essay about england culture

• Countries and Their Cultures
• Culture of England

Culture Name

Alternative names.

British, Britannic

Orientation

Identification. The name of the country and the term "English" derive from the Old English word for one of the three Germanic peoples that invaded the British Isles in the fifth century C . E ., the Angles. "Britain" and "British" derive from a Roman term for the inhabitants' language of the British Isles, called "Brythonic" or p-Celtic.

Englishness is highly regionalized. The most important regional divide is between the south and the north. The south, chiefly represented by the regions of the southeast, southwest, East Anglia, and the Midlands, now contains the economically most dynamic sectors of the country, including the City (the chief financial center of the United Kingdom) and the seat of the national government, both in London. The north, the cradle of industrialization and the site of traditional smokestack industries, includes Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland, Cumbria, Durham, Merseyside, and Cheshire. Especially in the last decades of the twentieth century, the north has experienced deindustrialization, severe economic hardship, and cultural balkanization. England is also a culture of many smaller regionalisms, still centered on the old governmental unit of the county and the local villages and towns. Local products, such as ale, and regional rituals and art forms, such as Morris dancing and folk music, many of which date back to the preindustrial era, allow people to shape their attachments to their communities and the nation. Merged with the north–south divide and regionalism are notions of working class, middle class, and upper class as well as rich versus poor.

England's role as a destination for migration also has influenced conceptions of Englishness. Historically, the most prominent immigrant group has been the Irish, who came in two major waves in the modern era: 1847 and 1848 after the potato famine, and during and after World War II. Scots were present in England by the 1700s and settled in England in large numbers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, often for economic reasons. Welsh in-migration came to prominence when deindustrialization began in Wales in the 1920s. This inmigration has brought the so-called Celtic fringe into English culture in a host of ways. There has also been the impact of Jewish, Flemish, Dutch, French Huguenot, German, Italian, Polish, Turkish, Cypriot, and Chinese cultures since the twelfth century. The loss of Britain's colonies has brought Afro-Caribbeans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indians, and migrants from northwestern and eastern Africa in significant numbers. Judgments of whether England's newcomers feel themselves to be "English" vary by group and even by individual.

Demography. The population was 49.5 million in 1998. The estimated nonwhite proportion of the population for that year was 7.3 percent, with the officially designated ethnic groups being black Caribbean, black African, black other, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Chinese.

Celtic in-migrations continues to be a major influence. These migrations are often urban in focus and tend to cluster in particular districts like London and Merseyside. The second important shift in demography from an ethnic standpoint is related to the end of the British Empire. Beginning in the 1950s, peoples from the Indian subcontinent and the Caribbean began to immigrate to England, taking advantage of the 1948 British Nationality Act, which established that all Commonwealth citizens enjoyed British citizenship. Most of these immigrants have settled in London, the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Merseyside. Between 1984 and 1996, the number of nonwhites in England, Scotland, and Wales rose from 2.3 million to 3.39 million (the majority of whom lived in England) for a total increase of 47 percent. In that same period Great Britain grew by just 5.8 percent and England by even less. European, Mediterranean, and East Asian immigrants have been part of the cultural landscape since the Middle Ages, when the Jewish community came to prominence and Flemish clothworkers began arriving. Immigrants to England in particular have been drawn there by the creation of a Common Market in Western Europe and the ending of restrictions on the movement of eastern Europeans.

Linguistic Affiliation. The primary language since the sixteenth century has been some version of English. English, however, is an amalgam of languages brought to the British Isles by invasions that began before written history. The Celts made Gaelic the dominant language until the Romans invaded in 55 and 54 B.C.E. , and introduced Latin and Greek, but it was the invasion of England by Germanic tribes in the fifth century (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) that laid the basis for English. The arrival of Christianity in 597 allowed English to interact with Latin as well as with Greek, Hebrew, and languages as distant as Chinese. Viking invasions a few centuries later brought Scandinavian languages to the British Isles, while the Norman invasion in 1066 introduced French. Gradually, all levels of society adopted English, which had largely supplanted Latin and French in the second half of the fifteenth century.

Modern English comes from the East Midland dialect of Middle English. This divide between the East Midland dialect and all others emerged between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries when those speaking with a "proper" or "posh" accent separated themselves from those speaking "Cockney" or working-class English. This division is signified by the distinction between "received pronunciation" (r.p.), Standard English, or BBC English and regional or local dialects of English. This linguistic divide has always corresponded with social rank. The elite generally spoke with an r.p. accent (also known as the Queen's or King's English), and other residents spoke a non-standard, locally mediated English. In recent decades the connection between class and accent has begun to loosen.

Except in certain urban communities, bilingualism and multilingualism continue to play a minimal role in England. As of 1980 at least twelve languages other than English had more than 100,000 speakers in Britain, including Punjabi, Urdu, Caribbean patois, Hindi, and Cantonese, which are among England's more influential second languages. In the last decade, the many varieties of spoken English have been thriving. Popular culture, especially music, radio, and television, has brought English creoles and patois; Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi English; and Celtic versions of English into the lives of the country's inhabitants. Thus, while Standard English still holds sway, it is no longer an unquestioned standard.

Symbolism. From a political standpoint, the monarchy, Parliament, and the English (or British) constitution are central symbols with both physical and ritual manifestations. Equally powerful are the rituals surrounding Parliament's routine. The monarchy expresses itself physically through the palaces and other residences of the royal family. Ritually, the monarchy permeates national life. From the social functions of the elite, which many people follow in the popular press, to the promotion of public causes, to royal weddings, the monarchy's representatives lend an almost sacral quality to public life.

Images that capture England's past have become a very important element in how people root themselves in a society that is increasingly mobile and in which the past has become a commodity. Idealizations of village and town life from bygone days are common in the speeches of politicians. Other idealizations of the past are equally popular, from the preserved industrial landscapes of the Midlands and the north, to nature walks that refer to the ancient peoples who inhabited the area long before the English arrived, to the appearance of the "English" countryside.

In recent years, popular culture has provided ways for England's immigrants to claim Englishness publicly. Before World War II the majority population insisted that newcomers assimilate and migrants were unable to lay claims to Englishness. More integrated national sports, especially soccer, and sports heroes represent the new ethnic landscape and provide symbols the young and the poor can claim. Similarly, movies, pop music, and plays have given less powerful groups ways of claiming Englishness. Popular festivals such as the Notting Hill Carnival, which is Europe's largest celebration of black identity, are also part of the mix. The New Commonwealth population also has produced widely read literary works.

History and Ethnic Relations

Emergence of the Nation. The emergence of the nation took place between 1200 and 1850. The first period when a quasi-national feeling was able to unify the people was the Hundred Years' War with France in the late Middle Ages (1337–1453). Although a dynastic conflict between successive English and French monarchs, this war became a cause in which Anglo-Saxon and Norman culture merged into a recognizably English culture.

In the sixteenth century, nationalism took on another component: anti-Catholicism. Henry VIII created the Church of England by tapping into popular sentiment against the Pope's interference in national affairs. Elizabeth I, his daughter, created a sense of national unity through the conflicts she orchestrated with Catholic Spain. Another manifestation of anti-Catholic sentiment was the Battle of the Boyne in 1689, where William III routed Catholic opposition in Ireland. William subsequently affirmed Catholicism as being contrary to English and Irish law. Beginning with Scotland and Ireland in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and continuing with competitions with the Spanish, the Dutch, and the French between 1550 and 1816, the English established a sense of expansionary patriotism. The final step in creating a national sentiment was taken in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the middle classes defined Englishness as a positive morality to which everyone could subscribe.

National Identity. English cultural roots lie in a merging of Anglo-Saxon, Danish, and Norman French culture that has existed as a synthesis since the late Middle Ages. A process of negotiation was at the heart of this cultural creation.

Ethnic Relations. After stripping them of their assets, Edward I expelled the Jewish community in 1290, and Jews did not receive full rights and recognition until the twentieth century. The earliest guest workers, Flemish clothworkers, frequently found their contributions resented by "native" labor. German, French, and Low Countries Protestant refugees in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries were confronted with ethnic prejudices. The Irish as Celts and Catholics and the Welsh and Scots as Celts also have faced resentment, especially in eras dominated by English nationalism and British imperialism.

In the British Isles and abroad, the English record in colonized areas is no better than that of other European colonizing cultures. Beginning in the 1960s with the Immigration Acts and reaching a low point with the 1981 British Nationality Act, laws have been passed to restrict the rights of foreigners to enter the country and obtain citizenship and benefits. The support of Margaret Thatcher's government for free-market capitalism contributed to the decline of the areas where most ethnic minorities lived, sparking violent protests in the 1980s, such as London's Brixton riots in 1981. Antiracism legislation and the improving economy have lessened public and official attention to the nonwhite population. However, economic migrants and political refugees, chiefly from East Asia, eastern Europe, and Africa, have taken the place of the non-white populace as objects of public concern.

Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space

England's urbanism and notions of landscape and countryside are closely tied to the movement of people and economic sectors from major metropolitan areas into new towns, extensions of older towns, smaller towns, villages, and remote rural areas. Cities are thought of as places of decay and degeneration by many people. The central principle in definitions of urban communities is their management and containment; this has been done by designating rings of nondevelopment (green belts) around major cities and urban areas. The emphasis on areas of nondevelopment also has influenced planning within cities and towns, with space being created for private and public gardens, parks, athletic fields, and other so-called greenfield sites. There has also been an emphasis on arranging cities and towns in more livable units, with more thought to the placement of work sites, public amenities, shopping areas, and dwellings and more of a focus on how streets cater to public and private uses.

Villages and small towns that were fairly local or regional have become bedroom communities for large cities such as London or parts of larger regional urban networks. Sometimes they retain their original character, but more often affluent newcomers have changed these localities. Thus, while those in suburban, village, and small-town areas trumpet the rural nature of their lives, they have altered the rural landscape. Outside the towns and villages, two forces dominate the countryside: highly commercialized agriculture and preservation. Agribusiness has played a role in defining the countryside by destroying 95 percent of the nation's wetlands. Countering the trend toward developing the countryside to accommodate more housing are the preservationists, who want to expand parks, preserve a traditional country way of life, and keep urban dwellers out of these areas. Left out of towns, cities, villages, and rolling hills are those with no money and no political voice. Those most excluded from current visions and proposals are the poor and the urban-dwelling ethnic minority groups.

Many different types of Englishness compete in towns, cities, villages, and the countryside. Architecturally, little is left from the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Roman periods, although Roman town planning, roads, and walls are still evident and Anglo-Saxon churches and Celtic monuments are still standing. The Middle Ages have left Gothic and Romanesque architecture while the Tudor and Stuart periods of England's history have also left their contributions, notably not just in buildings for the elite and the state but also for the middling sort. The eighteenth century saw Georgian and neo-Gothic architecture, which continued into the nineteenth century when neo-Classical styles arose. The twentieth century has seen the rise of suburban building styles and Modernism and reactions against both in the form of conservation, community architecture, and a tendency to revive old styles such as neo-Classicism.

Government buildings serve a range of symbolic purposes. Monuments more often symbolize particular historical figures or events. The purposes of public spaces also vary. The pews in a typical church promote an orderly separation between congregants while emphasizing togetherness as a congregation. Piccadilly Circus and many museums encourage people to mingle. Tea rooms, coffee shops, public houses, and nightclubs provide separate seating but promote a social atmosphere. People in England prefer to live in detached, suburban dwellings, ideally with a garden. First built in large numbers in the 1920s, many suburban houses were built in twos with a garden in front and rear. Another detached style was the single-story bungalow, which also became popular in the 1920s. Although in the post-war era it became common to build large, boxy modernist apartment blocks, especially for public housing, suburban building continued in additional new towns, some of which used the uniform, modernist styles. Since the 1980s more traditional designs for housing have been popular and both detached and non-detached housing have been constructed to evoke one of England's past eras. In private dwelling spaces, the English tend to fill much of the available space.

Food and Economy

Since 1950, the English have eaten less red meat, more poultry, and about the same amount of fish. The consumption of fats is down, and that of alternatives such as margarine is up. Fresh fruits are in favor, while vegetables are not, and the focus is on salad vegetables. The main meal is now eaten in the evening and is likely to consist of frozen or ready-made food. In addition to eating out in pubs, inns, and restaurants, people consume fast food. There has been a dramatic increase in the variety of foreign cuisine, ranging from Chinese and Indian to French and Italian.

There are few food-related taboos. People avoid some foods for so-called hygienic reasons, such as onions and leeks, which can cause bad breath. There are also foods that are considered uncivilized. Traditionally, the English have never eaten dogs, horses, other carnivores, or insects. Increasingly, eating meat is looked on as uncivilized. As part of the shift away from meat toward fruit, vegetables, and fish, people have become more distanced from the production of the meat they eat and less willing to eat as wide a variety of meats.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. Apart from cakes on birthdays, few special foods are eaten at major secular ceremonies, although such ceremonies involve toasting and drinking alcohol. In religious ceremonies, alcohol, usually wine, is common at most celebrations of the Eucharist in Christian churches and also is used at Jewish ceremonies. On Shrove Tuesday, which is both a secular and a religious occasion, many people eat pancakes.

Basic Economy. The economy is developed and highly specialized, and very few inhabitants produce food and other necessities for themselves. In 1998, approximately 13 percent of England's workforce was self-employed, many working in agriculture, fishing, and construction. This group and the few among the economically inactive (21 percent in 1998) who have opted out of the market economy completely are the only people in England who may produce goods for themselves. Given that the majority of both groups are part of the regular economy, the number of people who are completely self-sufficient is small, although at times they are politically and culturally prominent. A rough sense of England's dependence on the world can be gained by looking at trade figures as a proportion of GDP. In 1997 England's exports amounted to about 29 percent of GDP, as did imports.

Land Tenure and Property. The most common form of land tenure is the owner-occupied house, with personal ownership in 1998 at 68 percent and the remainder of the inhabitants renting government-owned rent-controlled or private dwellings. Most dwellings are in urban areas, which occupied about 12 percent of the total land area in 1999. In that same year, 71 percent of England's land was devoted to agriculture: 24 percent was rented and the remaining 47 percent was owned by resident farmers or farming enterprises. Legal rights to property have their origin in the period 1500–1800, when landholders enclosed land and claimed exclusive ownership of it. Their actions extinguished many customary use rights to land and established private claims to rights-of-way. In addition to this division between private and common land, many forms of public and semipublic land have developed. Roads, infrastructure, and official buildings are often public. Also subject to public control are the national parks and nature reserves. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are often in private hands but are under public supervision of the Countryside Agency. Public rights-of-way and common lands are often owned by individuals, but those owners may be obligated to ensure public access. The Department of the Environment, Transport, and the Regions oversees land use, working with local authorities, an arrangement in place since the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act.

Commercial Activities. In addition to manufacturing, the major sectors of the economy are financial services, wholesale and retail trade, communication technology, and education and social services.

Major Industries. The major areas of industrial output are textiles; food, beverages, and tobacco; paper, paper products, wood products; chemicals; metals and fabricated metal items; electrical and optical equipment; and transport equipment and other machinery.

Division of Labor. People with more experience still tend to hold positions with greater responsibility and rewards, but this situation has been changing since the 1970s. Increasingly, older workers are losing jobs because of business strategies to keep workforces small. This trend has hit older working class men particularly hard because the sectors in which they work are rapidly being shifted out of the economy. Ethnic prejudice, ageism, and sexism still prevent many people from advancing. Specialization, educational attainment, and status correspond fairly well, with managerial and professional groups being at the top of society, followed by white-collar workers and then skilled blue-collar workers and semi-skilled and unskilled manual laborers.

Social Stratification

Classes and Castes. Class is the primary way in which people approach social stratification. The upper class (the landed gentry, the titled nobility, and members of the royal family) has roughly the same social position it has had since the nineteenth century, when the middle classes began to compete successfully with the landed interests for influence. However, the upper class lost official political influence (and credibility) in the twentieth century. The major change in England's social identity structure has been the shrinking number of workers in manufacturing and the increasing number of people who work in service industries. White-collar and other service workers have replaced blue-collar workers as England's economic backbone. Consequently, the middle class has increased in size and wealth, and home ownership has increased, while union membership has declined dramatically, along with the size of the traditional industrial working class.

Most workers expect unemployment at some point in their careers, especially the unskilled and uneducated. In 1983, only 5 percent of non-manual workers were unemployed. In contrast, skilled manual workers experienced 12 percent and semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers 23 percent unemployment, and manual workers combined accounted for 84 percent of the unemployed.

The richest class has increased its share of the national income and national assets. In 1995, the wealthiest 10 percent of the population owned half the assets controlled by households. In 1997 the income of the top 20 percent of households was four times that of the bottom 20 percent. Meanwhile, those earning less than half of the median doubled between 1979 and 1998, reaching 10 percent.

Ethnic minorities have not fared well in the new economic environment. For all minority men, unemployment was 17 percent in the period 1986–1988, for example, compared with 10 percent for whites. Ten years on, in the period 1997–1998, unemployment rates of Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and blacks were more than three times those for whites. Indians, on the other hand, have faired better, currently occupying a central position in the middle class as entrepreneurs and in the professions, enjoying chances of employment more comparable to whites.

Symbols of Social Stratification. Many of the traditional symbols of social difference have undergone change. Clothing and other consumer goods historically were indicators of class, but are now more ambiguous. Most consumer goods are widely available, and the clothing and fashion industries recycle styles so quickly that rank and clothing do not always correspond. Education, which used to be a clear way to divide people into classes, has also lost some of its defining power. Private primary and secondary schools increased their share of school age children through 1990, and higher education has expanded the number of places available to those who want postsecondary training; by the mid 1990s more than 30 percent of students age eighteen were attending a university. Oxford and Cambridge have been accepting students from an increasingly broad socioeconomic spectrum, and students now have many more universities to choose from. Accent also has become a less reliable class signifier.

Political Life

Government. Unlike Scotland and Wales, England does not have a separate parliament or departments to represent and manage it. Contact with the central government is increasingly achieved through nine Government Offices for the Regions. Day-to-day life in the community is governed by local authorities such as district and parish councils.

Leadership and Political Officials. Political parties and institutions favor those judged to be respectable and, in senior positions, those with political experience. Thus, in the Conservative Party, only members of Parliament (MPs) can elect party leaders. It is still common for politicians and judges to have an elite education and a privileged background. Local politics is a mixed bag, with some local authorities and town and village councils politically polarized and others less so, although the larger the community the more likely it is to be dominated by the Labour Party. In general, those who participate in local politics and local organizations such as arts councils knew someone in government before becoming involved.

England has no national parties that affiliate specifically with the national culture. The main parties are the Labour Party (now often called New Labour), the Conservative Party (Tories), and the Liberal Democrats.

Access to political leaders is achieved most effectively through voluntary sector interest groups. These organizations work with local government authorities, local agencies such as the police, individual MPs, and central government ministries and may acquire an official role.

Social Problems and Social Control. For purposes of policing and criminal justice, England and Wales are treated as one unit. Policing is handled by forty-one locally organized police forces in addition to the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London police force. Most police officers carry a nightstick, with only designated officers carrying sidearms. Persons suspected of committing a crime may be stopped and searched. More extensive searching is possible with authorization from a senior officer. For most crimes the police require judicial authorization to make arrests, but for "arrestable" offences such as murder, authorization is unnecessary. The maximum period of detention without a charge being leveled is ninety-six hours. The Police Complaints Authority handles cases of police brutality. The national policing bodies are the National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service. The Home Secretary of the United Kingdom has overall responsibility for policing in England as well as for the prison service, the probation service, and the criminal law.

Criminal law is a combination of statute law made by Parliament and common law (case law). Founded in 1985, the Crown Prosecution Service prosecutes criminals arrested by the police. The court system is adversarial, and the accused is defended by a lawyer (a solicitor or barrister) who attempts to disprove the case presented by the Crown Prosecution Service. Cases that go to Crown Court involve a trial by a jury of the accused person's peers with guidance from the presiding judge. In all other cases not on appeal, the defendant is tried in magistrate court by a judge who decides the case with the assistance of a law clerk. The accused or the Crown may appeal a judgment to a higher court, with the highest court being the House of Lords. Except for treason and a few other offenses, the highest penalty is a custodial sentence.

Since the 1980s, ideas about the role of the criminal justice system have been changing, largely as a result of perceived and real increases in violent and property crimes. Local communities with their informal mechanisms for social control are considered an important part of criminal justice. Neighborhood watch schemes have become popular, and victim-offender mediation and reparation, community mediation, and neighborhood mediation have emerged. Police cautioning, in which juvenile offenders and their parents or guardians are informed of the seriousness of their offenses, has become popular. Parole boards administer the punishment of offenders in the community, and the police and other official agencies have formed partnerships with local communities and voluntary organizations. Some people are critical of the trend toward integrating informal social control into the official criminal justice apparatus. They argue that such social control may result in a culture divided into communities suspicious of outsiders. Others have noted that vigilantism, which plays a relatively small role in the culture (exceptions are street gangs, less organized groupings of males termed "the lads," and soccer hooligans), may take root.

Military Activity. Military activity is administered through the armed forces of the United Kingdom, which are directed by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense.

Social Welfare and Change Programs

Social welfare and change programs are directed toward people who cannot care for themselves (the elderly, children and youth, and the disabled), those in poverty, and those experiencing discrimination. Local government social services authorities provide for children and youth, the elderly, and the disabled, and there are advisory and regulatory bodies such as the National Disability Council and the Mental Health Act Commission. For the elderly, the disabled, and those with learning disabilities, major services include supervised residential and day care, help for those confined to the home, support services for family members caring for those individuals, and counseling. Increasingly, government policy has aimed services for the elderly, the disabled, and persons with learning disabilities at helping those people live at home and in the community. The mentally ill are treated locally, though since there are fewer places for the mentally ill in large hospitals, this has meant farming out patients to smaller hospitals and private and charity-supported facilities. Local authorities have the responsibility for child welfare, and provide aid to families such as advice, guidance, counseling, and day care. They also protect abused children and care for children without parents.

Social change programs for ethnic minorities and women are in their infancy. There is a Race Equality Unit in the central government, and the 1976 Race Relations Act set up the Commission for Racial Equality that oversees over one hundred racial equality councils. These changes have not diminished ethnic inequality and tensions, although Britain has a minister for women, a Women's Unit, and an Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) as well as an umbrella group known as the Women's National Commission.

Nongovernmental Organizations and Other Associations

The Charity Commission for England and Wales registered 188,000 charities in 1998. Across the United Kingdom, charities employed 485,000 people and supervised three million volunteers in 1998. With the move toward privatization in the 1980s, charities became more important, but social and economic dislocation have made it difficult for them to maintain the social safety net. Nongovernmental organizations work with children and youth; marginalized or disadvantaged groups such as the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and those suffering from inequality; environmental conservationists; the science and technology sector; the arts; and the humanities.

Gender Roles and Statuses

Division of Labor by Gender. Gender roles assign homemaking, other domestic activities, and most unpaid labor to women. A man's sense of self is defined chiefly in terms of the paid work he can obtain. The impact of these constructions of gender is now much different than before, but is still felt in English society.

The Relative Status of Women and Men. Although there is no equal rights amendment, in recent decades there has been a more noticeable commitment to equality of opportunity for men and women through bodies such as the Equal Opportunity Commission and laws such as the Abortion Act of 1967 and the 1969 Divorce Act. The rate of women's (especially married women's) participation in the workforce increased in the late twentieth century, as did the nature of that participation. In 1971, only 57 percent of women of working age were economically active, but in 1998 that figure was 72 percent, whereas men's participation declined from 91 percent to 84 percent. Despite their importance in the workforce, women earn only 80 percent of what men do. Women have been confined to lower-status work, are more likely to work part-time, and are under-represented in elite jobs. However, some women have obtained high-status, formerly male-dominated work, and the status of female-dominated work has risen. Women's increasing participation in political life and their progress in religious roles in society—the rise of women MPs in the 1990s and the Church of England's agreement to ordain women priests in 1994—may be an indication of this.

Women have probably made the least progress in the social sphere. They were the victims in 70 percent of cases of domestic violence in 1998, and women still perform most unpaid work, such as running households and raising children. Gender roles among particular subgroups, however, diverge from this picture. Some Muslim and Jewish women are more involved in the domestic sphere, and Afro-Caribbean community women are more likely to be employed and have a higher status than Afro-Caribbean men.

Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Marriage. Among many members of the South Asian and Jewish communities, arranged marriages as a means of cementing family alliances are the norm. Most inhabitants, however, decide independently whom to marry, often choosing to cohabit with the partner before marriage. Social position, social aspirations, and informal social control drive the choice of a marriage partner. Thus, marriages across class lines are not common, especially among unskilled workers and the professional and managerial classes. Marriages across ethnic lines also are not common. As a reason for marriage, economic security is prominent, but so is the desire for sexual and social companionship. In 1997, about half the population over age sixteen was married. While marriage between a man and a woman remains the primary model for long-term relationships, it is not the only one. Same-sex unions and so-called blended families are increasingly common, and experimentation with forms of quasi-polygamy has taken place.

Domestic Unit. The basic domestic unit is a household headed by a married couple—a model that accounted for 59 percent of the households in 1998. Close to 73 percent of inhabitants live in a family headed by a couple (though not necessarily a married couple). It is uncommon for couples to live with the kin of either partner. Current gender roles dictate that men are the primary breadwinners and women are responsible for household management. Who actually controls the household on a daily basis, however, varies by household. Single-parent, usually female-headed households are on the rise, accounting for 9 percent of all households in 1998. The extended family is a visible and important social institution in the South Asian, Asian, Afro-Caribbean, and Jewish communities and still plays a role in the majority population. People living alone represented 28 percent of households in 1998.

Inheritance. Children rarely depend on inherited wealth to become independent and usually inherit movable property rather than real estate. When real estate is involved, it often consists of a home and the attached land, not agricultural land. Most people follow the principle of equal division of inherited wealth among offspring, with some favoritism toward biological offspring in blended families.

Kin Groups. People envision themselves as part of a set of interconnected families, the size of which varies with marital status and family traditions. Most people include three to four generations of people in their kin group. Those who are married count the same number of generations of the spouse's family as part of their family. Kin groups do not have prominent status in society formally or informally. Notions of kinship involve a network of individuals who enter into kin relationships. The individual is not subsumed by the kin structure.

Socialization

Infant Care. Good mothering entails stimulating an infant through play and other activities. Many other aspects of infant care are class-specific. For example, middle-class mothers are likely to breast feed babies and wean them early, while working-class mothers tend to use bottle feeding and wean infants later. Middle-class infants are more likely to sleep in a separate room in a crib than are their working-class peers. Working-class infants also are more likely to receive physical chastisement for crying. Working-class fathers are not likely to participate in the upbringing of infant children because of the difficulty of obtaining time off.

Child Rearing and Education. A good child is often termed well adjusted, as opposed to children who are shy, withdrawn, overly aggressive, or hyperactive. Typically, people see children's behavior as the result of interactions with those around them, with the parents being the primary influence. Some children are viewed as having health problems that affect behavior, requiring medical intervention. There are two major areas of emphasis in child-rearing practices and beliefs. First, adults, particularly parents, need to teach children and young adults how to behave by setting limits to what they can and cannot do, teaching them how to solve conflicts and deal with others, and modeling good behavior. Second, adults should stimulate children to learn and be curious and creative to promote the growth of their mental capacities. Children are supposed to be well behaved but capable of interacting with their peers without shyness and should be curious and inquisitive as learners. Models for learning, teaching, and parenting involve intense interaction between teacher and learner and parent and child. Major secular initiation ceremonies for children and young adults revolve around the educational process and clubs. School graduation ceremonies are a primary rite of passage for most children and young adults. Hazing is used to initiate junior members of clubs, schools, and street gangs. There are three levels of schooling below the university level: preschool, primary school, and secondary school. Depending on the kinds of knowledge tested at the secondary levels, schools emphasize practical knowledge and problem solving as much as the mastery of a body of knowledge.

Higher Education. Government policy since the late 1950s has been aimed at expanding the opportunities for students to benefit from postsecondary education to create a more skilled workforce and increase social mobility. In the 1990s, more than 30 percent of all eighteen-year-olds were attending a university (up from under 5 percent in 1960), although the recent introduction of student fees may cause some to discontinue their education.

Etiquette is changing, but norms for appropriate behavior articulated by the elite and the middle class are still an important normative force. Greetings vary by the class or social position of the person with whom one is dealing. Those with titles of nobility, honorific titles, academic titles, and other professional titles prefer to be addressed by those titles, but like people to avoid calling too much attention to a person's position. Unless invited to do so, one does not call people by their nicknames. Postural norms are akin to those in other Western cultures; people lean forward to show interest and cross their legs when relaxed, and smiles and nods encourage conversation. The English expect less physical expression and physical contact than do many other societies: handshakes should not be too firm, social kissing is minimal, loud talking and backslapping are considered inappropriate, staring is impolite, and not waiting one's turn in line is a serious social blunder.

In conversation the English are known for understatement both in humor and in other forms of expression. On social occasions, small talk on neutral topics is appropriate and modest gifts are given. People reciprocate in paying for food and drink in social exchanges, by ordering drinks by rounds, for example. In public houses (bars), appropriate etiquette includes not gesturing for service. In restaurants it is important to keep one's palms toward the waiter, and tips are in the range of 10 to 15 percent. Standard table manners include holding the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand, tipping one's soup bowl away when finishing, and not leaning one's elbows on the table. Deviations from these norms occur in ethnic subcultures and among the working class. These groups usually develop their own version of etiquette, appropriating some rules from the majority standard while rejecting others.

Religious Beliefs. In 1998, approximately 10 percent of the population claimed to be atheists and 15 percent said they were agnostics, while 20 percent said they believed in God. In 1991, about 25 percent of inhabitants claimed to believe in astrology and good luck charms, and 42 percent believed in fortune-telling and faith healing. The major religious traditions are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, and Buddhism. In recent decades, so-called pagan or cult religions have included Wicca, shamanism, heathenism, druidry, goddess religion, the Unification Church, and Transcendental Meditation.

Religious Practitioners. Christian leaders derive power and authority from their control and dispensation of sacraments. Jewish rabbis and Islamic imams derive their authority from their mastery of a specific set of religious legal texts and the application of those texts to everyday life. Hinduism relies on a wide variety of texts, and traditionally its primary leaders gain authority from their caste position as well as from their adherence to specific ascetic rules and, especially in the case of gurus, their perceived connection to the divine. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion with a single set of texts, and ideally Sikhs associate themselves with a guru who helps believers achieve spirituality. In the most popular form of Buddhism (Mahayana), monks and teachers hold spiritual authority by virtue of their ascetic way of life and mastery of certain texts. In the various forms of Buddhism, monks and teachers hold spiritual authority by virtue of their ascetic way of life, their mastery of certain texts, and their leadership of worship ceremonies. Modern paganism often envisions its priests as deriving their power through a unique connection to the hidden forces in nature. Leaders of other movements rely on charisma or the attractiveness of the skills they teach.

Death and the Afterlife. In the early 1990s, about 25 percent of the population believed in life after death, although there is a wide range of practices around death. For a majority of the population, ideas about the afterlife are based on typical Victorian notions that are reinforced on television and in film: a place where life is better and those who have lived a good life are rewarded. For most people, funerals have become much cleaner, with the deceased meticulously prepared and cleaned before burial. Cemeteries are kept pristine and immaculate. Others, however, feel that the dead are very much among the living in photographs, videos, and other visual mementos. People used to remember the dead in a yearly cycle of religious days, but with the geographic spread of families, family occasions have become the occasions to recall them. There are organizations that promote awareness of how to die, from living wills to hospice care to palliative measures and euthanasia.

Medicine and Health Care

Since 1946, most people have obtained health care from a physician or other specialist attached to the National Health Service (NHS), a government-controlled and government-funded health care system. Although in the 1980s and early 1990s there were attempts to introduce market-driven principles into the NHS, and the number of privately insured inhabitants has risen; the NHS retains the principles of free services at the point of delivery, and the current Labour government has rescinded many of the measures intended to manage healthcare by market principles.

Most people believe in an approach to medicine that focuses on particular problems and illnesses as opposed to overall wellness. In this type of medicine a patient sees a medical specialist when a health complaint arises. The doctor diagnoses the problem on the basis of the patient's physical symptoms and either prescribes a treatment or sends the patient to a more specialized doctor. In recent years, a very different set of approaches to medicine and health (complementary medicine) has been informed by non-Western traditions such as traditional Chinese medicine and nonstandard approaches such as herbal lore. Rather than trying to cure a specific ailment, practitioners of complementary medicine attempt to restore the well-being of the patient's entire mind and body, often by tapping the body's capacities to heal itself. Examples of complementary medicine are acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage therapy, and healing touch.

Secular Celebrations

New Year's Eve and Day (31 December, 1 January), celebrate the beginning of the new year. April Fool's Day (1 April), is a day on which people play practical jokes on one another. The sovereign's birthday is celebrated in June. Guy Fawkes's Day (5 November) commemorates the foiling of a 1605 Catholic plot to blow up the houses of Parliament and is an occasion for fireworks and revelry. Remembrance Day (11 November) celebrates the contributions of war veterans to defending the freedom of the nation.

The Arts and Humanities

Support for the Arts. In addition to artists' earnings, support for the arts derives from the government, chiefly through the Arts Council and business and private philanthropic sources.

Literature. The elaboration of an expressly English literature began in the medieval period with Geoffrey Chaucer and continued into the Renaissance and then into the Restoration with William Shakespeare, John Milton, and John Dryden. During those periods, drama and poetry were the major literary forms, with popular literature shading into song, cartoons, and storytelling.

The eighteenth century is notable for the emergence of new literary forms such as the novel, the true crime tale, light opera, magazines, and new oral traditions associated with England's port districts. Regionalized music and storytelling from this era still provide the foundation for much currently performed folk music in England.

The nineteenth century is the age of the Romantics and the Victorians. Artists in both movements were social realists, with the Romantics known for recovering older forms and the Victorians known for highly elaborate language. Popular literature offered the penny dreadful and a profusion of magazines that published novels and other literary work serially. New oral traditions sprang up around labor protest movements such as those of the Luddites and Chartists.

In the twentieth century, writers born in England shared the stage with Commonwealth writers such as Derek Walcott, V.S. Naipaul, and Nadine Gordimer and with other non-English writers such as James Joyce, Dylan Thomas, and Alice Walker. The twentieth century also saw the continuance of the phenomenon of Anglicized émigré writers such as T. S. Eliot. Edwardians such as E. M. Forster and moderns such as D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf dominated the period 1900–1950. Edwardians extended Victorian approaches, and moderns worked in older forms such as the novel and helped develop the short story.

Since World War II, the efforts of writers to stretch the bounds of genres expanded. Poetry is now performed in the form of hip-hop music or at poetry slams, while written poetry may be rooted in jazz and has lost prominence. Drama has flourished, as have filmed versions of classic and contemporary works. Novels focus on the everyday and the autobiographical, a reflection in part of women's influence on literature.

Graphic Arts. Most training of graphic artists is provided by universities and art colleges. Art has been incorporated into the school curriculum as part of the nation's educational policy, and all English students receive some training in and exposure to the graphic arts. In 1997 and 1998, 22 percent of the population over age 15 visited a gallery, museum, or other major collection, a figure that has shown little change since the late 1980s. Whether museums are egalitarian in terms of affordability and relevance, however, is debatable. The National Disability Arts Forum and similar organizations are funded by the Arts Council of England and improve access to the arts and training in the arts for the disabled population; the Arts Council promotes cultural diversity as well.

Performance Arts. The Royal Shakespeare Company and musical productions in London's West End are well attended. Musical productions range from orchestras such as the London Philharmonic to jazz, rock, and folk music. Dance forms range from classical ballet to free-form club dancing. Ticket prices limit attendance at elite forms of performance art, although statistics show that in the last decade their audience has not decreased in size.

The State of the Physical and Social Sciences

England supports research and teaching in all areas of science and the social sciences. The government funds most scientific and social scientific research. Larger private corporations and private foundations are also major players. The research sector develops applications for basic primary research in a range of fields. With a long tradition of empirical inquiry, English scholars have often been active in applied science.

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—D OUGLAS C ATTERALL

S EE A LSO : United Kingdom

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The Most Strong & Influential British Culture

England Culture

England is a part of the UK which is a multi-nation and a land of diversity. England culture points to the early English civilization. Although this country has come a long way, there are still roots of the ‘English.’ The fact is, this country has a strong influence on the cultures around the world. The UK includes Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England.

All of these nations have the same currencies, laws, and regulations, but specific cultural differences exist. England is continuously becoming multicultural and more diverse. Factors like migration have certainly affected the culture of the nation. There is a lot more to the people of England than just their accent.

The Highlights

There is no sign of doubt that, like every nation in the world, this place too has its unique culture that roots back in time. When it comes to the development of culture, England is an influential center.

This country is full of surprises from history, architecture, music, art, clothing, people, monuments, and legends. If you are looking forward to knowing more about the culture of England then this post has got it covered for you.

A myriad of people is not familiar with the fact that England has been home to most of the philosophies that prevail in the world. Additionally, the popular English thinkers, namely Francis Bacon, Newton, and Charles Darwin, are from England. The best part about this culture is that it is filled with wonderful colours, values, traditions, rituals, customs, food habits, or much more.

Languages and Dialects

The majority of the people in England speak English. However, English is still not the official language of England or the UK. Apart from this, there are several other languages here that people prefer to speak. English is strongly present in England, especially but this was not always the case.

Back in time, French was a language for the upper class whereas English was for the lower class people. Scots is another popular language that is prominent in England. Indigenous languages like Angloromani, Shelta, Iris and Cornish speakers are also present in the nation.

This country is one of the biggest hubs when it comes to immigration. If we talk about the most famous immigrant language here then it is Polish. Moreover, immigrants from India and Pakistan reside in England in a high number, so languages like Hindi, Urdu, and Gujarati are quite popular too.

French and Arabic languages are also spoken here but the number of speakers is low compared to English. Moreover, there are different types of spoken English in England such as Northern English dialects and Southern English dialects. 98% of the UK population speaks and understands English quite well.

The Uniqueness of Architecture

Coming to the architectural remnants of this culture, we will first talk about Neolithic monuments like Stonehenge. UK architectural history mainly connects with the medieval period. Reflecting the supremacy of architecture, in England, most of the ancient churches were built with giant stones. Apart from these, castles are the main crux, whether it is Carrickfergus Castle in Ireland or Caernarfon Castle in Wales. Also, Windsor Castle is the largest castle in the world.

More than that, the Great Fire of London, Buckingham Palace, Roman Baths, Blackpool Tower, St Paul’s Cathedral are some of the globally renowned monuments of the UK. The housing style of England is more inclined towards small and closed spaces. Finding villas in England is a rare thing since the entire genre of architecture is planned according to a widespread portion of the population.

All in all, this culture is filled with a decent variety of different monuments. Well, we can definitely say that architecture out there is really planned according to the requirements of the residents.

The Legacy of Food

The first thing that comes to mind when we think about this culture is tea and biscuits. Also, from Christmas turkeys to Easter eggs, England has given the world a lot of great food. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner is the routine of the people of England. The nation is extremely famous for its desserts like puddings.

Pie and mash, fish and chips, and Shepherd’s pie are some of the greatest gifts of England to the world. Cream tea, falafel, and cornish pasty are other famous dishes of English culture.

Here most people carry packed lunch boxes in schools and offices. This is quite popular in England as they believe in eating healthy.

Not only is the nation famous for its awesome taste but it also has unique names for dishes. Eton Mess, steak, and kidney pie are some examples of the ultimate dishes of England. By the way, research reveals that the food culture in England is changing drastically.

If you plan to visit this place anytime soon, ensure that you know a lot about cooking. Roast dinner, haggis, pigs in blanket, faggots, trifle, and toad in the hole are some dishes that you must try out in England.

Clothing Patterns

Scotland and Wales in the UK do have national clothes but surprisingly, England does not have any. Several people have a perception that overcoats, bowler hats and suits are the common clothing patterns in England culture but it is not so. These clothes were very popular in the 7th century. Today, clothes are similar to those around the world.

Individuals have their dressing style from jeans, tees, shirts, dresses, heels, and sneakers. As the weather in England can be unpredictable, one must check it before researching the place. Dress according to the weather and you can blend in easily with the residents.

Fashion in thisculture is not very chic but it is not lazy as well. If you are confused then always opt for a dressy outfit rather than going casual. Businesses may have certain dress codes for their employees. Other than that, everyone can dress up according to their choice, likes, and dislikes.

From denim, skinny jeans, floral dresses to sweatpants, joggers, and activewear, the fashion remains the same like it is in all cultures. Country clothing continues to modernize with changing times and the clothing patterns keep evolving.

The Religious Beliefs

England is a multicultural and multi-faith society that comprises people who believe in different religions and those who don’t. This society is made up of Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and several other faiths, and Christianity is the most popular religion prevailing in England.

Although the number of Christians is continuously decreasing in England, the people practicing this religion remain the majority. The second-largest religion is that of Muslims. Moreover, 25% of the population of England follows no religion. Churches have a strong influence on the public schools where Christianity has a powerful presence.

Buddhists also prevail in a significant number in England. One can see from the statistics that the population is very diverse in this country. If we talk about thisculture, then this nation’s official religion is Christianity, and the Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, and Methodist are some church denominations found in England.

The best thing about this country is that everyone has the freedom to practice any religion or follow no religion at all. Plus, the religious laws in the nation are diverse and take care of all cultures. Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and other religions have their individual religious laws in the country.

The Enthusiasm for Sports

Football is undoubtedly the prominent game in England. There are more than a hundred football teams that prevail in the nation. With exciting tournaments all year round, the world has its eyes on the football games of England. Cricket is the next famous sport that is taken very seriously in England.

Apart from this, cricket is the national sport of the UK as well. With 18 country clubs present, each club’s name has a historic meaning. The cricket team plays within the country and with international teams too.

Rugby is another sport that is extremely popular here in the country. This sport is further divided into two parts: Rugby Union and Rugby League. However, the two types are different in rules and the number of players. There are several challenges and leagues that go on throughout the year.

If we talk about racket sports, then Badminton tops in popularity. Plus, the Badminton Federation of England supports 41 countries in the league structure.

Individual sports like boxing, horse racing, and tennis are quite prominent in England as well. All these sports are participant sports but are evolving as great spectator sports too. England does not have any official sport, but cricket is highly loved there. 

The Style of Greeting

The way of greeting each other is quite different in thisculture. People greet each other informally in social settings. Whether people meet someone new or already know someone, they greet each other using their first name.

Handshake is yet another common way of greeting each other. The handshake is not too firm, not too lousy, but just the right amount of firm. Close friends and relatives often hug each other or nod slightly with a smile to greet.

Also, people in England do not ask many questions while meeting someone. In the formal environment, a firm handshake is going to be enough. Hugs, kisses, and hand fives are for informal times where friends and family are present. “How do you do?”, “now then,” “ey up?” and “alright?” are some common phrases that you will hear in England.

These phrases are usually used by people who have a British accent and are confident in their language. Other than this, all the other things are pretty much the same as it happens in different cultures around the world.

The Family Framework

Since the beginning of time, families in England have usually been nuclear. The extended family lives separately, and gatherings on special occasions are a thing. Husband, wife, and children are typically identified as a nuclear family. However, the social norms are changing due to various things like divorce, remarriage, etc.

Single parents living with their children is also becoming a common thing in England. Although the standards for families keep on evolving, the relationships are highly valued. Supporting each other and helping each other grow is the fundamental of families prevailing there. Alongside, the families in England prefer to have smaller families rather than having joint families.

This lets the people live an economically sound life and live on their own terms. Also, children are taught to be independent at an early age so they can move out once they are adults. Several reports show that many adult children still live with their families because of economic pressure.

Earlier, women had children at a young age but this is not the case today. Now, women tend to wait till their early thirties to have their first child. Furthermore, the number of same-gender families is also increasing rapidly in England. This change started happening in 2015 when same-gender marriages were legalized. Clearly, things are evolving in this country like any other country.

Holidays and Fun

Custom laws set holidays in England. 1st January, New Year’s Day, is the first holiday of the year. Lent and Easter come in March or April. 23rd April is St. George’s Day but it is a day of significance and not a holiday. Good Friday also lies in the month of March or April. The 1st of May marks Mayday, which is a public holiday.

Spring bank holiday arrives on 31st May. Next, the summer bank holiday is on 30th August. Christmas, 25th December, is a public holiday followed by Boxing day on 26th December. The year ends with New Year’s Eve on the 31st of December. All the public holidays have existed for a long time.

The mentioned dates are of great value in England. Plus, there are some common holidays in thisculture , but some public holidays are different in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

The 12th of July, Battle of the Boyne, is a significant date in Northern Ireland, but it is not in England. Moreover, the holidays are for everyone, irrespective of who practices what religion. Queen’s Birthday, 13th June is yet another valued date in the UK. 

Gender Roles

Similar to world history, gender roles are quite the same in England. Back in time, men were responsible for earning bread, whereas women stayed at home to take care of the house. With the changing times, women too are now stepping out of the house and acquiring higher positions in society. In recent times, equal opportunities have been given to both men and women.

Despite all these changes, women in England still earn 80% as compared to men. Moreover, in the 20th century, there was a spike in the number of married women working. This style shows how women’s growth is enhancing in the nation. When women started working initially, they were given lower status works or part-time jobs.

However, this is not the case now because women are going places and getting high-status jobs. Not only this, but the male-dominated jobs are being driven by women as well. Several Muslim and Jewish women are still in the domestic environment where they can’t work.

Some women have made bare minimum progress in society, whereas some are becoming the president of businesses. The gender roles are not the same as they were before, but they still exist.

Etiquette and Body Language

Etiquette keeps changing with time, but some social norms remain the same. British culture has some basic rules for greeting and meeting other people. If a person has academic titles, professional titles, or honorific titles, people can address others using these titles. However, this depends on the type of setting the individual is in.

Calling people by their nicknames in public places is not a usual thing here, and smiling and nodding is a common way of greeting people and a sign to continue the conversation. Posture, sitting, and walking styles are pretty much standard like the rest of the world.

In this culture, physical touch is for closed ones and is not appropriate for business meetings and other formal gatherings. General etiquette like waiting in line, whispering, and being polite is good manners. While going to a restaurant, a 10-15% tip is given to waiters mostly.

Fork and knife are held in left and right hands, respectively, and other table manners are the same. Modest exchange of gifts, paying for drinks and food, and thanking for services are part of the norm. Staring, shouting, and talking inappropriately are impolite in the culture.

Communication Rituals

British people are indirect communicators who can’t stand conflicts, and British culture supports peace over fights so things can get sorted by talking and not fighting. This indirect communication helps in not saying offending stuff to others that may cause a conflict. Also, the people of England are known as the most humble as well as honest.

If you find someone making self-deprecating jokes in the future, know that it is nothing new. Light-hearted jokes are a way of conversation to lighten the mood or approach somebody and remember not to cross a line while making any such jokes. Humour and sarcasm are usually a part of the conversation, and witty replies can prevent dull discussions.

Moreover, if you ever get a chance to go to England and you are unable to find out whether someone is kidding or not, assume that they are kidding most of the time. Since people residing there are highly patient, which makes them good listeners, don’t interrupt them while they speak.

Dissatisfaction in public can cause a wide array of problems, and everyone tends to avoid it. Expressing emotions through physical expressions is not always a thing in England.

Formal Culture

Businesses in England are fair and decent means of working to enhance the work environment. If you wish to make a business meeting, then get an appointment several days before it, and waiting till the last moment to get things done is probably not a good idea in England.

Written medium is still very important in this place, and work cultures appreciate the written application. Reaching the meetings on time or a few minutes early is professionalism. Especially if you are leading a meeting, then start it on time. Introductions with business cards are a common thing in this culture.

Small talk is healthy in work environments where you can make conversations but not about private matters. People of England believe in improving their moods before any discussion, and therefore, they often indulge in sarcastic comments or pass appropriate jokes. Just like any other work culture, businesses in England want to be under control to ensure smooth functionality.

Every business is based on carefully curated statistics and figures to avoid boasting and making unnecessary claims. Disagreement is also not done openly, and it is made explicit via sarcastic comments. This not only controls the situation but also the sentiments of other parties are not hurt.

British Accent

In the UK, one can see a world of difference in people’s accents. The British accent is highly popular around the globe, and people identify it as soon as they hear it. Plus, the accent is one prominent thing that can separate the people of England from the rest of the world. The accents are made up of more than 37 dialects.

Moreover, dialects vary from person to person and tell which part of the country the people belong to. Since the accent is different in several regions, only the people of England are aware of all dialects. If you ever hit England, then you won’t be able to make out the type of dialects.

For instance, Cockney’s dialect is one of the most popular dialects in this culture. You can notice that the sound of ‘th’ changes to the sound of ‘f’ in this dialect. Estuary English, Yorkshire, and Northern Irish are some other famous dialects in England.

Scottish, Brummie, Scouse, and Geordie are dialects that can identify the regions where people come from. Mastering the British accent can be a task, but you can achieve it by practicing enough.

The Media Excellence

Like every other culture, British culture has snake media outlets. Some of the media channels are popular in the world because English is spoken and understood in most countries. The BBC is the most significant and oldest radio as well as television broadcasting channel of England. Furthermore, the channels of the BBC are not only in England but also in several parts of the world.

Apart from this, the BBC radio network broadcasts in more than 33 languages. Plus, the newspapers are of very high quality and contain serious information as to what is happening within a country and around the world. All the news about businesses and other things can easily be spotted in the newspapers to understand better.

Catching up with the latest news is extremely important to become self-aware and make small conversations with someone. The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, and Financial Times are some of the popular newspapers of this culture.

Apart from newspapers, magazines are given great importance as well. No matter what, writing is not a dead medium in England which is a great thing. Magazines like The Economist are famous worldwide, so England is known for that.

Morals and Values

The specific set of British values are taught to everyone in the nation. If we talk about the first principle or importance of the British structure, then it is democracy. It gives people the right to speak and voice their opinions. Elections can be held within schools or other institutions to elect a body to run the organization smoothly.

Next, the rule of law states that every citizen must abide by the regulations to contribute to a better living environment. Laws are made for governing and protecting the rights of other citizens. If the rules are broken, then there are several consequences to it. People of England can make individual choices and live their life on their terms. 

Everyone makes informed choices that will not affect any other person or organization negatively. Mutual respect is taught to kids in school and is also practiced by adults in businesses. All things work on mutual respect, and without it, society fails as a whole.

People in England can freely choose any religion and start practicing it. There is more focus on creating a culturally diverse society. Undoubtedly, England is a multicultural region where people can follow anything that they want.

Class System of UK

The class system in this culture was once prevalent, but gradually, it got eliminated. It is not that the class system is completely gone because some part of it still exists. Initially, the class system was a matter of pride, and that is how people distinguish themselves from one another. Back in time, the occupation of the people decided which class they truly belonged to.

White collars and blue collars were an essential part of the system. Times are changing in England as society is evolving. Although there are no class systems now, people still distinguish each other based on their education, jobs, and social status.

However, this is the case in every country or region, so today, the class system is present. Also, the British values emphasize giving equal opportunity to everyone so all can strive for excellence. Bragging about money, social status, or any other thing is usually frowned upon in England.

People who consider themselves upper class never indulge in conversations where they can boast about their success. Furthermore, the residents of England highly believe in minding one’s own business and not interfering in other people’s matters that can cause discomfort to them. 

Dance Forms

No one could deny the fact people in England know how to play with the beats in a real way. The folk dances of England represent the ancient rituals of death, birth, war and rebirth. Morris dance, sword dance, and country dance are some of the popular folk dance forms of the locality. In the 17th century, stage dances became very popular, which were solely for the entertainment of the upper class.

From the 18th to the 20th century, ballet and dancing masters came into existence and became a prominent part of the dance culture. The Royal Ballet and Dance Rambert began from here and later evolved as dance forms. After the 20th century, dance came to light as a career. This country has given the world some of the finest artists of dance. More than that, Rapper Sword, Morris Dance, Square Dance, Barn dances, Ceilidh are the main dance forms of England.

How can we miss mentioning Alesha Dixon and Keith Finch because these two are world-famous dancers that belong straight to the UK culture.

Music and Other Genres of Arts

Pop music is literally the lifeblood for Britishers. According to research data, 70 percent of the UK people are totally into pop music. Apart from all other famous music styles are Rock music, Jazz music, Blues music, and Soul music. Also, traditional folk UK music takes into account the fiddle, melodeon, accordion, and squeezebox.

Moving on, you must have seen the adorable art pieces of copper but do you know that it all started in England? Yes, copper artwork is the first thing that brought an art revolution in this culture. After that, the work of jewelry making through beautiful stones and gold came in trend. Additionally, the Romans introduced glasswork and mosaic art in order to extend the scope of handmade pieces.

Not just that but the England culture is filled with colorful performing arts like theatre, comedy, life drama, folk arts, and a lot more. People of England have already established the benchmarks on the edges of the painting, sketching, digital coloring, writing, crafting, singing, acting, and sculpting.

Besides all this, England has earned a separate recognition in the area of motion pictures too. Reportedly, the country produces the maximum number of movies. The legends of cinema, none other than the Lumière brothers introduced the craft of cinema to the whole world in 1892, and ever since then, this culture kept coming forward with the best bunch of on-screen arts.

Final Words about England Culture

United Kingdom culture is known for its fast-paced environment and dedication towards work. Carrying broad mindsets while never interrupting others’ business is the best side of the respective culture. All in all, UK culture is one of the most magnificent when it comes to going through the right exploration.

Frequently Asked Questions about England Culture

Yes, the England Culture is defined by the cultural sub-sets of England plus English people. England has its own vivid culture.

The traditional culture of England found its root in the customs and rituals of Afro-Caribbeans, Asians, Muslims, and other immigrants. Due to this, the traditional England culture became entirely homogeneous.

Greeting people with hugs, sipping tea most of the time, wearing hats as main attire, dancing through the beats of cha cha cha, and celebrating life king size are the prominent customs and traditions of England.

Individual liberty, democracy, mutual respect, and tolerance are the main cultural values of England.

The culture of London is based on music, dance, festivals, museums, economy, and the spirit to celebrate the essence of life in the best possible way.

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Essay on England Culture

Students are often asked to write an essay on England Culture 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 England Culture

England’s traditions.

England is known for its old traditions. People enjoy afternoon tea, which means having a small meal with tea around four in the afternoon. They also have big celebrations for Christmas and Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th, with fireworks and bonfires.

English Food

Traditional English food includes fish and chips, pies, and a Sunday roast with meat and potatoes. They have a sweet treat called scones, often eaten with jam and cream. English breakfast is a big meal with eggs, sausages, and more.

Sports in England

Football, or soccer, is very popular in England. Cricket and rugby are also loved. Many people watch these games and support their favorite teams. England hosts the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament every summer.

England’s Music and Art

England has famous bands like The Beatles and many museums with art and history. People enjoy going to concerts and visiting galleries to see beautiful paintings and learn about the past.

250 Words Essay on England Culture

Introduction to england culture.

England is a country in Europe with a rich history and culture. Its culture includes music, art, language, and traditions that have been around for hundreds of years. People from all over the world know about England’s culture, and many enjoy it.

Traditional Food

In England, food is an important part of culture. Fish and chips are very famous, and people often eat them on Fridays. Another traditional food is the Sunday roast, which is a big meal eaten on Sunday with family. It usually has meat like beef, chicken, or lamb, with potatoes and vegetables.

Festivals and Holidays

England has many festivals and holidays that are celebrated each year. Christmas is a big holiday where families come together, give presents, and decorate their homes. Bonfire Night on November 5th remembers a famous event from history with fireworks and bonfires.

Sports are a big deal in England. Football, which Americans call soccer, is very popular. Cricket and rugby are also important sports that many people play and watch.

Music and Literature

England has given the world famous music bands like The Beatles and singers like Adele. In literature, writers like William Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling, who wrote Harry Potter, are from England. Their stories and songs are loved by people everywhere.

England’s culture is made of many parts like food, holidays, sports, music, and books. It is known all over the world and brings joy to many people. England’s traditions and modern culture both help make it a special place.

500 Words Essay on England Culture

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, which also includes Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It has a very rich culture that has been shaped over thousands of years. Culture includes things like food, music, art, and how people celebrate special days. In this essay, we will look at different parts of English culture.

Traditional English Food

One of the best ways to understand a culture is through its food. English food is known for its hearty meals. A traditional English breakfast might have eggs, bacon, sausages, beans, and toast. For other meals, people in England enjoy dishes like fish and chips, pies filled with meat or vegetables, and a Sunday roast. This is a big meal usually eaten on Sundays that includes roasted meat, potatoes, and vegetables. There’s also afternoon tea, which is a small meal in the middle of the afternoon with tea to drink and snacks like sandwiches and cakes.

English Music and Dance

Music and dance are important in England too. The country has a history of folk music and dance that goes back hundreds of years. Maypole dancing is a traditional dance where people dance around a tall pole holding ribbons. Morris dancing is another traditional dance with bells and sticks. In modern times, England has been home to famous music bands like The Beatles and singers like Adele.

English Literature

England has a very famous history of writing. Some of the world’s best-known writers come from England. William Shakespeare is one of these writers. He wrote plays and poems about 400 years ago, and people still read and watch his plays today. Other English writers include Charles Dickens, who wrote stories about life in England, and J.K. Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter books.

England has many special days and festivals. Christmas is a big holiday when families come together, give gifts, and eat a big meal. Easter is another important time with chocolate eggs given as treats. Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th is when people light bonfires and set off fireworks to remember a day long ago when a man named Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the parliament building. There are also many music and arts festivals throughout the year.

Sports are a big part of life in England. Football (what some other countries call soccer) is very popular. Many people support their local football teams and watch matches on TV or at the stadium. Cricket and rugby are other popular sports. Wimbledon, a famous tennis tournament, is held in England every summer.

English culture is full of interesting food, music, stories, and traditions. From the big breakfasts to the festive celebrations and love of sports, there is so much to learn about and experience. This rich culture is a mix of old traditions and new ideas that make England a special place. School students can find many things to explore and enjoy in English culture, whether through reading a book by a famous English author or trying a traditional English dish.

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How has England changed since 1994?

N early 20 years ago I wrote  an essay for the Guardian on English culture – and by extension, Englishness. I entitled it "The Valley of the Corn Dollies". Returning to it and the consciousness it exhibits I am struck by the many obvious continuities – the sense I have of Englishness enduring – but also by the transformations that have taken place in England, and by extension within English identity, over the last two decades, and that were quite unforeseen by me. Not that in 1994 I was in the business of writing futurology, still, any attempt to fix a culture in time must pay due heed to the particular nature of its fluxions. This lack of foresight is also matched by the essay's comparable lack of hindsight; I don't mean by this that it displays no concern with where the ideas and practices associated with Englishness may have come from, only that as its author I seem to have had little precise sense of their evolutionary timescale. This is understandable, I suppose; the concerns of a 32-year-old are, one hopes, different from those of a quinquagenarian. I say "one hopes", although the very adoption of the impersonal first person and the continuous present relocates the aspiration to a nebulous cultural realm, not this England at the beginning of this particular year: the 2014th of the Common Era.

In fact, the very assumption that generations are capable of individuation and of possessing their own geist is one that the last 20 years have ground away at, and I realise now that implicit in it were notions of the cultural primacy of the young. The impact of a rapidly ageing population on English culture (and by extension, Englishness) is something I will return to, but for now it will suffice to remark that while this phenomenon – the banking-up of the baby boomer generation into a grey market at the end of the consumerist conveyor belt – may be widespread in the so-called developed world, the impact it is having on England seems especially powerful given that Englishness itself is almost always conceived of in terms of gradual evolution rather than abrupt change.

In 1994 I was much taken by what I saw as the peculiarly English genius for satire both political and social, and I took this to be evidence of an underlying vigour in the nation's primary institutions – parliament, the law and the media, if not the monarchy and the established church. I located the satiric wellspring as residing still in a class system that had, by and large, resisted essential alteration by skilful co-option – but I suppose I then believed that the dramatic ironies might tend towards dissolution. Arguably, an England without the double-speak of snobbery and exclusion might be less funny, but there were surely other things it was possible to laugh about. I now look back on this attitude as being excessively sanguine; a recent article by the impeccably middle-English novelist Jonathan Coe nailed shut – for me – the coffin lid on the ghoulishly self-satisfied face of contemporary English satire. To paraphrase Coe's argument: far from standing in a dynamical relation to the exercise of power, the whole tendency in postwar English snook-cocking – from the so-called "satire boom" of the 1960s, all the way through to the politico-shit-kicking of Armando Iannucci's The Thick of It – has been implicitly to legitimate the status quo; for, by attacking the political class en bloc and without distinction, the satirists have both abandoned their own moral compass and allowed the wielders of power to appropriate the very weapons deployed. The end result is that one of the most high-profile politicians in contemporary England is the seemingly buffoonish mayor of London, Boris Johnson, whose self-satirising shtick consistently bastes him with buttery public approval.

Another instance of my younger self's myopia was my failure to anticipate the coming era of digital media. Perhaps this was forgivable: in 1994 mobile phones were still a rarity, satellite and cable TV services remained trapped in the coils of government regulation; and while locally networked personal computers were becoming reasonably prevalent in English offices, the web was too diaphanous to be seen. At least by me – I remember a salesman visiting me at the small business publishing company I ran in the early 1990s, and attempting to explain the benefits of connecting to the internet and thereby gaining access to the emergent web. I sort of grasped what he was talking about, but simply couldn't see what use my business could make of these innovations: we had all the information we needed at our fingertips already – or so I believed. Again, the shockwave from the subsequent technological revolution is still reverberating around the world, and there seems no reason why English culture should be particularly affected – except that the web and the internet helped to make manifest one of the longer-term, but previously hidden developments in English culture and society. This was the nation's transformation from a manufacturing economy to a mercantile and service-based one; a change that saw even more economic power shift to London and the south-east from the northern industrial cities. It was accompanied by the rise of a commercial bourgeoisie that viewed its own prosperity as intrinsically related to transnational capital flows, even as its loyalty became more fervidly attached to symbols of nationhood (the monarchy, the armed forces) that within the context of a declining empire – and still more so after the treaty of Rome – should have increasingly appeared as mere rhetorical tropes.

But nationalism is itself always a rhetorical trope, and while England may have a curiously contrary way of articulating its self-belief – proceeding, one might say, by an apophatic process, whereby Englishness is given greater focus and intensity by mounting up affirmations of all that it is not – nonetheless there is a core English identity to be discovered, one that solidified in the late 19th and early 20th century; one that has proved remarkably resilient throughout the last turbulent 100 years; and one that shows every sign of remaining intact even as the original factors that brought it into being are changed out of all recognition. It's instructive to map my own rather naive speculations of 1994 on to the current dispensation, but it's more productive by far to examine the period 1980-2020 in terms of the equivalent span a century before; such an overlay may also mean that I don't look back in 2034, appalled by what I missed.

This late 19th-century shift in the locus of power – from north to south, and from land and manufacturing to retail and financial services – was accompanied initially by the ascendancy of the collectivist and utilitarian tendency in English liberalism. The first world war hammered home with the monstrous cacophony of the guns the idea that to be a free Englishman (and despite the suffragists the accent was still on men at this stage) was to have one's liberties underwritten by the positive interventions of the state. John Bull's green and pleasant island, where vinous-faced squires rode to hounds and "do what thou will" was nine-tenths of the law remained as a sort of organic reverie, inhering in an invented English countryside of rolling hills and productive mixed-arable and dairy farming. This Englishness – which was subscribed to as wholeheartedly by utopian socialists as it was by belligerent Tories – was a gestalt unconsciously devised to counter the standardised torments of mass villadom; and it finds its fullest spatial articulation in the Arts and Crafts semi standing in a suburban cul-de-sac, replete with unique features. That simulacra of these houses are being built to this day – and indeed, that the current rowdy debate on the paucity of housing still concentrates on this stock-brick-castellated ideal – tells you almost everything you need to know about Englishness, which is that the principal reason for its endurance lies in the very fictitiousness of its premises.

The 20th century looks momentously transformative for England on paper: the near-decimation of a generation between 1914 and 1918; the loss of imperial grip in the interwar years and its complete abandonment after 1945 (to be replaced by another fictive gestalt: "the Commonwealth"); the final attainment of universal adult enfranchisement in 1927; the second great spasm of collectivisation in 1939-45, and its sequels in the form of the National Health Service, universal state education, a burgeoning public housing sector and so on. But, with the benefit of our centennial overlays on the overhead projector, we can see that these are as nought when compared with the way ideal Englishness continues to inform and legitimate the real exercise of power. Writing at a time when Burkean Tories and Benthamite Liberals share the cabinet table, and the prime minister declares that the British army's mission in Afghanistan has been successfully completed, it's difficult not to feel trapped within the farcical phase of history's repetition.

Englishness, taken to be the lowest common denominator of what any given individual identifies about his or herself as an English person, remains overwhelmingly located in these rhetorical tropes: the supervening political wisdom of the head of state (who is at once magnificently disengaged and fully apprised); the immemorial beauty of the countryside (which is paradoxically tied to its anthropic character: we have English Heritage, the US has wilderness); the bivalent concept of "fair play", which unites the negative libertarianism of John Bull with the positive state engagement of Clegg and Miliband; and – most important this – a complex and often contradictory understanding of inclusiveness, which is seen as served just as well by co-option to elites (black and brown coronet-sporters in the House of Lords), and impersonation (Hackett-clad hacks out hacking, Burberry-clad members of the chavistocracy fine dining). For the English, the ability of any given individual to assimilate has been taken as a confirmation of the nation's essential inclusiveness; and the way to "get on" is to accede to a tokenism that will, given time, fade to grey. The unparalleled success of English Jews in achieving this ideal was as marked in the 1900s as it is in the 2000s. The Marconi scandal of 1912, which had a solid undertow of antisemitism, was complemented by the insider trading scandal of the Guinness Four in the 1980s, by which time to mention that all the defendants were Jews was as infra dig as alluding to the semitic origins of half of Thatcher's inner cabinet.

In the years from 1880 to 1920 concerns with "the other" were focused in part on the Ashkenazi Jews, refugees from Russian pogroms who at that time were settling in the East End of London. But far more significant was the uses to which the Celtic fringe could be put – in particular John Bull's other island. Whether as the unwelcome Gastarbeiter of their day, or as fractious malcontents rocking the imperial vessel, the Irish – supposedly fey and improvident at the very best – shored up the immemorial citadel of Englishness. In my 1994 Guardian piece, with the Good Friday agreement still in the future, I quoted an Irish friend – the writer Robert McLiam Wilson – saying what a reliable appetite the English had "for hearing what shite they are". I took this – like the satire – to be a good quality, and evidence of a productive dialectic in English culture and character; it doesn't look that way to me any more. In fact, like any individual who tolerates such abuse, the English, taken collectively, hide their bullying and their arrogance behind a willingness to hear what shite they are; low self-worth is not a recipe for a happy nationalism – ask the Italians, or the Egyptians for that matter. The absolute intractability of the Irish question for successive waves of the English liberal consensus remains with us, at least in the diminuendo of Ulster, to this day; but revolving round this primum mobile of colonialism (and recall: Ireland was put to the sword by parliament, not monarch) are all the other crystal spheres of the expansive English cosmos. The fundamental problem for the English – how do they reconcile a recent history typified by violence, exploitation and rapacious greed with their overwhelming sense of fair play – must be staged again and again, because the tension of these opposites can only possibly find resolution through its re-enactment. Twenty years ago, with devolved government for Scotland and Wales still in the future, and Irish people of all stripes reminding us of what shite we were, I paid the traditional obeisance: acknowledging the separateness of these cultures and applauding their ability to still shine in the dark shadow thrown by their behemoth of a neighbour. But I also had to be clear: London was a whirlpool worthy of an Edgar Allan Poe story, sucking in all the raw talent that ventured anywhere near it; culturally speaking, the Celts could only hold their mournful tune if they kept well away from the cacophony.

In 2014 all possible forms of alterity are faced down by the English with the same biblical stare: either go with the goatish adherents of political Islam or be herded with the rest of the sheep into the pastures beloved of Constable, where ye shall lie in peace down beside the British lion. And if you're a Romanian or a Bulgarian, don the sorting hat that other eastern Europeans have put on before you; either take a worthy low-paid job – preferably mopping up after our incontinent elderly – live in a bought-to-let garage, spend your money in our economy rather than sending it home, and then send yourself home after you've made a "net contribution"; or alternatively be forever condemned as a slimy slithering scrounger – and probably a "gyppo" to boot. If you've chosen well you might get a bit part in  The Archers – the gold standard for English inclusiveness; if badly you'll feature disproportionate to your offending behaviour on Crimewatch .

The rise and, for the most part, the acceptance of identity politics in England plays to the advantage of traditionally constituted Englishness, an ideology that thrives on physiological metaphors and which allows for different groups – "communities" in the modern idiom – inasmuch as they are prepared to become "sustainable" organs generating "growth" within the body politic. The Edwardians who hushed up the Cleveland Street gay brothel scandal , while sending Wilde to jail, would have appreciated an England within which being flamboyantly gay could be squared with being outrageously conformist; no doubt, in time, they could have got used to black men with dreadlocks sitting in the House of Lords, or feminist women taking their strident turn at the dispatch box. What they understood is that there can always be an England so long as these "communities" can be persuaded not to see themselves as part of a larger one: the community of the dispossessed. The question of whether or not English Muslims will hurry up with their assimilation or persist with their tiresome religio-cultural revanchism is of course intimately bound up with Englishness itself; an Englishness that – as that other economic sponger-cum-migrant Karl Marx understood only too well – cloaks its cold mercantile heart in swaths of chiffon sentiment. Knowing the price of everything is … exhausting, and it's a taedium vitae that persuades the English to indulge in successive cultural – and even spiritual – devaluations; anything but allow Englishness to find its true level in the world.

Earlier I said that digital media had made manifest the century-old north-south power shift; now I should explain. In 1994 I was much exercised by "retail services", the huge English export of which I chose to see, through Panglossian spectacles, as to some extent synonymous with the undoubted English brilliance at purveying popular culture – street fashions, dance music etc. The truth is that financial services were the real export earner then, and despite – or arguably because of the 2007-8 ruction – they remain so now. What's more, courtesy of the tax payer, they are fully engrafted in the state apparatus as the largest and most symbiotic instance of a public-private finance initiative. Popular culture is merely the window dressing: like Danny Boyle's lavishly staged charade in the Olympic stadium. It follows that England – and by extension true Englishness – exists if at all in an accommodation with this dispensation, which is really only the kulturkampf of that self-same commercial class that first pioneered capital flight a century ago.

To be English is to subscribe at some level to this debt-financing model of national character; the mortgaged heart of oak labours sclerotically on while a billion tweets and Facebook status updates are its exaggerated cardiogram, evanescently recording the peaks and troughs of its Kate Middletonesque narcissism. And of course, given that Englishness is the genius loci of an imaginary place – the green and pleasant land through which runways are forever bulldozed, and in which high-speed rail lines are entrenched – it follows that it's a bespoke national character for the ageing: in this relaxed-fit, red-white-and-blue garment they call "British" the English can punch at, above, or well below their weight internationally. Again, as I write, in the aftermath of the conviction of Lee Rigby 's crazed killers, and with the parliamentary committee with responsibility for their oversight making the usual doomy pronouncements on the parlous state of the armed forces, it's worth noting that servicemen and women have never been so popular. Only with a national character as capable of being altered on the hoof could a decade's worth of defeats and withdrawals be a cause for such rejoicing; yet even with a possible Scottish secession (taking with it if not the actual formations and materiel, at least the long and honourable tradition of providing the recruiting office for imperial hard men), I feel confident that the English will carry on being British when it suits them. It may be that historians developed the army-nation concept to explain successive crises in the legitimacy of 20th-century French regimes, but the relationship of the British army to Englishness is just as significant, for, like the English constitution, its permanent condition of crisis may in fact be its abiding strength.

It would be comfortingly simple to compare the role the European Union plays in the English collective psyche in 2013 with that of the British empire in 1913; and given that the English prize both comfort and simplicity let's do just that. Both are hinterlands to which loyalty is accorded on the basis of trade and profit alone, both are sources of potential immigrants, both evince a troubling inclination to believe themselves to be dog-wagging tails, and both stir up the ancient fudge of the English settlement. One of the most popular sub-genres of late Victorian and Edwardian English literature was the invasion fantasy – the most famous examples of which are Erskine Childers's The Riddle of the Sands and HG Wells's The War of the Worlds . The zeitgeist – whether paranoiac or real – plays little part in the contemporary literary consciousness, which prefers to flee to the Tudor period (or a version of it, at least); and instead we have real-life invasion fantasies courtesy of the John Bull de nos jours , Nigel Farage, and his Greek-debt-crisis chorus, the English Defence League. The irony of this embattled Englishness would not have escaped the late Victorians and Edwardians, who, following in the wide wake left by their portly sovereign, were only too happy to attend Shavian debunkings or consume a Wildean diet of hearing what shite they were, but who nonetheless still had a sense of themselves as being at the very centre of the world.

In 1917, when the doughboys entered the Flanders trenches, that centre decisively shifted towards the US; it was an invasion of England via Belgium that none of the science fiction writers foresaw, mostly because the neoliberal faith that in time became incorporated in invaders' ecclesiastical institutions – Bretton Woods, the IMF, the Federal Reserve – was already shared, in embryo, by the conquered. No one needs to be a seer to predict that by 2020 the world cynosure will have just as decisively shifted to the south-east – but not England's. The emergent Chi- or Bric world will impact just as powerfully on Englishness in the 21st century as the hegemonic US did in the 20th; yet having already masterfully performed the trick of retaining a sense of metropolitan pre-eminence while becoming parochial, there seems no reason to think that Englishness won't keep calmly constipated and carry on with the same old shit. This year's centenary of the first world war's outbreak will give the ageing English – wearing their habitual British costume – the opportunity to stage their favourite sort of mummery: the glorification of machine-made death and destruction on a colossal scale. Already minister after minister is rising to the dispatch box to declare that while the first world war should not be prettified, and the commemorations should be an opportunity to educate the young; those same young people should be made to swallow the idea that their beloved homeland faced a terrible existential threat in 1914. Thousands of young men took His Majesty's shilling, and a century on the poster boy for their recruitment, Lord Kitchener, gets to be on a £2 coin: because England is the land of debt-financed nationalism, it is also the one where people are perfectly happy to inflate reputations.

And finally: a word about food – and newsprint. In my 1994 essay I drew the central motif of Englishness from an instance of marketing: in  Richard Eyre 's 1983 film The Ploughman's Lunch (scripted by Ian McEwan ), the MacGuffin is thematic rather than narrative. During a conversation between the protagonist – a cod-idealistic television journalist – and the much older ad director whose lefty wife he has just cuckolded, the ad man tells him that the ploughman's lunch, far from having been some timeless titbit of the English peasant, was in fact invented in the 1960s to vitalise pub snacking. I could say a lot more about The Ploughman's Lunch – which in turn attempts to say a great deal about the fellow-travelling English character during the Thatcher revolution – but let's just focus on the food. In 1994 – let alone 1984 – food was still largely conceived of as a form of sustenance. In 2014 it has become the primary way that the English take their culture: to be English is to eat; to eat out, to eat many different cuisines, to watch cookery programmes and to have an opinion on the alleged drug-taking habits of celebrity chefs. It follows that Englishness itself is a gastronomic affair – and I think what I've written above bears this out: Englishness is at once a praxis: a way of going about things; and a way of transforming what is not English – shish kebabs, onion bhajis, ackee and salt fish – into what is. The problem for Englishness is that it tends to eat too much, and too indiscriminately – and that's not healthy for the ageing national character. Of course fish and chips (an inspired example of English praxis: Belgian fried potato mixed with Ashkenazi fried fish) was traditionally served in newspaper; but it isn't my partisan status as a journalist that leads me to believe that the English would have done well to hang on to the wrapping and discard the food. At least, I would've wished them to have done this if their great and passionate belief in the freedom and independence of their press wasn't – like so much that's English to the core – something of a myth.

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What's the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom? What's the best English music festival? And do English people really drink a lot of tea? Read about England and find out!

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises to check your understanding.

Preparation

England is the biggest of the four countries in the United Kingdom. Together with Scotland and Wales, these three countries are the island of Great Britain. The English Channel is in the south between England and France. People travel to France by ferry across the English Channel or by train through the Channel Tunnel which goes under the sea.

Over 50 million people live in England and that’s around 80 per cent of the total UK population. It is a multicultural country where more than 250 languages are spoken in the capital city, London. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, which means that there is a queen or king but they don’t make the laws of the country. Laws and political decisions in England are made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Houses of Parliament are in central London next to the River Thames and the most famous part is the clock tower, Big Ben. Other large cities in England are Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Bristol. Outside cities, England is a very green country and has many rural areas of natural beauty such as the Lake District, an area with lots of lakes in the north, and the New Forest, a big area of forest in the south of the country.

The official language of England is English, which is spoken today by millions of people all over the world. Many students go to England from other countries to study the language and learn about the culture. Although everyone speaks English, there are many different accents around the country. French was the official language in England between 1066 and 1362, which is why there are many French words and expressions in English such as ‘bon voyage’ for ‘have a good trip’ or ‘bouquet’ for ‘a bunch of flowers’.

English people love music. In the summer you can go to music festivals all over the country like those at Glastonbury, Leeds or Reading. Glastonbury is a five-day festival of music, dance, comedy, theatre and circus and around 175,000 people go. Many people stay at the festivals for a few days and camp in tents. People listen to all types of music, especially pop and rock. England has produced many international groups and singers like the Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and Adele.

The most popular sports in England are football, rugby and cricket and most towns have a sports ground where teams can play. English football teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are world-famous and English football players include David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane. Women’s football is also popular and teams play in leagues and competitions all over the country. Every year, the English rugby union team play in the Six Nations Championship against Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy. Cricket is a traditional sport played with a bat and ball which began in England and is now played all over the world. People like to watch all these sports on television, as well as other sports like horse racing, tennis, snooker (a type of billiards) and motor racing.

England is a very multicultural country and this has a big influence on the food people eat. Indian, Chinese and Italian cuisines are popular alternatives to traditional English food like fish and chips, roast beef or sausage and mash (mashed potatoes). Many English people drink several cups of tea every day, usually with milk. However, coffee and herbal teas are also popular.

The national flag of England is white with a red cross. It is called the St George’s Cross and Saint George is the patron saint of England. St George’s Day is on 23 April, but it’s not a public holiday. The rose is the national flower of England and the lion is the national animal. The lion is a symbol of many English sports teams.

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51 England Culture Facts On British History That Will Amaze You!

How many cultures are there in England?

How was the culture of new england shaped by the environment, what city was the leading center for culture and commerce during elizabethan england, why do brits say ta, why did english speakers replace the culture of native americans along with coastal new england.

England was once a highly homogeneous country with well-defined traditions, but this changed as the British Empire expanded and the country gained people from all over the world.

When one thinks about Britain, one conjures up images of British people sipping tea, donning bowler hats, and devouring fish and chips. In Britain, sports, British food, and music are all intertwined.

A full English breakfast, fish and chips, Sunday roast, steak, kidney pie, Shepherds pie, bangers, and mash are all considered traditional British food items. Eggs are the most popular English breakfast, with nearly two out of every five individuals saying they enjoy them.

In addition to cinema, technology, literature, democracy, engineering, music, philosophy, science, and mathematics, England has played a significant role.

The achievements of a wide variety of literature and poetry have long been recognized in England. The British are known for having a 'different' sense of humor, although our sense of humor has a lot in common with that of other cultures.

As much as anyone, we enjoy slapstick comedy and old-fashioned jokes.

The British, on the other hand, have a tendency to find humor in gloomy or negative situations. Sarcasm is widespread, as is the occasional joke at the expense of someone else – it's crucial not to take these jokes seriously because they're simply meant for fun.

The British have also been known to enjoy 'near the knuckle' comedy, which may be objectionable in other areas of the world. In August 1914, changes in British society did not happen suddenly. It was a long and winding road, guided more by reactions to circumstances than by any great strategy.

For more great facts, check out these British Empire at its height facts and American culture facts.

The rich history of the United Kingdom , its people, and the four countries that make up the country — England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland — all have their own traditions and customs.

• The culture of England is also a heritage of many smaller regionalisms, many of which are currently centered on the traditional political unit of the county and its neighboring towns and villages.
• Local products, such as regional rituals, ale, and art forms, morris dance with folk song, for example, allow individuals to shape their loyalties to their towns and the nation, many of which extend back to the preindustrial era. Working-class, middle class, and upper class, as well as rich vs poor, are all entwined with the north-south divide and regionalism.
• The social and cultural conventions of the United Kingdom are unlike any other. Among the most significant things to learn about any nation before visiting is its cultural and social customs. This article will provide you with all of the information you require regarding British culture.
• England's influence on British isles and international culture is just too extensive to be covered in this article.
• Traditionally, England was indeed a highly homogeneous country with well-defined British culture, however as the British Empire grew and the country gained migrants from all over the world, it became increasingly diverse.
• Afro-Caribbeans, Asians, Muslims, and other migrant groups have all made significant contributions to English culture. The same social and cultural diversification has occurred in other regions of the United Kingdom, with the result that England is not often distinct from Wales, Scotland, or even Northern Ireland.
• Fish and chips have given way to Indian, Chinese, and Italian cuisine, guitar-based rock has blended with South Asian rap and Afro-Caribbean salsa, and the English language is rich in neologisms borrowed from practically every one of the world's tongues.
• Even as England's cultural diversity grows, it continues to have a significant cultural impact on the rest of the world. English music, movies, and literature have a large international audience, and the English language has become the chosen international medium of cultural expression.
• The combined nations' history, its historically Christian religious life, its connection with European cultures, the traditions of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and the impact of the British Empire all had an impact on British culture.
• Although English culture as a whole is separate, the cultures of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland intersect and diverge to differing degrees.
• The literature of the United Kingdom is particularly admired. Great Britain is the birthplace of the contemporary novel, and playwrights, poets, and authors are among the country's most notable cultural luminaries.
• Music, movies, art, architecture, and television have all benefited from Britain's contributions.
• The Church of England, the state church, and the mother church of the Anglican Communion, the world's third-largest Christian denomination, is also based in the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom is also known to be the home to some of the world's oldest universities, has made significant contributions to philosophy, science, technology, and medicine, and has produced a number of notable scientists and inventions.
• The Industrial Revolution initially began in the United Kingdom and had a significant impact on global family socioeconomic and cultural situations. The English language, law, culture, and institutions of the British Empire's former colonies, the majority of which are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, bear strong British influence.
• British colonial and dominion cultures, particularly British cuisine, affected British culture. Sport is a significant element of British culture, and several sports have their origins in the United Kingdom.
• The status of England as a migration destination has also shaped perceptions of Englishness. The Irish have historically been the most dominant migrant group, arriving in two large crises in the modern English era: during the potato famines of 1847 and 1848, as well as during and then after WWII.
• In a variety of ways, this Celtic fringe has entered English society as a result of immigration. Since the eleventh century, Jews, Dutch, Flemish, French Huguenots, Germans, Italians, Poles, Turks, Cypriots, and Chinese civilizations have all had an impact.
• The dropping of Britain's colonies has resulted in a considerable influx of Bangladeshis, Afro-Caribbeans, Indians, Pakistanis, and migrants from eastern and northwestern Africa. Whether or not newcomers to England consider themselves 'English' will varies by community and also by the individual.
• The combined nations' history, its historically Christian religious life, its connection with European cultures, the traditions of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and the outcomes of the British Empire have all had an impact on British culture.
• Excessive apologizing is another English culture element that many respondents think is unique to the British.
• The British practice of attempting to place someone based on their accent was suggested by several researchers. In fact, every country has this tendency, but the United Kingdom appears to have a particularly wide variety of distinct regional accents .
• As a result, when one Londoner meets another, it's highly feasible that they will instantly recognize each other's broad area of the city-based just on their accents. Many rural places have their own distinct accents, and this phenomenon is not confined to big cities.
• The British have a tendency to sunbathe whenever they see the sun. Perhaps this is a biological requirement, a behavior shared by all people living in sun-deprived areas. In the UK, any sunny day with a temperature of over 18 degrees causes mass delirium.
• That means people unbuttoning their shirts, rolling up their slacks, and stopping everything from sitting in the sun, whether it's at a park, a city plaza, a bus stop, or anywhere else outside.
• You need to be overly polite, adjust your sense of humor, and become a regular at a pub if you want to live a British lifestyle.

In comparison to the southern colonies, New England was less diversified due to poor soil conditions. Severely hot summers and extremely cold winters, for example, were both unappealing to immigrants.

• Anywhere along the rocky coast of New England, colonies were plain, making them ideal harbor locations. Further inland, the terrain got more rugged and mountainous.
• Dense trees blanketed the terrain. Due to the rough soil, farming was tough. The wintertime in the colonies of New England was harsh, and the summers were moderate. As a result, the growing season lasted only around five months.
• New England colonists only produced enough to sustain their families because the soil was rocky, and the climate was sometimes harsh. Beans, corn, and squash were among the crops grown.
• The other New England colonies, on the other hand, were densely forested, providing colonists with a vital natural resource in the form of trees. The wood from these trees was used by colonists to construct homes, structures, and ships.
• Because ships were built for the colonies, lumber became particularly vital to the shipbuilding industry. Ships and timber were also shipped to the United Kingdom.
• In addition, because the colonies in New England were located along the coastline, many colonists fished. Whale hunting and cod fishing, along with other sorts of fish, were part of the fishery sector.
• Whale oil was a valuable resource that could be sold as well as utilized as a light fuel. Since the New England colonies concentrated on shipbuilding and fishing, agricultural products (farm products) were imported from other colonies and England.

London was England's important city, evoking all of the eras of Elizabeth's lively features. London became a major cultural and commercial hub as a result of this climate.

• Its poets and playwrights were the most well-known literary personalities of the age. In this chaotic situation, Shakespeare was a real person who lived and composed.
• London underwent a change during the period of the 16th century. During the 1500s, its population surged 400 %, by the period immigrants from Stratford came, the city proper and surrounding territories had grown to almost 200,000 British citizens.
• As a developing merchant middle class carved out a prosperous living, the economy developed.
• The University scholars (Marlowe, Lyly, Greene, Kyd, and Peele) characterized the theater of London in the 1580s. Despite the middle English and Jacobean backgrounds, these men used Marlowe's blank verse style to create new tragedies and comedies.
• Shakespeare outshined them all by combining the best elements of Elizabethan play with classical roots, then adding his own creativity and wit to the mix.
• The British Museum, the Tate Galleries, the National Gallery, the Notting Hill Carnival, and The O2 are among the noteworthy cultural sites in London.
• London has a vibrant nightlife thanks to music, comedy, and theater, with around 25.6 events per thousand inhabitants, with 44.1 % of those events being theatre-related. The English language is the main language spoken in the United Kingdom.

According to the online Etymology Dictionary, ta is a 'natural infantile cry of thankfulness' in British slang. Although it may have originated as mimicry of baby babble, it is now widely used among adults in the North of England and Wales as an informal 'thank you.' Thank you is a phrase used to show gratitude.

• The act of saying 'thank you' – showing thanks to someone for a kind deed – is an important part of how we communicate with one another. One of those subtle, ingrained customs that make up the everyday fabric of human relationships and contribute to society's seamless functioning.
• In English, there are various ways to represent the concept, many of which reflect different levels of formality.
• For example, at the more casual end of the spectrum is a word like 'ta,' which originated as a childlike form of 'thank you' (dating from the 18th century) but is now widely used as a plain colloquialism.
• Cheers, although originating in pubs and alcohol-driven settings, has actually become an idiomatic way of saying 'thanks for British people.
• Gratitude and indebtedness are two different emotions, according to psychologists. In the former, you simply express your gratitude for a kind or helpful deed.
• In the latter case, you believe you owe that person anything as a result of their compassion. When we say things like much obliged' or 'I owe you a debt of gratitude,' we're expressing gratitude.

Native American relations with the English were not great. The English treated the Natives as inferiors when they established their colonies, feeling that they stood in the way of their God-given claim to the land in America and sought to subjugate them to their rules.

• While Native Americans and English settlers in New England sought a collaborative partnership based on trade and a common devotion to spirituality initially, sickness and other issues soon destroyed the relationship, leading to the First Indian War.
• The Spanish had no better ties with the indigenous people, as they attempted to enslave them when they first arrived in America and then created missions to force them to convert from their original beliefs to Catholicism. None of this was appreciated by the natives.
• The way the French treated the Natives when they first met them and how they continued to treat them after that was the key to their amicable relations with them.
• The French had wonderful connections with each other as long as they had settlements in America. The vast bulk of data for persons with early American French ancestors or French settler ancestors who married Native Americans can be located in Quebec's provincial archives.
• Over the course of the 17th century, tensions between colonists and Native Americans deteriorated, culminating in the First Indian War, also called King Philip's War.
• Three Wampanoag persons were executed by the administration of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1675. Philip (also known as Metacom), the Wampanoag leader, reacted by commanding the Wampanoags and a number of other individuals (including the Nipmuc, Pocumtuc, and Narragansett).
• Other peoples, including the Mohegans and Mohawks, fought alongside the English colonists in the insurrection.
• The conflict lasted 14 months, concluding in late 1676, after the colonial militias and their Native American allies eliminated much of the Native American resistance.
• In April 1678, peace was reached, putting an end to the fight. This war is regarded as one of the worst in American history due to the high number of losses on both sides.
• Both sides suffered catastrophic losses, with the Native American population losing tens of thousands of individuals due to conflict, disease, slavery, or fleeing to other areas. During the fight, almost 600 colonists died, and dozens of towns were destroyed.
• Centuries later, the history of the New England colonies exemplifies the duality that characterizes much of American history: the idea that native and immigrant cultures have coexisted to form the modern United States, as well as the devastating conflicts and mistreatment that occurred along the way.

Here at Kidadl , we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 51 England culture facts on British history that will amaze you! then why not take a look at how many eighths in an ounce?

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2) At Kidadl, we strive to recommend the very best activities and events. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability. Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.

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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 . 

Aisling is an Irish journalist and content creator with a BA in Journalism & New Media. She has bylines in OK! Magazine, Metro, The Inquistr, and the Irish Examiner. She loves to read horror and YA. Find Aisling on LinkedIn .

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — United Kingdom — Introduction to the UK: a beautiful country to live

Introduction to The UK: a Beautiful Country to Live

• Categories: England United Kingdom

About this sample

Words: 878 |

Published: Feb 12, 2019

Words: 878 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

• Greeting strangers with a kiss
• Gestures such as backslapping and hugging strangers
• Spiting in public
• Asking personal or intimate questions (such as “How much money do you earn?” or “Why did you divorce?”)
• The historical conflict in Northern Ireland
• Religion (especially in Northern Ireland, Glasgow or Liverpool)
• The monarchy and the Royal Family
• Partisan politics
• The European Union, ‘Brussels’ and the Euro
• The Middle East
• Personal questions about a person’s background, religion, occupation
• Class and the class system
• Race and immigration
• Appearance or weight
• Money (“How much do you earn?”)
• Criticism or complaints in general

Works Cited:

• Adichie, C. N. (2014). We should all be feminists. Anchor Books.
• Hooks, B. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. Pluto Press.
• The National Organization for Women. (2021). Women's Rights. https://now.org/issues/
• Steinem, G. (2015). My life on the road. Random House.
• United Nations Development Programme. (2021). Gender equality. https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-5-gender-equality.html
• Davis, A. Y. (2016). Freedom is a constant struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the foundations of a movement. Haymarket Books.
• Federici, S. (2019). Caliban and the witch: Women, the body and primitive accumulation. Verso Books.
• Shetterly, M. L. (2016). Hidden figures: The American dream and the untold story of the black women mathematicians who helped win the space race. HarperCollins.
• Johnson, A. G. (2014). The gender knot: Unraveling our patriarchal legacy. Temple University Press.
• Orenstein, P. (2012). Cinderella ate my daughter: Dispatches from the front lines of the new girlie-girl culture. HarperCollins.

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Cohen, Erik H. 'Culture, emotions, and tourism.' Annals of Tourism Research 29.3 (2002): 721-742.

Different countries across the world have diverse cultural practices, and this has an effect on work relationships and development. Geert Hofstede came up with a structured way of comparing cultural dimensions of different [...]

Imprisonment and its effectiveness has been under great debate in the recent years. Prisons were relied upon as a means of social control and this has further increased in the 20 years in the United Kingdom and especially in the [...]

The UK and US constitutions are similar in the fact that they both have checks and balances. This is as a result of the separation of powers (or lack of) that both systems have. In the UK, the executive and the legislative [...]

The topic of cannabis legalization has been a subject of heated debate in the United Kingdom for several years. Cannabis, often referred to as weed, marijuana, pot, or hemp, is a psychoactive drug derived from the Cannabis plant [...]

The majority of new homes in England and Wales are built using traditional masonry construction. Traditional masonry construction is the construction method of choice for new homes in England and Wales. This method is ingrained [...]

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