11.3. Contributions to culture.

11.3.1. American culture is rich, complex, and unique. It emerged from the short and rapid European conquest of an enormous landmass sparsely settled by diverse indigenous peoples. Although European cultural patterns predominated, especially in language, the arts, and political institutions, peoples from Africa, Asia, and North America also contributed to American culture. All of these groups influenced popular tastes in music, dress, entertainment, and cuisine. As a result, American culture possesses an unusual mixture of patterns and forms forged from among its diverse peoples. One can say that not only the country's ethnic structure, but its culture, too, is a "patchwork quilt".

11.3.2. America is especially rich in its literature. Many of the two centuries' notable figures of American creative writing, such as Fennimore Cooper, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Edgar Poe, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck are well-known all over the world. Another remarkable aspect of US culture is landscape painting which has vividly captured the unique American cultural identity with its emphasis on the natural environment.

Since the beginning of the last century America has produced a number of great musicians whose achievements in the sphere of blues and jazz music spread the American sound worldwide. Among those are Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and dozens of others. A distinctively American classical music came to fruition when such composers as George Gershwin and Aaron Copland incorporated homegrown melodies and rhythms into forms borrowed from Europe. In 1954 a disc jockey started to broadcast black rhythm-and-blues records to the white audience. He called this music rock-and-roll. Rock-n-roll with its famous stars such as Elvis Presley conquered Europe and the rest of the planet.

11.3.3. Closely related to the development of American music in the early 20th century was the emergence of a new, and distinctively American, art form – modern dance. Among the early innovators was Isadora Duncan, who stressed pure, unstructured movement in lieu of the positions of classical ballet. U.S. audiences also were introduced to classical ballet by touring companies of European dancers. The first American ballet troupes were founded in the 1930s, when dancers and choreographers teamed up with choreographers like the Russian-born George Balanchine who established the School of American Ballet, which became the New York City Ballet.

11.3.4. A large part of the American entertainment industry is taken by Hollywood. Though it is not definitely famous for creating real smart and intellectual movies it still helps to recreate the American Dream. Some of the most magical movies ever made are the work of Walt Disney. The first full-length animation was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disneyland, the huge amusement park Disney created in 1955 in California, has been a major tourist attraction since it first opened. The Disney Studio continued producing movies after the death of its founder.