MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF UKRAINE

IZMAIL STATE UNIVERSITY FOR HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

THE CHAIR OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY

«The USA»

Report on
English country study
The second-year student
Subgroup 21 (i)
Stalinova Anastasiya

IZMAIL - 2021
CONTENT
 Pages

INTRODUCTION…….…………………………………………………………3

Chapter I. Judicial branch......................................................................................4

1.1. Law………………...........................................................................................4

Chapter II. Religious groups..................................................................................5

2.1. Religion..…………………...............................................................................5

Chapter IIІ. Cultural life…………………………………………………………6

3.1. Mass media…………………………………………………………………...6

3.2. Sport……………………………………………………………………….….7

3.3. Arts and culture ………………………………………………………………8

3.4. Literature………………………………………………………………….…..9

Chapter IV. Social developments………………………………………………..10

4.1. Traditions and customs………………………………..……………………..10

4.2. Holidays………………………….……………………………...…………...11

4.3 Outstanding people………………………………………………………...…12

SOURCES AND LITERATURE……………....................................................13

Introduction
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 United States, officially United States of America, abbreviated U.S. or
U.S.A., byname America, country in North America, a federal republic of 50
states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the
continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern
extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the mid-Pacific
Ocean.
The conterminous states are bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by
the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and on the
west by the Pacific Ocean. The United States is the fourth largest country in the
world in area (after Russia, Canada, and China). The national capital is
Washington, which is coextensive with the District of Columbia, the federal capital
region created in 1790.
The major characteristic of the United States is probably its great variety. Its
physical environment ranges from the Arctic to the subtropical, from the moist rain
forest to the arid desert, from the rugged mountain peak to the flat prairie.
Although the total population of the United States is large by world standards, its
overall population density is relatively low. The country embraces some of the
world’s largest urban concentrations as well as some of the most extensive areas
that are almost devoid of habitation.

I. Judicial branch
1.1. Law
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 Common law, also called Anglo-American law, the body of customary law,
based upon judicial decisions and embodied in reports of decided cases, that has
been administered by the common-law courts of England since the Middle Ages.
From it has evolved the type of legal system now found also in the United States
and in most of the member states of the Commonwealth.
In this sense common law stands in contrast to the legal system derived from
civil law, now widespread in continental Europe and elsewhere. In another,
narrower, sense, common law is contrasted to the rules applied in English and
American courts of equity and also to statute law. A standing expository difficulty
is that, whereas the United Kingdom is a unitary state in international law, it
comprises three major legal systems, those of England and Wales, Scotland, and
Northern Ireland.
Historically, the common-law system in England has directly influenced that
in Ireland but only partially influenced the distinct legal system in Scotland, which
is therefore, except as regards international matters, not covered in this article.
Beginning in 1973 the legal systems in the United Kingdom experienced
integration into the system of European Union law, which had direct effects upon
the domestic law of its constituent states—the majority of which had domestic
systems that were influenced by the civil-law tradition and that cultivated a more
purposive technique of legislative interpretation than was customary in the English
common law. However, the United Kingdom exited the EU in 2020. The regime of
human rights represented by the European Convention on Human Rights (1950)
has exercised a similar influence in the United Kingdom since the passage by
Parliament of the Human Rights Act 1998.

II. Religious groups
2.1. Religion
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 Religion has always played an important role in the USA.
Due to the nation’s history as a refuge for those who were persecuted in
other countries for their beliefs, a variety of religions, faiths, and denominations
co-exist in the USA. Protestantism alone consists of various sub-groups that have
emerged in the course of the past 400 years:
 Baptists
 Methodists
 Lutherans
 Presbyterians
 Episcopalians
 Congregationalists
 The Disciples of Christ
 Seventh Day Adventists
 Quakers
 Mennonites
With more than 50% of the population, Christian Protestants – both mainline
Protestants and faith-based, “born again”, evangelical Christians – make up the
biggest religious group in the United States, and hence also the most influential.
However, there are many other religions and denominations which are just as
present in the public life of the US. Among them, there are such important faiths
as:
 Roman Catholics (25% or more of all US citizens)
 Judaism (1.2-2.2% of the population)
 Orthodox Christians (3.6%)
 Islam ( Estimates range from 0.6% to over 2% of the population.)
 Buddhism (0.5-0.9% of the US population)
 Hinduism (0.4%)
IIІ. Cultural life
3.1. Mass media
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 The press plays a vital role as a guardian of U.S. democracy.
Newspaper. In spite of the serious competition from television after World
War II, more than two-thirds of American adults read a daily newspaper on an
average weekday. The top five daily newspapers by circulation are: the Wall Street
Journal, USA Today, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the
Washington Post.
Magazine. The same developments that spurred increased newspaper
circulation -- faster printing methods, lower prices, the lure of advertising money
--- also marked the beginning of mass appeal magazines. Several types of
magazines emerged. The late 1800s saw the start of opinion journals still
influential a century later, including the Atlantic Monthly, the Nation, and
Harper's.
Radio. The beginning of regular commercially licensed sound broadcasting
in the United States in 1920 ended the print monopoly over the media and opened
the doors to the more immediate and pervasive electronic media.
Though mostly listened to for entertainment, radio's instant, on-the-spot
reports of dramatic events drew huge audiences throughout the Great Depression
of the 1930s and World War II. In the 1950s, automobile manufacturers began
offering car radios as standard accessories, and radio received a big boost as
Americans tuned in their car radios as they drove to and from work.
Television. After World War II, American homes were invaded by a
powerful new force -- television. The idea of seeing "live" shows in the living
room was immediately attractive. Television has developed since World War II
into the most popular medium in the United States, one that has had great influence
on American way of life. Virtually every American household has at least one TV
set. Seven in ten Americans in 1991 reported getting most of their news from TV.

3.2. Sport
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 The United States have been a powerhouse in world sports for a long time.
Americans take great pride in their sporting accomplishments, and sports are an
important part of their culture. There’s no doubt, United States rule in well-known
sports such as basketball, baseball and their home grown sport of American
football.
The large choice of sports in America can be explained by the variety and
size of the country, its different climates and the people's love for competitions of
any type.
One of the most popular sports in the USA is American football, known
within the U.S. simply as football. It has the most participants of any sport at both
high school and college levels. Footballers wear helmets, and the rules of the game
are different from rugby.
Baseball is considered to be another popular American sport. But it is also
played in some East Asian countries—Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan—and Latin
American countries such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Venezuela.
More Americans play basketball than any other team sport. Basketball was
invented in 1891 by Canadian physical education teacher. Today The National
Basketball Association (NBA) is the world's premier men's professional basketball
league.
Recently such typically American sports as skate-boarding, wind-surfing and
surfing have gained international popularity. The most unusual sport that first
achieved popularity in the USA is the triathlon. It includes swimming, bicycle
racing and long-distance running, and is becoming more and more popular in
Europe.

3.3. Arts and Culture

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 Culture. American culture is not only defined by its fast-paced lifestyle,
fashion, and "to-go" coffee cups. It is also the culture of many diversity, different
religions, races, and ethnicities. More than 300 million people live in The United
States, making it the third-largest country in the world, and also one of the most
culturally diverse countries.
Throughout its history, American culture has been influenced by many
different cultures like Native American, Latin American, African, and others, and
is often called a "melting pot."
More than 300 languages are spoken in the United States, and while there is
no official language per se, around 90% of the population understands the English
language. Religion diversity is also another aspect of the American culture, and
many different religions are practiced daily in the United States, with Christianity
being the most prominent religion.
Art. Art has been a significant part of the culture of the United States since it
declared its independence in 1776. The oldest art museum and art school in the
country opened in 1805 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is still operating today.
Whether stemming from the many notable educational institutions, or developing
from experimentation and outside inspiration, art movements such as Pop Art,
Abstract Expressionism, and Mixed Media abstraction got their start or were
heightened by the work of American artists.
There are many very significant artists who were born in, or developed their
craft and gained their recognition within the United States. Among these household
names are Andy Warhol (Pop Art), Jackson Pollock (Abstract Expressionism), and
Mark Rothko (Color Field)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the National Gallery of Art
(Washington, DC), and the Museum of Modern Art (New York) are among the top
15 most visited art museums and galleries in the world, welcoming as many as six
million visitors each year.

3.4. Literature
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 American literature, the body of written works produced in the English
language in the United States.
Like other national literatures, American literature was shaped by the history
of the country that produced it. For almost a century and a half, America was
merely a group of colonies scattered along the eastern seaboard of the North
American continent—colonies from which a few hardy souls tentatively ventured
westward.
American literature is often divided into five major periods:
 The Colonial and Early National period (17th century to 1830)
 The Romantic period (1830 to 1870)
 Realism and Naturalism (1870 to 1910)
 The Modernist period (1910 to 1945)
 The Contemporary period (1945 to present)

Notable authors of American literature include: John Smith, who wrote some
of its earliest works; Phillis Wheatley, who wrote the first African American book;
Edgar Allan Poe, a standout of the Romantic era; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a
celebrated poet; Emily Dickinson, a woman who wrote poetry at a time when the
field was largely dominated by men; Mark Twain, a master of humour and realism;
Ernest Hemingway, a novelist who articulated the disillusionment of the Lost
Generation; and Toni Morrison, a writer who centred her works on the black
experience and received a Nobel Prize in 1993.

IV. Social developments
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 4.1. Traditions and customs
Speaking about the traditions of the USA, it is important to consider the
characteristic peculiarities of the American nature.
The USA has its own federal holidays. Together with international holidays,
like New Year and Christmas, the Americans celebrate a number of their own
ones. They have got two military holidays. One of them – Memorial Day – is
celebrated on the last Monday of May.
Independence Day is one of the favorite holidays of the Americans. The
evening sky is lighted up with fireworks; the streets are full of carnival parades.
The concerts are held under open sky and families go to barbeques and picnics.
Also in America people celebrate such holidays as St. Valentine’s Day,
Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day. These holidays are very colorful, cheerful and
each of them brings unique atmosphere. So, no wonder, that a tradition to celebrate
them have spread over the Atlantic Ocean.
Customs. One of the best opportunities you will have during your time in the
United States is to learn about American culture.
You will discover new things about Americans every day, and as a result
you may decide to change some of your behaviors in order to adapt.
Some American customs may seem strange to people from other countries,
but knowing about them may help you better adapt during your stay in the U.S.
• Being on time is important.
• Americans like privacy and personal space.
• Americans can be very direct and honest, even though it may seem
rude to people from another culture.
• Americans ask about how your day is going without expecting an
answer.
• Americans wait their turn in lines.
Americans are very concerned with personal hygiene and cleanliness. It is
not unusual for them to bathe one or even two times a day.
4.3. Holidays
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 There are a lot of holidays in the USA. Many of them are associated with the
history of the nation. There are also some holidays that have come from the old
colonial days. The main holidays of the USA are New year's Day, Easter,
Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.
The New year's Eve is a time for merriment. Most Americans spend this
night with friends at home or in restaurants. Thousands of people gather in New
York in Times Square to see the New Year in.
At Easter there is a tradition for people to buy new clothes. After church
services many people take walks along the streets of their towns, wearing their new
Easter hats and suits. This is usually called the “Easter Parade”.
Memorial Day comes on May 30. It is dedicated to the memory of those who
died for America in different wars. The national flags are put on the graves of
soldiers on this day.
The fourth of July, an Independence Day, is the biggest national holiday of
the USA. On this day in 1776 a document, known as the Declaration of
Independence, was adopted. During this holiday American cities have parades,
people shoot off fire-works in parks and fields.
Thanks giving Day comes on the fourth Thursday of November. It is a
family holiday and Americans try to gather all family at home on this day. There
are also some holidays which are not celebrated nation-wide, but only by each state
separately.

4.4. Outstanding people

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 The United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world. It
is also one of the most important English-speaking countries. With the population
over 300 million people, the country has a great number of famous and outstanding
people.
The first people to be mentioned are, of course, numerous presidents of the
USA. People have always admired two of them in a special way. It was the first
president of the country — George Washington and the sixteenth president —
Abraham Lincoln.
Except the celebrities in politics the USA had many other people to admire.
Among them, the most beautiful woman in the world — Marilyn Monroe, the king
of rock-n-roll — Elvis Presley, one of the best known human rights activist —
Martin Luther King, the father of Disney cartoons — Walt Disney, the creator of
electric lamps — Thomas Edison, a well-known writer of short stories – O. Henry
and many others.
As for the musicians, the USA can be proud by such voices as Tina Turner,
Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and others.
There are also some famous explorers among the Americans and one of
them is especially popular, as he has become the first man on the moon. It’s a
famous astronaut Neil Armstrong. The words which he said while stepped on the
Moon entered a history: “That’s one small step for a man, and one giant leap for
mankind.”

Sources:
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https://www.britannica.com/topic/common-law
https://www.internations.org/go/moving-to-the-us/living/religion-in-the-usa
https://usa.usembassy.de/media-television.htm
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-defines-american-culture.html
https://www.usaoncanvas.com/include/guide_usa_art_culture.php
https://www.britannica.com/art/American-literature
https://libren.org/engl-top/782.htm
http://tooday.ru/?l=eng&r=4&t=traditions_of_the_americans-
traditsii_amerikantsev-c2&o=1
https://www.interexchange.org/american-culture/cultural-customs-us/
https://www.en365.ru/famous_people_usa.htm
http://english-lessons-online.ru/topiki/na-temy-holidays-usa-prazdniki-v-ssha)

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