Cultural Analysis Essay: Topics, Tips, & Example

Writing an essay on cultural issues is an exciting yet a challenging task to complete. Cultural analysis essays are assigned to those who study literature, business, marketing, and social work.

What is a cultural analysis? How to choose a topic for such an assignment? How to write a cultural analysis essay? You’ll find the answers to these questions below. This article contains cultural analysis essay topics, writing tips, together with cultural analysis example added as a bonus.

📝 What Is a Cultural Analysis?

A cultural analysis essay focuses on social and cultural aspects of life: the ways people interact with each other, create communities, etc. It also explains how these interactions are based on the backgrounds and common practices of the participants.

Your cultural analysis essay can be short – for example, a 500-word essay. Or you can go for a long piece of writing. It depends on your topic and the number of arguments you want to cover.

In terms of the style, you can pick an expository, a descriptive, a narrative, or a persuasive type of essay. Your decision will depend on what you aim at when writing this paper.

🖊️ How to Write a Cultural Analysis?

You might be wondering: how to write a cultural analysis essay? And what exact steps should you take?

1. First of all, you need to choose a topic you’re going to explore. It shouldn’t be too broad, as, for example, ‘Culture of Islamic countries.’ It will be best to focus on a particular event or a custom and explore it. Further, we’ll provide you with cultural analysis essay topics.
2. Then you can focus on researching, formulating a thesis statement, and creating an outline. The outline is an essential part of your writing, as it helps you to ease the process.
3. After making these important steps, you can start writing.

   • In the introduction, you should mention your thesis statement and cover what you’re going to discuss in your paper. Remember that it’s vital to intrigue a potential reader in your intro!
   • Next, you’re going to focus on the main body. You can split it into several paragraphs. The number of paragraphs will depend on the length of your essay and the number of arguments.
   • The conclusion is the last paragraph of your paper. Here, you should confirm your thesis statement by summing up your arguments.

Here, you can learn more about a step-by-step plan for your analytical essay.

📃 Cultural Analysis Topic Ideas: How to Choose

Here, you’ll find three important points that will help you to choose the right topic for your paper.

Cultural Analysis Topics: Point 1

First, choose a society or culture that you want to talk about. Let us take American culture and society as an example.

Cultural Analysis Topics: Point 2

Cultural traditions are reflected in many ways: in literature, cinema, etc. We suggest you use films (this is not boring). You can even write the cultural analysis essay based on your favorite movies.

Cultural Analysis Topics: Point 3

Now, you have to decide on the central issue of your cultural analysis essay. What particular aspect of American culture do you want to discuss, e.g., men/women, drugs, minorities, etc.?

Finally, you need to watch a movie (better twice) that depicts the problem you want to consider. Your major goal boils down to analyzing the film and making the final decision. The question is whether this or that cultural aspect is depicted as it is. This is exactly why the article is called “reflecting the reality.”

As you know, truth is not always shown correctly, especially in movies. For instance, many African Americans living in the United States are depicted as drug pushers or members of some gangs. However, this is not precisely what happens in reality.

Sure, you can take any culture or even sub-culture as the basis of your paper.

📋 80 Cultural Analysis Essay Topics

We’ve prepared 80 exciting topics for your cultural analysis essay. Let’s dive in!

1. Changing role of the institution of the family in modern Western society.
2. Social Media Role in Promoting Social Change.
3. Male and female roles in American society: In the past and nowadays.
4. Cultural Changes in America After World War II.
5. Cultural stereotypes: How have they occurred?
6. A Family System and Social Care Service Users.
7. The role of marriage: Western and Eastern countries.
8. Cultural Diversity Among the Hispanics.
9. How are cultural minorities presented in American media nowadays?
10. Cross-Cultural Management Problems.
11. The role of traditions in modern American society.
12. Role of Social Media in the Curriculum.
13. Does the media help in promoting social tolerance?
14. Culture and Diversity in Education.
15. Origins of racism and discrimination in American society.
16. Importance of Social Responsibility.
17. The role of migration in modern American culture.
18. Intercultural Communication Breakdown.
19. New professional ethics in the United States: What has been changed in the last decade?
20. A Development of American Society.
21. Role of religion in modern American society.
22. Social Problem, Its Components and Stages.
23. Impact of Latin American culture on US culture.
24. Social Media’s Effect on Democracy.

25. Cultural unification mechanisms: How does it work? 
26. The Meaning of Theology for the Present Society.
27. Social media and global culture: A myth or reality? 
28. Gender & Society. Intersectionality and Feminist Activism.
29. The role of national cultures. 
30. Why Make a Step Family a Real Family?
31. How is culture used in advertising? 
32. Hip-Hop in Japan and Cultural Globalization.
33. The role of holidays and celebrations in American culture. 
34. Direct and Indirect Social Influences on a Person.
35. Multicultural societies: Positive and negative aspects. 
36. Gun Control: Social Contract Broken in the US.
37. The role of subcultures in American society. 
38. Freedom Significance: Social and Political Aspects.
39. American Revolution and its role in American culture. 
40. Social Issues: The Uses of Global Poverty.
41. World War II and its influence on world culture. 
42. Effects of Technology on Society.
43. The role of religion in Islamic countries. 
44. Cultural Safety and Transcultural Nursing.
45. The role of feminism in American culture. 
46. American Culture Reflection in Sport.
47. The role of feminism in post-Soviet countries. 
48. Social Media: Ethical Issues and Theories.
49. Female and minorities in politics: Why it becomes important nowadays? 
50. The Effect of Music on Culture.
51. Hip hop culture and its influence on American society. 
52. Effect of Gaming on People’s Social Lives.
53. Gender and Social Movements.
54. Race relations in the United States: Has the situation improved in the 21st century? 
55. Heritage and Culture in African American Literature.
56. Do social networks support personal identity or suppress it? 
57. Culture Diversity and Healthcare Delivery in Australia.
58. What are the roots of international culture? 
59. Foreignism, Media, Imperialism Influence on Culture.
60. Social networks and its impact on national cultures. 
61. Family Support and Intervention in Substance Abuse Among Adolescents.
62. Mexican culture and its influence on American society. 
63. Nuclear family: What has changed in the 21st century? 
64. Science, Technology and Society: Implications for Education.
65. Freedom of information and its impact on international culture. 
66. Popular Music in the Modern Culture.
67. Do national cultures lose their significance in the rise of international culture? 
68. “Religion in Society: A Sociology of Religion” by Ronald Johnstone.
69. How did the technological revolution change European culture? 
70. Rap in American Culture.
71. Changing female roles in Islamic countries. For this topic, you can choose two Islamic countries: the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. And discuss and compare the way female roles are changing. 
72. Canadian Political Culture.
73. Indigenous people and their impact on American culture. Here you can pick one particular area of American culture that indigenous people influenced. It could be, for instance, literature or cinema.
74.  Social Media Helps to Bridge Divides.
75. The influence of religion on modern American politics. For this topic, you can focus on how Bible teachings are reflected in contemporary American laws. 
76. Social Groups and How They Work.
77. American popular culture and reasons for its acceptance worldwide. You can discuss the origins of this phenomenon and why American culture got accepted all over the world. 
78. Family Structure and Its Effects on Children.
79. Fighting gender stereotypes in mass media. For this topic, you can choose European Union and discuss how it fights gender stereotypes and sexism in the media. 
80. Teen Pregnancy Prevention in Modern Society.

📑 Cultural Analysis: Example of an Essay

In this section, we’ve prepared a cultural analysis essay example for you.

You’ll see excerpts from an essay on social networks and their influence on national cultures in the table below. We hope you’ll get inspired by your paper!

Social networks and their impact on national cultures

🔗 References

1. Ideas for culture essay & paper topics – California State University, Fresno
2. Use of social media to promote national culture worldwide – URFU
3. Guidelines for academic papers in Literary or Cultural Studies – Stiftung Universität Hildesheim
4. The Practice of Cultural Analysis – Stanford University Press
5. Film Analysis – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
6. Write Your Essay | UNSW Current Students
7. Writing Across Cultures and Contexts: International Students in the Stanford Study of Writing – Stanford University
8. Cross-Cultural Analysis – The University of Alabama