Midterm Exam – Anthropology – Study Guide
Exam format:
 10 identifications/definitions (2 points each)
 10 short answers (2 points each)
 20 multiple choice (2 points each)
 2 essay questions (10 points each)
Some Important Concepts & Terms
(Please note: Material may come from lectures, chapters 1 & 13-19 in the textbook, additional assigned readings
distributed in class, and films shown in class – this is just a guide!)
Anthropology
 Cultural Anthropology - Ethnology
 Biological Anthropology
 Archaeology
 Linguistic Anthropology
 Applied Anthropology
Culture & Fieldwork
 Ethnocentrism
 Cultural relativism
 Norms and constraints
 Fieldwork - Participant-observation
Theoretical approaches
 Unilineal evolutionism - Edward Tylor, Lewis Henry Morgan
 Historical Particularlism - Franz Boas
 Psychological approaches - Ruth Benedict, Margaret Meade
 Functionalism - Arthur Radcliff-Brown, Bronislaw Malinowski
 Neo-evolution - Leslie White
 Multilineal evolution, Cultural Ecology - Julian Steward
 Sociobiology/Behavioral Ecology
 Feminist approaches
 Postmodern approaches
 Hypothesis-testing orientation
Language & Communication
 Kinesics
 Paralanguage
 Historical Linguistics- Protolanguage, cognates
 Structural Linguistics – Phonology, Morphology, Syntax
 Sociolinguistics
 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
 Primate capacity for language – Kanzi, Koko, Vervet monkeys
Subsistence Strategies
 Hunter-gatherers - !Kung
 Horticulturalists- Yanomamo; Extensive or shifting cultivation; Slash-and-burn technique)
 Pastoralists – Lapps or Saami
 Intensive Agriculturalists – Mekong Delta
Economics
 Reciprocity (Balanced, general, and negative) - Trobriand Islanders, Kula
 Redistribution- Kwiakutl, Potlach; Kawelka, Moka
 Market or commercial exchange
 General and special purpose money
Social stratification
 Social groups
 Economic resources, Power, Prestige
 Egalitarian, Rank, Class, Caste
 Racism, Ethnicity
Possible Essay Questions:
(Four of these exact questions will be on the exam – you will be asked to answer two of them.)
1. What is language? Describe at least two examples of research on the language capabilities of non-human
primates. Compare to humans.
2. Define and compare ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. What are the positive and negative aspects of
each view?
3. What are four subsistence strategies? What are the general features associated with each? Provide an
ethnographic example for each.
4. What is anthropology? Describe the subfields of anthropology. What makes anthropology “holistic” in its
approach?
5. What is culture? What are its defining features? Discuss assumptions about culture.
6. What is social stratification? Discuss three types of societies based on stratification. Provide an ethnographic
example of each.