ANTHROPOLOGY 303 FINAL EXAM 40 points total
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cmweber@wsu.edu
Make sure the file is an rtf or word document (pdfs as a last
resort). Please let me know when you turn in the exam
whether you want the file back with comments.
DUE August 3rd by 5pm AT THE LATEST.
Choose FOUR questions to answer, one from each section and
one of your choice.
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Expect to write at least two pages and preferably more per
answer.
Use plenty of examples FROM READINGS! There should be
AT LEAST THREE per answer (only one example may be
used twice) but better answers will have more than that.
o This is in addition to examples from lecture
Do not cite works unless they are ones that have not been
assigned for the class.
SECTION ONE: From symbols to magic. (Answer at least one.
10 points per answer)
1. Imagine you are trying to explain to someone (you can use
your creativity to think about who this person is) why
people in so many cultures seek supernatural explanations
for misfortune, and seek oracles to help find answers.
(Misfortune includes both accidents and illness). Write out
what you’d say, using evidence from at least THREE
readings and be sure to refer to the distinction between
HOW and WHY questions in your answer).
2. “Shamans are con artists and charlatans.” Is this a fair and
comprehensive appraisal of what shamans offer to their
communities? What useful services do they perform
(alongside other kinds of faith healers or mediums), both
from a practical as well as a spiritual standpoint?
SECTION TWO: New religious movements. Answer at least
one. 10 points per answer.
1. What kinds of social, political and environmental conditions
lead people to create a new religion? Refer to Wallace’s
model of revitalization, and give several specific examples to
the moral and pragmatic crises that cultures face when their
religions are unsatisfactory.
2. We are confronted by fundamentalists in various forms in
the present day (Christian, Islamic, Hindu etc. etc.). How
might you explain to someone that while fundamentalism
may “look” old it is in fact relatively new (use revitalization
to help you explain this).
3. Should we distinguish between religions as either trivial or
serious, or possibly try to set apart religion from cult, or
dismiss examples of “superstition” in the West? Answer
using at least three examples from reading plus other
examples from lecture.
SECTION THREE: Overview (Answer at least one, 10 points
per answer).
1. How can we evaluate the success of a religious movement or
religious movement? Consider the question of success from
the point of view of the practitioners, as well as of outsiders,
like anthropologists. What might be the criteria for failure?
Give at least three distinct examples of success and failure
from readings (plus lecture notes).
2. While an individual may sincerely hold religious beliefs, a
group does not have a common mind and cannot hold any
belief. Faith becomes socially relevant through action. Until
there is action, religions are socially meaningless. Discuss
these statements, connecting your argument to at least three
specific readings.
3. One lesson from the course is the critical and ubiquitous
phenomenon of ritual in human life. Give some of the
explanations that anthropologists offer to explain why this is
so, and give examples of where ritual serves to order and
give meaning to existence Should we think of secular ritual
as religious? Why or why not?.