Introduction
Introducing a culture through an essay might sound like an easy enough task, but most students struggle with it even when it comes to writing an essay on their heritage. Many nations went through a long list of challenges that shaped their way of life while the scale and form of those challenges depended on factors such as geographic position, the relationship with their neighbors, or even epic natural events. Furthermore, culture is such a complex term, that it’s virtually impossible to put a finger on just a few main aspects that would paint a comprehensive picture.
To help you create the best possible essay on the culture of your country, we came up with several pieces of advice. These tips should help you understand what you should focus on while writing an essay on your cultural heritage.
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Dig as deep as you can for information
The way our culture appears now is the result of a long-lasting process the origins of which historians and archaeologists continuously try to unravel. If you were to write about Mexican culture, you would start looking for clues long before the Spanish invasion and colonization of the Americas. There are many aspects of Mexican culture that have nothing to do with Spain, others that represent a mixture of both Spanish and native heritage, and more recent, which the Mexican people developed after gaining independence.
Starting from the roots, allows you to create a flow that depicts the evolution of culture so the reader can follow the process and understand the current situation profoundly.
Check out already published pieces for inspiration
Essays that focus on culture are common in high schools and universities. This means that there are probably hundreds of previously written assignments available in your school archive. Also, many acclaimed writers wrote encaptivating essays on their own or foreign cultures that they have visited or studied.
Carlos Castaneda wrote thousands of pages of different texts on the native culture of people in Central America that you can look up for inspiration and information. There are platforms with essay writing reviews that can help you with potential sources of inspiration. Museums are also a good place to seek inspiration, material pieces of culture from different periods can help you visualize how your culture evolved through time. Museum archives could hold essays and other pieces of writing from different eras that might help you write a highly informative text.
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Devote equal attention to both material and immaterial culture
Among peoples, there are certain cultural universals that we can observe. Some of these universals include elements such as:
- Clothing
- Music
- Dancing
- Technology
- Religion
These are elements that we can see in virtually every culture, yet they differ from one to another. These and other cultural elements are divided into material and immaterial cultural heritage. Pieces of material culture include all that’s tangible like artwork, traditional clothing, tools, or architecture. Through immaterial culture, we describe all intangible cultural properties such as songs, oral traditions, songs, religious beliefs, social and political organization, philosophy, or science.
Discuss cultural influences
Throughout history, different nations traded, waged wars, and engaged in all sorts of complex relationships that influenced the cultural development of those nations. In Mexico, the arrival of European boosted the cultural change in this geographic region which was ongoing for centuries through relationships of peoples who already lived there.
Nowadays, Mexican culture influences the world with its food, national festivities, and history. Cinco De Mayo is being celebrated in countries like the United States and many others, tequila is a world-known alcoholic drink and one of the first associations to Mexico for people all over the globe. Discussing these and similar cultural influences provides gravity to your work and showcase the involvement of your culture in global cultural heritage.
Conclusion
These pieces of advice should help you craft an informative and compelling essay that will depict your culture to its full extent. The more complex the culture, the more material you have so don’t avoid any piece of information you can use to show its versatility. Keep in mind that each culture has an origin, and it’s of utmost importance to start your story from the beginning
