Vocabulary:

Slang

Cue

Distinctive

Controversy

Abstract

Expressionism

Realism

Playwright

Last time you've learnt the American Culture from the aspects of:

Value

Language

Religion

Fashion Style

Social Norms

Recreation

In this lesson, you are going to embrace more details of these aspects of the American Culture:

Art

American greetings and slangs

Art

1.Literature: 18th and early 19th centuries: took most of its cues from Europe

Famous writers at the time: Nathaniel Hawthorn, Edgar Allan Poe

middle 19th century: formed a distinctive style of American literature

Famous writers at the time: Henry David Thoreau

late 19th century: many great writers shone

Famous writers at the time: Mark Twain, Walt Whitman (poet), Emily Dickinson

11 American writers have won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

the "Great American Novel": Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Edgar Allan Poe

Mark Twain

2.Television:

Three basic types:

Broadcast (free "over-the-air television")

Cable television

Satellite television

Three major commercial television networks:

require subscription

3.Dance:

Great variety in dance

Home of the Lindy Hop, Rock and Roll, and modern square dance

Social dances and concert/performance dances

Traditions of Native American dances

Modern Square Dance

4.Painting and Visual Art:

Early time: history painting and portraits

First well-known school of painting—the Hudson River School (1820)

Paintings of the Great West (on native people living in the West of USA)

Controversy and the modern trends in 20th century

Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 30s (to challenge racist stereotypes)

Post-WWII: Abstract expressionism, Pop art, Neo-expressionism, Realism, …

5.Theater/Movie:

Based in the Western tradition (borrowed from the performance styles prevalent in Europe)

Broadway productions entertain millions of theatergoers

Famous American playwrights: Edward Albee, August Wilson, Tony Kushner, David Henry

Hwang, John Guare, and Wendy Wasserstein

Slangs

A type of language consisting of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are

more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or

group of people.

American Slang for Greetings:

Hello

Hi

Hey there!

Hi there!

Hey!

How are you?

What's new?

How are you doing?

How's it going?

Goodbye

See you

See you later

Later

On the telephone, you can

say "Talk to you later"

Yes

Yeah (pronounced "ya")

Yup

Sure

You bet

No

Nope

No way

Not a chance

Not in this lifetime

Let's leave

Let's blow this popstand

I'm leaving

I'm out of here

I'm heading out now

Other Stuff:

Instead of VERY, you can use ...

so

-I'm so hungry!

real

-I'm real hungry!

really

-I'm really hungry!

Instead of VERY VERY, you can use ...

totally

-The movie was totally awesome!

Essential American Slang Words:

awesome/cool (when you think something is great)

hang out (go to a place you like and usually spend time with someone you are very familiar

with)

chill out (relax)

wheels (a car)

(be/get) busted (be caught for doing something wrong or illegal)

sitcom (short for "situation comedy": an amusing television drama series about a set of

characters. )

(be) hooked on something (become addicted to something and you can't get enough)

in (used as an adjective: something is in fashion or in trend at the moment)

dunno (short for "I don't know")

Discussion:

How is the American culture affecting the world? (in various aspects such as fashion, TV and

film, food, etc.)