The most effective way to understand contemporary culture is to analyze the trends of its youth.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.




Response:

Culture is defined as the mores and fashion of certain people, place, and time. While it is crucial to study the latest culture by investigating the trend of young people, however, it is not the most helpful way to comprehend the modern culture.

To really understand a culture, it is important to first understand the mores and customs of the culture. Culture does not exist instantly or overnight. Instead, it takes time to evolve and ultimately present to us as we are practicing it quotidian. When it comes to knowing the contemporary culture, it may seem true to evaluate the trends of young people as they are the ones that exercise the culture. However, only parts of the culture are currently practiced by youths. Take an example of Chinese culture. During a wedding ceremony, there are a lot of mores and customs that newlyweds should follow. Some of them felt that it is impractical to follow all the procedures as it deems time-consuming and intricate.

Furthermore, culture is a byzantine subject. It may be too quixotic to understand the contemporary culture by just evaluating the trends of younger generation. Youngsters can tell us how they practice their culture by providing details about their culture. However, they may not able to explain in depth about their culture. Often, we can read from periodicals and news that young people do not appreciate the beauty of culture. They assumed that it is tiresome to practice it as it involves a variety of taboos and restrictions.

Admittedly, to understand the present culture, we can investigate the trends of the Y-generation. It is generally understood that the trend of culture will alter based upon the predilection of young people. Back in 20th century, the Hoi Polloi may admire MTV, classic music, blues, and jazz from the Western countries. However, as time progresses, the trend of culture will change. Some people, especially youth, may not enjoy those types of music. Instead, they may prefer something exciting. Take an example of Korean music. Korean music was not well-known before 2010, as they are not famous compared to the Western music. When youth first exposure to contemporary Korean music, whereby it incorporates singing with intriguing dance, they were bedazzled by the song. From that onwards, people begin learning Korean cultures such as the language, foods, and history. Isn’t it true that Korean culture familiar to us these days?

As a conclusion, although it is possible to construe the current culture by looking at the trends of the younger generation, however, it may not be the most effective way to study the present culture. In fact, to actually know the contemporary culture, we need to look at a wider perspective of the culture by studying the literature, history, language and etc. instead of analyzing the trends of its juvenile.