这是我们在2017年为加拿大多伦多大学的学妹写的一篇culture essay的范文,首先在开头部分用introduction的方式来介绍文章的相关背景信息,首先解释了“文化”这个词源自拉丁语 - “Cultus”,它是指从种植中获得的东西。它最初有两种含义,其中包括教堂和教堂文化。
The word “culture” is derived from the Latin language - “Cultus”, which refers to something obtained from cultivation. At the very beginning, it contains two kinds of meanings, including cultus deorum and cultus agori. The former represents to cultivate for worship, while the latter means to cultivate for living. Something other than culture indicates products of the natural world. Hence, in general, “culture” refers to all things made and obtained by human beings through work.

In 1865, Edward Burnett Tylor first created the word “culture” in his work. Six years later, he defined the culture in Primitive culture that it is a complex whole of knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs, as well as social members’ abilities and habits (Tylor, 1871). And this is regarded as the classic definition of culture. Since the twentieth century, culture’s meanings has become increasingly complicated. And an important trend of understanding culture is to regard it as a systematic integration of different aspects. And its various definitions could be summarized into six categories, including descriptive, historic, normative, psychological, structural and inheritable definitions.
最后在conclusion的部分再次给出自己的观点,提出本文是试图从三个方面来解释什么是文化,包括其定义,特征和形式。它将定义划分为不同的范畴,然后探讨它们的共同要素,从而全面地理解文化的含义。同时探讨文化的一般特征,以更好地理解文化的内在特征。
This essay tries to explain what is culture from three aspects, including its definitions, features and forms. It divides the definitions into different categories, and then explores their common element, so as to understand the meanings of culture comprehensively. Then, this essay discusses the general features of culture, for having a better understanding of culture’s inner characteristics. Finally, it emphasizes four forms of culture, including the economic system, social institutionalization, social ideology and criteria of values, which together constitute a integrated cultural system.