Exam 8: Marriage and Death Rituals

Describe Inuit and Southern marriage practices.

As fewer people attend religious services on a regular basis (15 per cent in 2005, a decrease from 45 per cent in the 1980s), marriage ceremonies and funerals may be the only connection that many Canadians have with a religious ceremony.

Describe the most recent wedding that you observed and/or attended, either as a guest or a participant. To what extent, and in what ways, did this occasion reflect the observations made about weddings in this chapter? If the wedding was different than the traditional one described in this chapter, were the rites of passage different or the same as those illustrated?

A study by Sharon Boden (2003) showed that brides plan most of the wedding while the grooms are largely incompetent.

Engaged couples are in the liminal state of rites of passage.

As the twentieth century got underway, weddings became more individualized and increasingly included "________" which involved invented traditions or elaborations of older customs.

Parting ceremonies have been created for widowed couples as an alternative to the traditional funeral.

In the past, North American weddings were communal celebrations embedded in a system of ________

Victorian widowhood was another sphere in which women figured as the pillar of home and society.

Describe stag parties and groomal showers.

Guests' attendance at a bridal shower demonstrates social solidarity and symbolizes support for the coming marriage.

The honeymoon is an example of a rite of passage that is associated with marriage.

Funerals, memorial services, and mourning periods are considered to be ________

The custom of the bride wearing a white wedding dress originated with Queen Victoria in 1840.

Discuss Emile Durkheim's work on the "cult of the individual" and how this concept relates to weddings.

During Queen Victoria's time, there were rigid guidelines for widows' dress, but widowers had more latitude and mourned for a shorter period of time.

The rituals we associate with marriage, particularly weddings and funerals for spouses, are often ________ observances.

Barnes (2008) identified new made-up rituals that have become common in contemporary weddings. Discuss two of these made-up rituals.

A wedding website, known as a "wedsite", is used to ________

A study by Shari R. Lash (2007) found that for ________ couples planning their wedding, legal entitlement diminished the need for ritual innovation.