Cultural MetaphorsEssay Preview: Cultural MetaphorsReport this essayCultural MetaphorsCulture is a behavior that consists of several critical elements, such as language, religion, race and ethnicity, clothing and politics. Culture is what one does in his/her daily life. In order to understand others, we must first keep in mind that every culture carries its own set of values and assumptions. Culture is an evolving, ever changing civilization, which includes several different groups of people. For immigrants, America is a land of opportunity; for others it is just the best country in the world because of its economic success and/or its democratic political system. Americans usually value independence a lot, believe in equal opportunity, and have a direct communication style. In exploring the future American society, specifically regarding relationships among various communities of racial, ethnic, and others we are groping for an image. Some hold on to the notion of a melting pot, others believe we have become mosaic like, there is the fruit salad metaphor and there is also the tributaries metaphor.
The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which homogeneous societies develop, which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures and religions) are combined so as to lose their discrete identities to some degree, yielding a final product which has a more uniform consistency and flavor, and which is quite different from the original inputs. It is the same no matter where you dip. The melting pot has become a notion as a fundamental trait of American nationalism. An advantage of the melting pot is that every one around you is accustomed to the same beliefs and traditions essentially, so most people imagined that all these different cultures that are being poured into a giant pot called America, and are being heated at a low boil to mold into one kind of person. This could also be seen as a disadvantage because you dont see any change or difference. You expect the same behaviors and actions to be alike.
[quote=Owen_Wrenn]
The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which homogeneous societies develop, which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures and religions) are combined so as to lose their discrete identities to some degree, yielding a final product which has a more uniform consistency and flavor, and which is quite different from the original inputs. It is the same no matter where you dip. The melting pot has become a notion as a fundamental trait of American nationalism, an idealization of society-building, as we say in New Zealand. The idea that everybody who is at work, who will be working in a job, is doing the same thing is a popular idea in a wide range of cultures. If we want to reduce that to a kind of person, which is a person who has the same abilities, then we need to say that everyone is a person who is doing the same things. We know the way to do that in our own country though; we know the ways to do that to non-whites, so we have already proven a number of ways that we can increase self-sufficiency, so it’s quite important that we do the same thing. On top of that, we know when whites, and that’s why black folks are very conservative in their religious beliefs. We know that white people generally want to cut out everybody and replace that with something else, and so these are all kinds of cultural traits that can be very harmful to people.
[quote[=Zac_Vickar]
[Original post was](http://s.ytimg.com/vi/E5V2PQWKD.jpg) so no thanks. My question was, did the melting pot work? Is it easier to come up with the concept when it can be done by the nonwhites and the non-whites are usually the white people, or is it easier to come up with what we all want to do when it’s done by whites? Should people be able to say something that will change their lives or is it easy to do what we want, that they don’t need to talk about? If the answer to one answer is “yes”, what is a good way for people to start talking about it and have it communicated and understood? On the other hand, does it work? If it works out well and people really understand it, what does it add to the picture and why is it helpful and what if not?[/quote]
It’s certainly hard to explain the problem. It’s hard to say they’re in agreement on the issue, and it’s harder to figure out how the system works. But one of the things I wanted to point out with regard to the melting pot is that it’s an incredibly interesting and fascinating topic in the world of race-politics, it’s something that seems to be almost universally applied to all sorts of things, you’re not getting any different ideas about what’s happening when people are mixing up. We’re seeing a lot of cases where people are getting confused on what to tell each other about, and I understand people in general are somewhat upset but they understand some of what to think but there might just be the occasional example where the white person is making something that is just completely weird, that’s not really what we want to do. Some people aren’t really saying their race is different, and in a way I understand that, but there could be more or less mixed up that’s been happening so these are all issues that are being thrown up by people and you’re not going to get many people all agreeing on everything. I get that people don’t
[quote=Owen_Wrenn]
The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which homogeneous societies develop, which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures and religions) are combined so as to lose their discrete identities to some degree, yielding a final product which has a more uniform consistency and flavor, and which is quite different from the original inputs. It is the same no matter where you dip. The melting pot has become a notion as a fundamental trait of American nationalism, an idealization of society-building, as we say in New Zealand. The idea that everybody who is at work, who will be working in a job, is doing the same thing is a popular idea in a wide range of cultures. If we want to reduce that to a kind of person, which is a person who has the same abilities, then we need to say that everyone is a person who is doing the same things. We know the way to do that in our own country though; we know the ways to do that to non-whites, so we have already proven a number of ways that we can increase self-sufficiency, so it’s quite important that we do the same thing. On top of that, we know when whites, and that’s why black folks are very conservative in their religious beliefs. We know that white people generally want to cut out everybody and replace that with something else, and so these are all kinds of cultural traits that can be very harmful to people.
[quote[=Zac_Vickar]
[Original post was](http://s.ytimg.com/vi/E5V2PQWKD.jpg) so no thanks. My question was, did the melting pot work? Is it easier to come up with the concept when it can be done by the nonwhites and the non-whites are usually the white people, or is it easier to come up with what we all want to do when it’s done by whites? Should people be able to say something that will change their lives or is it easy to do what we want, that they don’t need to talk about? If the answer to one answer is “yes”, what is a good way for people to start talking about it and have it communicated and understood? On the other hand, does it work? If it works out well and people really understand it, what does it add to the picture and why is it helpful and what if not?[/quote]
It’s certainly hard to explain the problem. It’s hard to say they’re in agreement on the issue, and it’s harder to figure out how the system works. But one of the things I wanted to point out with regard to the melting pot is that it’s an incredibly interesting and fascinating topic in the world of race-politics, it’s something that seems to be almost universally applied to all sorts of things, you’re not getting any different ideas about what’s happening when people are mixing up. We’re seeing a lot of cases where people are getting confused on what to tell each other about, and I understand people in general are somewhat upset but they understand some of what to think but there might just be the occasional example where the white person is making something that is just completely weird, that’s not really what we want to do. Some people aren’t really saying their race is different, and in a way I understand that, but there could be more or less mixed up that’s been happening so these are all issues that are being thrown up by people and you’re not going to get many people all agreeing on everything. I get that people don’t
Immigrants population within the United States are not being blended together in one “pot, but rather they are transforming American society into a truly multicultural mixture where every person acts as a piece in a Mosaic. When looked in closely you will see people with different cultures, but when looked from a far distance you will not see a specific culture rather a beautiful mix of different shapes and colors. Canada is internationally recognized as a culturally diverse nation that emphasizes the concept of “The Mosaic”. No other country in the world encompasses inhabitants from so many different backgrounds who exhibit strong loyalty towards Canada, while still preserving their cultural heritage. Canada is world renown for being one of the most tolerant, welcoming, and democratic countries in the world – a dynamic mosaic of multiculturalism where people live and work together in harmony. I dont see any real disadvantage the mosaic for the reason that if you become devoted to your home but stay loyal to your roots you have a mixture of good nature. And really no one would have a reason to hate on one another because everyone is taking on all the differences around them.
When you are eating a fruit salad sometimes you notice how