About value orientations of the modern Americans in a sociolinguistic study of contemporary American short stories

The article deals with cultural values of the modern Americans which have been identified in short stories of contemporary American writers. We have considered the concept of “value” gave the most frequently cited classifications of American values and postulated that values are generated in the process of reading fiction. Nowdays American values are being changed: the material component is dominant; however, the values promoted by fiction are traditional for the Americans. They are represented in the Declaration of Independence, which confirms the postulate about the role of literature as a source of values for society.