i. geography and people 
  1.1  the land 
  1.2  the people 
    1.2.1  the "melting pot" 
    1.2.2  population and settlement 
    1.2.3  religion 
ii. history 
  2.1  america in the colonial era 
  2.2  the war of independence 
  2.3  the civil war 
  2.4  america in the 20th century 
  2.5  america in the 21st century 
iii. government, congress and legal system 
  3.1  constitution 
  3.2  government 
    3.2.1  the legislature
    3.2.2  the executive 
    3.2.3  political parties 
    3.2.4  election 
  3.3  the legal system 
    3.3.1  the court structure 
    3.3.2  criminal law, civil law, and court proceedings 
iv. society and economy 
  4.1  society 
    4.1.1  social security 
    4.1.2  welfare program 
    4.1.3  voluntary services 
    4.1.4  health care services 
    4.1.5  housing 
    4.1.6  religion 
  4.2  economy 
    4.2.1  a historical perspective 
    4.2.2  agriculture industry and service agriculture 
    4.2.3  industry and manufacturing 
    4.2.4  service industries 
    4.2.5  labor and labor union 
v. culture and education 
  5.1  culture 
  5.2  forces that shaped american culture 
    5.2.1  imported traditions 
    5.2.2  the emergence of an american voice 
    5.2.3  immigration and diversity 
    5.2.4  development of mass media 
    5.2.5  the impact of consumerism 
  5.3  ways of life 
    5.3.1  living patterns 
    5.3.2  food and cuisine 
    5.3.3  dress 
    5.3.4  sports and recreation 
    5.3.5  arts 
    5.3.6  literature 
    5.3.7  music 
  5.4  libraries and museums 
    5.4.1  libraries 
    5.4.2  museums 
  5.5  education 
    5.5.1  elementary and secondary education 
    5.5.2  higher education 
    5.5.3  goals and purposes of education 
vi. characteristics of its english 
  6.1  phonology 
  6.2  vocabulary 
  6.3  morphology 
  6.4  english words that survived in the united states 
  6.5  regional differences of american english 
vii. customs and holidays 
  7.1  customs 
    7.1.1  meeting someone 
    7.1.2  speaking on the telephone 
    7.1.3 eating out
    7.1.4  tipping 
    7.1.5  smoking 
    7.1.6  alcohol laws 
    7.1.7  illicit drugs 
    7.1.8  pets 
    7.1.9  sexuality 
    7.1.10  things toavoid (general) 
  7.2  holidays and special days 
    7.2.1  new year's day 
    7.2.2  epiphany 
    7.2.3  martin luther king day 
    7.2.4  groundhog day-- 2nd february 
    7.2.5  lincoln's birthday-- 12th february 
    7.2.6  shrove tuesday 
    7.2.7  ash wednesday 
    7.2.8  valentine's day -- february 14 
    7.2.9  washington's birthday / presidents' day 
    7.2.10  eid al-adha (feast of sacrifice) -- february 
    7.2.11  saint patrick's day-- march 17 
    7.2.12  easter 
    7.2.13  palm sunday 
    7.2.14  good friday -- the friday before easter 
    7.2.15  secretaries day 
    7.2.16  mother's day 
    7.2.17  memorial day 
    7.2.18  father's day 
    7.2.19  independence day 
    7.2.20  labor day 
    7.2.21  halloween 
    7.2.22  veteran's day 
    7.2.23  thanksgiving 
    7.2.24  christmas 
references 
postscript