This week, choose *one* of the two topics to discuss in your main post. You may respond to either topic in your follow up discussions with other students:
(Topic 1) L. Robert Kohls, the creator of the iceberg concept of culture, also wrote “The Values Americans
Live By.” Find this at http://www.cmc.edu/math/alee/extra/American_values.html. When you
read this, you may react as follows: “Yeah, that makes sense”; “Wow, I had never thought about
it, but it’s true”; or “I don’t believe it!” Regardless of what you think about this essay, it’s worth
responding to some of the implications.
● What’s your take on Kohls’s “The Values Americans Live By”? Do you agree or
disagree? Why?
● What two aspects of Kohls’s construct were most impactful to you? Why?
● What one aspect in Kohls’s construct was the least meaningful or the least clear to you?
Why?
(Topic Two) How have myths been used to legitimize specific ideologies and values?
● How can myths be dangerous? How can they be useful and productive in society?
● Myths can be used to teach lessons or morals, as we have seen. Now, let’s be more
specific. Provide an example of a myth that is used to validate a specific value of a
society, group, or other type of social body. Explain how you think this myth functions to
legitimize the value. Use specific examples from the myth.
