some sedentary, horticultural tribes of the upper Missouri River went out into the Great Plains and became nomadic hunters after the introduction of the horse. The culture of the Navajos underwent profound change after they acquired herds of sheep and a market for their rugs was developed. The older theories of simple environmentalism, some of which maintained that even styles of myths and tales were determined by topography , climate, flora, and other factors, are no longer in vogue. The present view is that the environment permits, at times encourages, and also prohibits the acquisition or use of certain cultural traits but otherwise does not determine culture change. The Fuegians living at the southern tip of South America , as viewed by Charles Darwin on his voyage on the Beagle , lived in a very cold, harsh environment but were virtually without both clothing and dwellings.

“Culture is contagious,” as a prominent anthropologist once remarked, meaning that customs, beliefs, tools, techniques, folktales, ornaments, and so on may diffuse from one people or region to another. To be sure, a culture trait must offer some advantage, some utility or pleasure, to be sought and accepted by a people. (Some anthropologists have assumed that basic features of social structure, such as clan organization, may diffuse, but a sounder view holds that these features involving the organic structure of the society must be developed within societies themselves.) The degree of isolation of a sociocultural system—brought about by physical barriers such as deserts, mountain ranges, and bodies of water—has, of course, an important bearing upon the ease or difficulty of diffusion . Within the limits of desirability on the one hand and the possibility of communication on the other, diffusion of culture has taken place everywhere and in all times. Archaeological evidence shows that amber from the Baltic region diffused to the Mediterranean coast; and, conversely, early coins from the Middle East found their way to northern Europe. In aboriginal North America , copper objects from northern Michigan have been found in mounds in Georgia; macaw feathers from Central America turn up in archaeological sites in northern Arizona. Some Indian tribes in northwestern regions of the United States had possessed horses, originally brought into the Southwest by Spanish explorers, years before they had ever even seen white men. The wide dispersion of tobacco, corn (maize), coffee, the sweet potato , and many other traits are conspicuous examples of cultural diffusion.

Diffusion may take place between tribes or nations that are approximately equal in political and military power and of equivalent stages of cultural development, such as the spread of the sun dance among the Plains tribes of North America. But in other instances, it takes place between sociocultural systems differing widely in this respect. Conspicuous examples of this have been instances of conquest and colonization of various regions by the nations of modern Europe. In these cases it is often said that the culture of the more highly developed nation is “imposed” upon the less developed peoples and cultures, and there is, of course, much truth in this; the acquisition of foreign culture by the subject people is called acculturation and is manifested by the indigenous populations of Latin America as well as of other regions. But even in cases of conquest, traits from the conquered peoples may diffuse to those of the more advanced cultures; examples might include, in addition to the cultivated plants cited above, individual words ( coyote ), musical themes, games, and art motifs.

One of the major problems of ethnology during the latter half of the 19th and the early decades of the 20th centuries was the question “How are cultural similarities in noncontiguous regions to be explained?” Did the concepts of pyramid building, mummification, and sun worship originate independently in ancient Egypt and in the Andean highlands and in Yucatán or did these traits originate in Egypt and diffuse from there to the Americas, as some anthropologists have believed? Some schools of ethnological theory have held to one view, some, to another. The 19th-century classical evolutionists (which included Edward Burnett Tylor and Lewis H. Morgan , among others) held that the mind of man is so constituted or endowed that he will develop cultures everywhere along the same lines. “Diffusionists”—those, such as Fritz Graebner and Elliot Smith , who offered grand theories about the diffusion of traits all over the world—maintained that man was inherently uninventive and that culture, once created, tended to spread everywhere. Each school tended to insist that its view was the correct one, and it would continue to hold that view unless definite proof of the contrary could be adduced.

The tendency nowadays is not to side categorically with one school as against another but to decide each case on its own merits. The consensus with regard to pyramids is that they were developed independently in Egypt and the Americas because they differ markedly in structure and function: the Egyptian pyramids were built of stone blocks and contained tombs within their interiors. The American pyramids were constructed of earth, then faced with stone, and they served as the bases of temples. The verdict with regard to the bow and arrow is that it was invented only once and subsequently diffused to all regions where it has been found. The probable antiquity of the origin of fire making, however, and the various ways of generating it—by percussion, friction, compression (fire pistons)—indicate multiple origins.

Evolution of culture—that is, the development of forms through time—has taken place. No amount of diffusion of picture writing could of itself, for instance, produce the alphabetic system of writing; as Tylor demonstrated so well, the art of writing has developed through a series of stages, which began with picture writing, progressed to hieroglyphic writing , and culminated in alphabetic writing. In the realm of social organization there was a development from territorial groups composed of families to segmented societies (clans and larger groupings). Sociocultural evolution, like biologic evolution, exhibits a progressive differentiation of structure and specialization of function.

A misunderstanding has arisen with regard to the relationship between evolution and diffusion. It has been argued, for example, that the theory of cultural evolution was unsound because some peoples skipped a stage in a supposedly determined sequence; for example, some African tribes, as a consequence of diffusion, went from the Stone Age to the Iron Age without an intermediate age of copper and bronze. But the classical evolutionists did not maintain that peoples, or societies, had to pass through a fixed series of stages in the course of development, but that tools, techniques, institutions—in short, culture—had to pass through the stages. The sequence of stages of writing did not mean that a society could not acquire the alphabet without working its way through hieroglyphic writing; it was obvious that many peoples did skip directly to the alphabet.

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Essay on Culture and Tradition

Explore the cultural and traditional values of different societies, and how they shape our understanding of the world. Learn how culture and tradition can have an impact on our daily lives, beliefs, and values.

Culture and tradition are important parts of our lives. They are the things that make us who we are and help us to understand the world around us. Culture is the knowledge, beliefs, and customs shared by a group of people. It can include language, religion, food, clothing, music, art, and much more. These things can change over time, but they are passed down from generations to generations. Traditions are activities or customs that are passed down from older generations. These traditions can be as simple as celebrating a holiday or as complex as a cultural practice. They are important because they give us a sense of identity and help us to connect with our past. Culture and tradition are important because they give us a shared identity and help us to understand the world around us. They can also be a source of comfort, as well as a way for us to express our creativity. By understanding and respecting other cultures, we can learn to appreciate their differences and find commonalities among us. All in all, culture and tradition are very important and should be respected and celebrated. They are the things that make us who we are and help us to understand the world around us.

FAQs Related to Essay on Culture and Tradition

1. what is the definition of culture and tradition.

Culture and tradition are terms that often go hand in hand, but they have different definitions. Culture is defined as the shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts of a particular group or society. Tradition, on the other hand, refers to a practice or belief that is passed down through generations and is often seen as a part of a culture.

2. What are some examples of culture and tradition?

Culture and tradition are an integral part of any society. They give a sense of identity to individuals and help to define a particular group or community. Examples of culture and tradition include religious celebrations, language, arts and crafts, music and dance, cuisine, and social customs and rituals. In some cultures, there may also be special ceremonies and rites of passage, such as weddings and funerals.

3. What is the relationship between culture and language?

The relationship between culture and language is complex and interconnected. Language is a form of expression, and culture is a form of identity. Language is strongly linked to culture, as it is a reflection of how people communicate with one another and express their ideas within a society. Culture creates and shapes language, as it contains the values, beliefs, and norms of a group of people. Therefore, culture and language are inextricably linked, as they both influence and shape each other.

4. What is the importance of preserving culture and tradition?

Preserving culture and tradition is important for many reasons. It gives us a sense of identity and helps to preserve our shared history. It also helps to keep our communities connected, as many of our celebrations, customs, and festivals are rooted in our cultural heritage.

5. What can people do to maintain their culture and traditions?

People can maintain their culture and traditions by engaging in activities such as celebrating traditional holidays, teaching their children about the history and values of their heritage, participating in cultural events, and sharing traditional stories and customs with others. They can also preserve artifacts, photographs, and other items that are important to their culture, and learn to speak the language of their ancestors.

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Essays on Tradition

Everyone wrote a tradition essay at least once. Tradition essays are a great excuse to learn about your local culture and its origins. Curiously, the modern world shows increasing interest in traditions – local crafts, folklore, literature, music, spiritual, culinary, and medicinal practices. By experiencing them, humans delve deeper into the origins of culture and learn to cherish unique national favor. Traditions often include guidance, lessons on ethics and esthetics, rules, and ways of everyday life. We compiled some exemplary tradition essay samples for you to browse while working on your essay – viewing samples helps gain perspective on the topic. Some essays on tradition prove to be more difficult for students, so we don’t simply provide insight, but write complete essays on request.

Laws that were gradually developed as a consequence of customs and traditions frequently govern nations. Early 1100s and 1200s rules were composed of oral traditions that are no longer widely accepted. The guidelines were designed to impart understandable and attainable knowledge about coding. Fines for errors and injuries were also...

Words: 1732

Every community has a traditional value of a contented and happy family. Most individuals look for harmony and contentment within their families. In addition, the family continues to be one of the basic categories of intimate relationship in all societies. Families are therefore supposed to be joyful and humble. Families...

Words: 1124

Shamanic Healing Rituals Shamanic healing rituals involve a rite that includes a variety of therapeutic devices. It entails providing therapeutic services that help people of all socioeconomic levels heal on a physical, mental, and emotional level. But just as a facilitator is not a healer, so the healing rituals were merely...

Words: 2579

What can be learned about the Mongols' religion and ideas about death and the afterlife from Kirakos' account of their burial customs? Recall our discussion of Islamic burial customs and our discussions of the meaning of particular burial customs. The account of the Mongol's burial by Kirako suggests that by the...

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First of all, many people have long been aware of the wealthy America. This is primarily due to its varied culture, which is now recognized as the best western culture.In actuality, the American culture includes a variety of elements, such as traditions, customs, and norms, all of which are imprinted...

Words: 1723

The Day of the Dead Festival The Day of the Dead festival, observed primarily in Mexico's south and center on November 1 and 2, is marked by the use of the iconic sugar skull. The occasion honors and pays tribute to departed family members and forefathers. (Brandes 183). The Sugar Skull It also goes...

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Introduction Despite their distinct cultures, traditions, and societal structures, China, Korea, and Japan, which make up East Asia, have a shared food culture that has persisted to the present day. Undoubtedly, as people moved from the Asian mainland to the Korean peninsula and then on to the Japanese archipelago, food culture...

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A ritual is a ceremonial that consists of many actions performed in a specific order. Yet, these actions are frequently performed depending on a certain tribe in a country and cannot be considered innate acts (Quantz, O Connor, s self-control. Religion is frequently practiced, forming a tie between a...

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How Hume s recommendations disrupt Kant s dogmatic slumber Kant s philosophical progress was based on the German tradition of rationalist metaphysics, and this was the dogmatic slumber. Hume broke the dogmatic slumber by demonstrating the relevance of knowledge claims as well as the difficulties in explaining them. Hume contends that...

Fulani Ethnic Group and Their Cultural Heritage Fulani, also known as Fula, are a West African ethnic group located primarily in Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. They can also be found in Central African countries such as...

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The First Heritage Assessment: West African Senegal Culture The first heritage assessment is of West African Senegal culture, of which I am a descendant. The cultural background of an individual is very important in defining the level of health maintenance, health protection, and health restoration in West African Senegal culture. This...

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What do you hope to accomplish or learn throughout the course? What do you want to learn about Indigenous Australia and its people? Please provide a comment about both your personal and professional life/perspective. Throughout this course, I hope to obtain a thorough grasp of Indigenous Australia and the current community...

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The Enduring Spirit of Native American Traditions

This essay is about Native American traditions, focusing on their respect for nature, the importance of storytelling, and ceremonial practices. It highlights how these traditions view the environment as a living entity and use rituals like the Sun Dance and powwows to express gratitude and community bonding. The essay also covers the role of traditional crafts in preserving cultural stories and values, emphasizing the communal approach to social organization and reciprocity. Finally, it touches on the modern efforts to revitalize and preserve these traditions, showcasing their resilience and continued relevance in contemporary times.

How it works

Native American traditions are like a colorful quilt woven from generations of cultural expressions, beliefs, and practices. They’re not just relics of the past—they’re alive and kicking, shaping the lives of Native American communities today. These traditions give us deep insights into how people relate to nature, community, and the spirit world.

Nature holds a special place in Native American hearts. They see the world around them as more than just scenery—it’s a living thing, full of spirits to be respected and honored.

Animism, the belief that everything—trees, animals, rivers—has a spirit, is a big deal in many Native American cultures. This outlook fosters a sense of kinship with nature and inspires practices that keep the earth healthy. Ceremonies like the Sun Dance and Green Corn Ceremony celebrate nature’s cycles and remind everyone how connected we all are.

Storytelling is another cornerstone of Native American life. Stories aren’t just tales—they’re lessons in history, morals, and culture. Take the Navajo creation story, for example. It tells how the People came from the underworld and teaches about their ties to the land and each other. Elders pass down these stories to keep wisdom alive and make sure traditions stay strong.

Ceremonies are a big part of Native American traditions, too. They vary from tribe to tribe but often involve music, dance, and sacred objects. The powwow is a standout—a time for Native American communities to come together and celebrate their heritage with dancing, music, and art. It’s a chance to honor ancestors, bond as a community, and show off beautiful regalia that tells stories and connects wearers to their roots.

Crafts and art are vital in Native American culture, not just for beauty but for passing down stories and values. Think basket weaving, pottery, beadwork—all crafted with meaning. Lakota Sioux beadwork, for instance, isn’t just pretty patterns; it tells tales and represents spiritual ideas. Making these crafts isn’t just art—it’s a way to connect with the past and keep skills alive.

Community is key in Native American life. Families and clans stick together, creating strong support networks. Practices like potlatches—feasts where gifts are shared—strengthen bonds and spread wealth. Reciprocity is at the heart of it all, where everyone gives back to keep harmony and balance.

Today, Native American traditions are evolving while staying true to their roots. Efforts to keep traditions alive include language programs, cultural education, and protecting sacred places. Digital platforms also help Native Americans share their culture with the world, keeping traditions strong and vibrant.

Native American traditions aren’t just about the past—they’re lessons in living well today. They teach us about respecting nature, valuing community, and the power of storytelling. By honoring these traditions, we honor Native American heritage and learn things that can make our own lives richer and more meaningful.

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R.m.s titanic - history and significance.

History, Culture and Iconic Interests in the United States and Abroad The R.M.S.  Titanic  is perhaps the most famous shipwreck in our current popular culture.  Titanic  was a British-registered ship in the White Star line that was owned by a U.S. company in which famed American financier John Pierpont "JP" Morgan was a major stockholder.  Titanic  was built in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Harland & Wolff for transatlantic passage between Southampton, England and New York City. It was the largest and most luxurious passenger ship of its time and was reported to be unsinkable.  Titanic,   launched on May 31, 1911 , and set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10, 1912, with 2,240 passengers and crew on board. On April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg,  Titanic  broke apart and sank to the bottom of the ocean, taking with it the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew. While there has been some  salvage  outside of the major hull portions, most of the ship remains in its final resting place, 12,000 feet below sea level and over 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Its famous story of disaster and human drama has been and continues to be recounted in numerous books, articles, and movies.  Titanic  has been recognized by the United States Congress for its national and international significance and, in many ways, has become a cultural icon.  The disaster also resulted in a number of memorials around the world. In the United States, there are major memorials in  Washington D.C . offsite link  and  New York offsite link ; the  Widener Library  offsite link at Harvard University is another major memorial commemorating Henry Elkins Widener, a victim of the sinking. Investigation and the Development of Measures for Safety in Navigation The sinking of  Titanic  was one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history and quickly became a catalyst for change. The United States Congress held  hearings offsite link  on the casualty that resulted in a  report offsite link  and measures to improve  safety of navigation offsite link . Similar investigations were held in the United Kingdom. The international community readily came together for the purpose of establishing global maritime standards and regulations to promote safety of navigation, the most important of which was the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), widely regarded as the most important of all international agreements on the safety of merchant ships.

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Last Updated July 18, 2024

Introduction to Chicanx/ Latinx Literature and Culture

Essay- makayla koshmerl.

Final Essay:

The American Food Industry is one of the largest industries within the United States, propelling big corporations forward and profiting tremendously. But what makes this industry so successful? Contributions from Latinxs are shown to be the primary reason as to why this industry is able to be so successful and why it is even able to continue flourishing. While being very successful, everything that aids into it is often overlooked and casted aside. There is a never-ending range as to how Latinx contributes, from farm workers to cultural foods and food industry workers. The documentary directed by Robin Romano, La Cosecha/The Harvest (2010), sheds light on the struggles farm workers face on an everyday basis in order to keep this industry upright, which demonstrates just one of the many ways in which Latinx contributes. The movie, East Side Sushi directed by Anthony Lucero, shows a different workforce of Latinx working within the kitchen and food industry itself providing other ways in which Latinx contribute to the food industry and ultimately hold it together. While La Cosecha/The Harvest and East Side Sushi portrays different Latinx experiences and contributions to the American food industry, both highlight Latinx as the backbone of this industry; displaying many themes of hardship which sheds light on harmful stereotypes and immigration issues. One way in which Latinx contributes to the food industry is through working in the agricultural fields. Farm workers make up the bulk of the American food industry and the workers are faced with many struggles and injustices. Majority are foreign born, being immigrants and often undocumented with 63% of agricultural workers being born in Mexico, according to the National Center for Farmworkers Health (NCFH). Latinx are the vast majority of agricultural workers and are primarily the ones facing the struggles and hardships being portrayed. La Cosecha, is a documentary that displays the many hardships migrant workers face. Farmworkers have an increase in health problems due to how physically straining it is on the body, working in extreme weather conditions, and handling toxic chemicals and pesticides. According to NCDHHS (office of rural health), “85% of farm workers in the US have no health insurance” (16).This is significant because it amplifies the health issues shown in the documentary and many do not qualify for social services due to immigration status. The documentary also showed the housing issues within farmworkers since they need to migrate depending on the season, “The camps that we lived in were never good for living… (26:15 – 26:28). This increases stress of Latinx farmworker families and shows how the food industry is failing farm workers and using their cheap labor to make more profit. The food industry takes advantage of migrant workers since this is one of the few jobs that they can do by oftentimes making less than the minimum wage, “…20% of agricultural worker families had family income levels below the national poverty guidelines” (NCFH 6). The documentary also displays how the families make so little that the children need to work from a very young age. This brings in the topic of stereotypes within Latinx farm workers. Many believe migrant workers to not care about their education and put in the effort towards their education to get out of the poverty line. The statistics portrayed as well as the documentary shows how this is in fact not true and that the food industry forms a cycle to keep farm workers as cheap labor to fuel the industry. The hardships faced have a domino effect keeping these stereotypes alive and immigration issues continue.

Another way in which Latinx contributes to the food industry is through Latinx workers working in the kitchen and preparing food in the food service industry. The film, East Side Sushi depicts latinx experience within the food industry which shows another way as to how they contribute to this industry from La Cosecha. The film shows Juana’s experiences while working in the food industry and many challenges are brought out. For example, before getting her job in the Osaka restaurant she worked selling fruit as a street vendor. It is seen that the street vending took a lot of hard work and did not get very much pay. In addition it was dangerous where in the film she gets attacked further showing that the job is not the safest. Shedding light on the street violence within Fruteros shows the challenges Latinx has to overcome when contributing to the food industry. This is another job that many Latinx workers take hold of due to the fact that the job range is limited. Fruteros, by Rosio Rosales, touches on the problem with street vending and expands on how it problematizes immigration status. For example Rosales states, “The strict binary between “legality” and “illegality” misrepresents the reality of immigrants’ lived experiences” (10). For immigrants street vending is very common in Latin America, however in many parts of the US street vending is illegal meaning it can take away from their culture and bring out other immigration problems. Rosales and the film share the different struggles Latinx community has with street vending which again demonstrates the way the food industry brings out stereotypes and immigration issues. In addition, the film shares Juana’s experiences within the Osaka restaurant, “…behind every great restaurant, here, there are great Latinos in the back, in the kitchen, hidden, prepping the food and making it look good” (Juana, 72:00). This goes to show the major contribution that the Latinx workers have within the food industry and how without them it would not be anywhere as successful as it is now. Laitnx labor is displayed to be important within this film and it ultimately shows the challenges Latinx workers face as well as how much they contribute to the food industry. While the documentary, La Cosecha and the film, East Side Sushi touch on different roles in which the Latinx community contributes to the food industry, they both show themes of hardships. Both portrayed that Latinx workers needed to make many sacrifices in order to do the job. The documentary touched on the sacrifice of education and pushing school away in order to help work for their family. It got to the point that the children working in agriculture did not learn much from school. One particular scene that represents the toll working has on education is when a young girl, Zulema is asked if she has any dreams she replies with, “no I’m still working on those” (3:16). The education system does not also provide any different ways in which the children working can learn better and still get more out of their education which connects with the injustices within the food industry. It is apparent here that the food industry does not care about the families or Latinx workers and instead will just use them as a cheap labor source. Another sacrifice shown in the documentary was their health in itself. As stated previously many Latinx farm workers do not get any health insurance and do not qualify for social services due to immigration status. With the work that they do being so physically demanding, exposing them to harsh chemicals, and making below the poverty line, the mental and physical health of Latinx is sacrificed in order for the big corporations to run. Likewise, the film East Side Sushi also displayed themes of hardships and sacrifices that are made. Juana, when working by street vending, makes the sacrifice of waking up at four in the morning and taking her daughter with her in order to get to work and be prepared. She also has to sacrifice her safety since the job is out in the open and especially her being a woman is very susceptible to getting attacked which is seen when two males attack her and steal her money. This also caters to the immigration issues due to the fact that there is often no accountability since many Latinx people working as street vendors are immigrants. Both the film and documentary displays the contributions Latinx has contributed to the food industry and also shows the implications and negative effects it has. It is apparent that the American food industry is profiting off of the cheap labor of Latinx people, and it also takes a lot from the cultural foods. This can be seen as a good thing considering it as cultural appreciation. While this can be true it is important to look at how this is being presented. Mexican food has implemented its way into capitalism which shows another contribution to the American food industry. Taco USA, by Gustavo, Arellano highlights this fact, “…a perpetual foreigner perfectly at home,” (5). Cultural food has expanded to the United states and when relating this to the film and documentary with cheap labor, this is also something that is very simple to sell. Taco USA touches on all the ways in which Latinx workers provide for the industry, “to all the Mexican workers, busboys and waitresses, line cooks, and sous chefs, janitors and crop pickers, and so many more who toil anonymously in our food industry, making American cuisine even more Mexican than we could ever realize,” (Taco USA 2012). With the combination of the cheap labor and contributions of the food itself, Mexican labor and Latinx is proven to be the backbone of the industry. This is only some of the ways in which the food industry utilizes Mexican cheap labor to aid its success and ultimately be the reason as to why it is so successful in the first place. Overall, Latinx contributes greatly to the American food industry and without the workers the industry would not be nearly as successful as it is today. It is ultimately really devastating at how Latinx workers are taken advantage of especially due to the fact that immigration status comes into play. East Side Sushi and La Cosecha displays the ways in which the Latinx community contributes to the food industry. From the farm workers, to people working within the food industry itself, to cultural foods making its way to every household, there is no doubt that the contributions are significant. Many themes of hardships and sacrifices between the families within this industry that do provide for the US are displayed throughout the readings/films which is an immediate reflection of everyday life. There needs to be a change within this industry to keep from problematizing stereotypes and immigration issues. Without these workers the industry would fall apart.

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‘Spiritual but Not Religious’ Is Older Than You Think

Review: ‘shaman and sage’ by michael horton.

More By Andrew Spencer

A growing number of people in the U.S. identify as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR). According to Pew Research , these individuals “consider spirituality very important in their lives, but they neither think of themselves as religious nor say religion is very important in their lives.” This group, often described as “ Nones ,” aren’t simply out of the habit of attending church. They see little need for “organized religion” and gravitate toward autonomous, à la carte spirituality instead.

In Shaman and Sage: The Roots of “Spiritual but Not Religious” in Antiquity , Michael Horton argues SBNR isn’t new. It recycles several ancient cultural themes. At the heart of the growing SBNR trend is the pursuit of autonomy, a hallmark of our modern age. SBNR also emphasizes the immanence of the divine, especially through pantheism—a significant theme in theological liberalism as well as in our environmentally concerned world. This first of three volumes in The Divine Self offers a deep dive into ancient cultures and will likely influence conversations about religious trends in the coming years.

Shaman and Sage: The Roots of “Spiritual but Not Religious” in Antiquity

Michael horton.

Michael Horton reveals that the hallmarks of modern spirituality—autonomy, individualism, utopianism, and more—have their foundations in Greek philosophical religion. Horton makes the case that the development of the shaman figure in the Axial Age—particularly its iteration among Orphists—represented a “divine self.” One must realize the divinity within the self to break free from physicality and become one with a panentheistic unity. Time and time again, this tradition of divinity hiding in nature has arisen as an alternative to monotheistic submission to a god who intervenes in creation.

Same as It Ever Was

Theories about the rise of a nonreligious spirituality abound and are often associated with modern secularism. Intellectual historians find the roots of the malaise of modernity in Enlightenment rationalism , the Protestant Reformation , or the nominalism of late medieval scholasticism . These narratives sometimes represent SBNR as a reaction to modernity’s disenchantment from the naked materialism of the age.

Horton, a Reformed theologian and professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, upends these theories by looking further back into cultural history. He traces SBNR’s roots to the “Axial Age,” when, around 500 BC, several cultures developed a stronger concept of the individual and the potential for someone, without being in a sacred space, to connect with the divine. The shaman—a common, transcultural figure who “was the mediator between the underworld, this world, and the heavens” (23)—became the center of an alternative spiritual world that was much more pantheistic and enabled an escape from one’s place in society.

At the heart of the growing ‘spiritual but not religious’ trend is the pursuit of autonomy, a hallmark of our modern age.

The shaman was an integral figure in Orphism, which is the “teachings concerning the soul’s immortality, its fall into a bodily prison, and its reincarnation in various bodies” as a means of returning to the transcendent cosmic consciousness (24). This sounds very Eastern. It is, but Horton also highlights Orphism in the philosophy of Plato (with his sage, Socrates), which has sent tendrils into all of Western culture. The pantheistic tendency of modern Protestant liberalism, along with its demythologizing rationalism, isn’t a phenomenon born a few centuries ago. It’s a variation on a recurring theme in human culture, which Horton calls “natural supernaturalism.”

This discussion may seem esoteric, but intellectual history often reshapes how we think about our world. Horton’s exposition can bring nuance to helpful but simplistic models of modernity, like Francis Schaeffer’s “ upper/lower story ” description of modern culture. We need not discard such models, but we should use them carefully. Shaman and Sage provides significant food for thought regarding common interpretations of the history of ideas.

Retrieve with Caution

Audacious intellectual histories are risky. It’s tempting to find a common thread and immediately draw causal connections for some contemporary trend. Supporting the genetic connection of ideas between cultures, however, is especially challenging using ancient texts that don’t footnote their sources.

Horton avoids this danger by keeping his work in the realm of the descriptive rather than the prescriptive. This book highlights similarities between movements and ideas as they flow through human cultures, but he mainly draws dotted lines. He argues for recurring patterns throughout time rather than genetic connections.

For example, some form of SBNR pantheism, Horton argues, “has always been the native religion of Western culture. Challenges to the public religion of Athens and of Christendom have always asserted the ‘Religion of the One’—the perennial tradition of the One as everything and everything as the One” (31). That doesn’t mean contemporary pantheists are reading ancient sources, just that there are similarities across time. Horton helps us see broad cultural themes.

In this first of three volumes, which only gets to the 15th century with the Florentine Renaissance, we see why reading ancient sources—including patristic Christian authors—must be done cautiously. Many of us are unaware of certain intellectual currents and debates. Origen’s hermeneutic, for example, involved “spiritual exegesis,” a technique he borrowed from Orphic sources. That hermeneutic paved the way for confusion about the physical resurrection, which has influenced some modern theologians. Horton’s book helps us understand philosophical currents that run through Western culture and have, to varying degrees, been adopted or resisted by the church.

Impressive Scholarship

Shaman and Sage is an impressive book. When put alongside Horton’s substantial scholarship—his systematic theology, The Christian Faith , his focused doctrinal texts like Introducing Covenant Theology , and the two-volume work Justification —this volume is a bold effort. Horton has written solid academic and popular works to directly aid the church.

Meanwhile, he’s spent half a lifetime quietly absorbing primary and secondary literature on classical sources to present original scholarship that can bridge the gap between the history of ideas and Christian theology. This project would be ambitious if it came from an aged professor in the classics department of a major university; it’s astonishing in concert with Horton’s other efforts.

Horton’s book helps us understand philosophical currents that run through Western culture and have, to varying degrees, been adopted or resisted by the church.

However, because of the range of his efforts and the depth of this current volume, Horton may have outkicked his coverage a bit (to use an American football metaphor). His usual readers—Reformed Christians interested in the nuances of doctrines and their application to daily life—may find this latest volume is beyond their typical field of interest.

Additionally, Horton sometimes pulls secondary themes of classic writers to the front of his arguments. None of his theories is novel, but the emphasis on supernaturalism in Plato and Aristotle, for example, goes deeper than the usual “Greek philosophy was the source of rationality” reading of the classics. This text requires constant attention to follow what Horton is doing.

It may be a decade or more before we see the cultural fruit of this three-volume work. Once the project is completed, it should be the source of conversations at conferences and in faculty lounges, which will spill out in other theological, philosophical, and apologetic works. Horton’s work has the potential to influence theories of modernity and doctrinal development. It serves as a reminder of how important reading old books is for understanding our time and of how simplistic explanations for current trends mislead us.

Andrew Spencer (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as associate editor for books at The Gospel Coalition. He is the author of Hope for God’s Creation: Stewardship in an Age of Futility and Doctrine in Shades of Green: Theological Perspective for Environmental Ethics , editor of The Christian Mind of C. S. Lewis: Essays in Honor of Michael Travers , and a contributor to Baptist Political Theology . Spencer is an elder at CrossPointe Church . He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children and live in southeast Michigan.

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