Name : Chayanon Rueankaew 6348018029

Part 1

1. Do you agree that “culture forms who we are”? Express your opinion toward this
statement. What does culture in this statement mean? How does culture form who we are?
Support your explanation with 3 examples that you can find in your everyday life.

Susan Andretta and Gary Ferraro once defined culture as "Everything that people
have, think, and do as members of a society." Although the statement seems to be subjective,
it tends to be timelessly and universally accurate, given the history of humankind anywhere.
This statement indeed helps me understand the concept of culture and who we are, especially
that of Thailand. In general, culture is established through the cognition of its members or the
people and everything created by people. It can elaborate the way of life and what people do
to achieve such cognition is to have something, to think of something, to do things. That
sums up how people establish, comprehend, and respect their prosperous culture through
daily-life behaviors that are similar as a group yet distinctive as a region. In other words, it is
plausible to assume that there are various aspects of the culture. However, the ones that I
would like to emphasize in this essay is how culture form who we are, as demonstrated by
Thai culture, of which I have been a part since birth.

The first aspect of culture is uniformity. All societies must have distinguishable
similarities in terms of language, family system, socialization, ceremonies, festivals, arts,
literature, and possible specific things like common dress code, laws. For instance, Thai
culture has a great uniformity in terms of ceremonies and festivals, so much distinguishable
that it is well-known globally like SongKran Festival and Thai New Year that represent who
we are.

As humans, we're born with an identity; to set each of us apart as a respectful member
of a society, it is impossible that all of us would be completely identical in any terms. As a
consequence, culture, which comprises its respective members, cannot be a single unit of the
act or a series of criteria strictly, equally, and unconditionally applied by all the members.
That is why diversity, despite the fact that a degree of uniformity must exist to define each
culture, is an important aspect of all cultures globally. For instance, Thai culture is prominent,
valid, solid, and distinctive in the eyes of foreigners. However, it is also wholly respected and
admired that Thai culture differs regionally. That is another aspect that makes Thai culture as
a whole beautiful and distinctive.
Name : Chayanon Rueankaew 6348018029

2. Do you agree that popular culture is the culture that “deliberately sets out to win favor with
the people” and it is also the culture that is “left over after we have decided what is high
culture”? Express your opinion toward this statement. Your answer is not necessary to be a
binary opinion either totally agree or totally disagree. You can also agree in some parts and
disagree in certain parts of the statement. Use your knowledge in popular culture to support
your opinion and provide at least 2 examples for your explanation.

Popular culture is a set of beliefs, practices, and objects that are commonly prevalent in a
society at a given time. These dominant objects are often depicted in various ways in society.
The main driving force behind mass appeal is the culture industry, mainly composed of mass
media. This collection of ideas, heavily influenced by the media, can affect people's attitudes
towards various topics. Popular culture can be broadly defined depending on the context in
which it operates. The common pop-culture categories include film, music, television, sports,
and news, and these are often categorized as entertainment, politics, fashion, and tech.

According to my point of view, I agree that popular culture is defined as a culture that
"deliberately sets out to win favor with the people." According to the features of popular
culture, it is something that many people must find appealing on a broad scale. As a result,
achievement is an important factor. I believe that the producer must develop the product that
is in line with the needs of the consumer at a moderate price in order for it to be mass
produced commercially. For Example, the fashion industry, particularly in terms of clothing
and apparel, is constantly changing and thus indirectly reflects the rapid pace of change in
popular culture as a whole. The stylist is responsible for launching a new product that is
appropriate for the season and the preferences of the market. In contrast, just because popular
culture is mass-produced and commercialized does not imply that its worth is less or
worthless, in my opinion. Therefore, I totally disagree with the statement that popular culture
is "left over after we have decided what is high culture?" For example, fashion, which is a
mass-produced item that changes fast over time, as mentioned previously. However, I believe
that it has value in itself. Fashion can serve as a reflection of a country's culture. It adds color
to our lives and allows us to see how our lives change throughout time. In addition to serving
as a vehicle for self-expression, fashion serves as an instrument for empowerment and
self-assurance. It encompasses the various aspects of human activity that can be traced back
to a certain time period. It is a way of looking at things. Overall, based on the example above,
I believe that every culture has worth in and of itself, and that it is impossible to compare
them since I believe the word "value" is either incomparably valuable or exceedingly
valuable. It should not be implied that popular culture is a leftover of a high culture.