Question 1

The Hindu principle of ahimsa functions to ensure that cattle's milk production is maximized.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 2

Rituals serve the social function of creating temporary or permanent solidarity among people-forming a social community. We see this also in practices known as

Accepted Answer

A)  mana. 
B)  liminality. 
C)  animism. 
D)  totemism. 
E)  fundamentalism. 
A)  mana. 
B)  liminality. 
C)  animism. 
D)  totemism. 
E)  fundamentalism.

Question 3

What is the term for the marginal or in-between phase of a rite of passage?

Accepted Answer

A)  voodoo 
B)  mana 
C)  taboo 
D)  liminality 
E)  animism 
A)  voodoo 
B)  mana 
C)  taboo 
D)  liminality 
E)  animism

Question 4

Behaviors associated with sports fandom could be considered secular rituals.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

What did Handsome Lake lead in about 1800 among the Iroquois?

Accepted Answer

A)  a shamanistic cult 
B)  a revitalization movement 
C)  an animistic-residualist front 
D)  a structuralist movement 
E)  a cargo cult 
A)  a shamanistic cult 
B)  a revitalization movement 
C)  an animistic-residualist front 
D)  a structuralist movement 
E)  a cargo cult

Question 6

Bronislaw Malinowski found that the Trobriand Islanders used magic when sailing, a hazardous activity. He proposed that

Accepted Answer

A)  people turn to magic to instill psychological stress on their competitors, especially when the fish supply is very low. 
B)  magic actually reduced the fishing results for the Trobriand Islanders, but at least they did not feel directly responsible, since then they could blame it on bad luck. 
C)  magic was a surprisingly effective stand-in for proper fishing skills and experience, because it made people confident in their capacities. 
D)  because people can't control matters such as wind, weather, and the fish supply, they turn to magic. 
E)  magic emboldened people to take more risks. 
A)  people turn to magic to instill psychological stress on their competitors, especially when the fish supply is very low. 
B)  magic actually reduced the fishing results for the Trobriand Islanders, but at least they did not feel directly responsible, since then they could blame it on bad luck. 
C)  magic was a surprisingly effective stand-in for proper fishing skills and experience, because it made people confident in their capacities. 
D)  because people can't control matters such as wind, weather, and the fish supply, they turn to magic. 
E)  magic emboldened people to take more risks.

Question 7

To Kottak, the widespread U.S. belief that recreation and religion are separate domains is both ethnocentric and false. Further, it may be taking the "fun" out of religion.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

Worldwide, Islam is growing at a rate of about 2.9 percent annually, versus 2.3 percent for Christianity, whose overall growth rate is the same as the rate of world population increase.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

What are the similarities and differences between shamanistic and communal religions? How do these compare with Olympian religions and monotheism? What kinds of general evolutionary trends are discernible in religious worship?

Accepted Answer

Shamanistic and communal religions share

Question 10

Totemism, one form of cosmology, is

Accepted Answer

A)  a system, in this case a religious one, for imagining and understanding the universe. 
B)  Claude Lévi-Strauss's term to describe the binary oppositions prevalent in religious myths all over the world. 
C)  a synonym for folklore. 
D)  the etic explanation of people's view on human agency. 
E)  the emic concept of spirituality. 
A)  a system, in this case a religious one, for imagining and understanding the universe. 
B)  Claude Lévi-Strauss's term to describe the binary oppositions prevalent in religious myths all over the world. 
C)  a synonym for folklore. 
D)  the etic explanation of people's view on human agency. 
E)  the emic concept of spirituality.

Question 11

Which of the following functions to reduce differences in wealth between the members of a society and tends to be directed at socially marginal individuals?

Accepted Answer

A)  blood feuds 
B)  Olympian religions 
C)  rites of passage 
D)  cargo cults 
E)  witchcraft accusations 
A)  blood feuds 
B)  Olympian religions 
C)  rites of passage 
D)  cargo cults 
E)  witchcraft accusations

Question 12

Is religion declining or becoming increasingly important in contemporary society? Why? If you believe that religion is declining, what is replacing it?

Accepted Answer

The answer to whether religion is declin

Question 13

What kind of religion is based on the idea that each human has a double, which is active during sleep?

Accepted Answer

A)  animatism 
B)  totemism 
C)  animism 
D)  mana 
E)  polytheism 
A)  animatism 
B)  totemism 
C)  animism 
D)  mana 
E)  polytheism

Question 14

Who the mentioned in the text as a founder of the anthropology of religion?

Accepted Answer

A)  Margaret Mead 
B)  Claude Lévi-Strauss 
C)  Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard 
D)  Sir Edward Burnett Tylor 
E)  Bronislaw Malinowski 
A)  Margaret Mead 
B)  Claude Lévi-Strauss 
C)  Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard 
D)  Sir Edward Burnett Tylor 
E)  Bronislaw Malinowski

Question 15

Religion can be used as a powerful means of controlling society.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

According to Victor Turner, all rites of passage have three phases: separation, liminality, and incorporation. Of these three, the liminal phase-which is the most interesting-is typically characterized by

Accepted Answer

A)  intensification of the social hierarchy. 
B)  a forming of an implicit ranking system. 
C)  the use of secular language. 
D)  symbolic reversals of ordinary behavior. 
E)  no change in the social norms. 
A)  intensification of the social hierarchy. 
B)  a forming of an implicit ranking system. 
C)  the use of secular language. 
D)  symbolic reversals of ordinary behavior. 
E)  no change in the social norms.

Question 17

Much religious and ritual behavior is adaptive. Can you think of cases in which it is not? What does it mean for religion to be maladaptive?

Accepted Answer

Much religious and ritual behavior is ad

Question 18

Communitas is the strong feeling of collective unity shared by individuals at the core of a society who define themselves in opposition to the society's liminal members.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a problem with defining religion?

Accepted Answer

A)  There are both sacred and secular rituals. 
B)  Distinctions between supernatural and natural are not consistently made in a society, making it difficult to tell what is a religion and what isn't. 
C)  Behaviors considered appropriate for religious occasions vary between cultures. 
D)  Only one religion can be considered true, so all others must be classified as myth. 
E)  Defining religion with reference to supernatural powers makes it difficult to classify ritual-like behavior in secular contexts. 
A)  There are both sacred and secular rituals. 
B)  Distinctions between supernatural and natural are not consistently made in a society, making it difficult to tell what is a religion and what isn't. 
C)  Behaviors considered appropriate for religious occasions vary between cultures. 
D)  Only one religion can be considered true, so all others must be classified as myth. 
E)  Defining religion with reference to supernatural powers makes it difficult to classify ritual-like behavior in secular contexts.

Question 20

Ironically, religious fundamentalism is a very modern phenomenon. Why is this an irony? How does learning about the concept of modernism in the context of a chapter on anthropology and religion alter, if at all, the way you understand world events today?

Accepted Answer

The irony in the statement "religious fu

Exam 21: Religion

The Hindu principle of ahimsa functions to ensure that cattle's milk production is maximized.

Rituals serve the social function of creating temporary or permanent solidarity among people-forming a social community. We see this also in practices known as

What is the term for the marginal or in-between phase of a rite of passage?

Behaviors associated with sports fandom could be considered secular rituals.

What did Handsome Lake lead in about 1800 among the Iroquois?

Bronislaw Malinowski found that the Trobriand Islanders used magic when sailing, a hazardous activity. He proposed that

To Kottak, the widespread U.S. belief that recreation and religion are separate domains is both ethnocentric and false. Further, it may be taking the "fun" out of religion.

Worldwide, Islam is growing at a rate of about 2.9 percent annually, versus 2.3 percent for Christianity, whose overall growth rate is the same as the rate of world population increase.

What are the similarities and differences between shamanistic and communal religions? How do these compare with Olympian religions and monotheism? What kinds of general evolutionary trends are discernible in religious worship?

Totemism, one form of cosmology, is

Which of the following functions to reduce differences in wealth between the members of a society and tends to be directed at socially marginal individuals?

Is religion declining or becoming increasingly important in contemporary society? Why? If you believe that religion is declining, what is replacing it?

What kind of religion is based on the idea that each human has a double, which is active during sleep?

Who the mentioned in the text as a founder of the anthropology of religion?

Religion can be used as a powerful means of controlling society.

According to Victor Turner, all rites of passage have three phases: separation, liminality, and incorporation. Of these three, the liminal phase-which is the most interesting-is typically characterized by

Much religious and ritual behavior is adaptive. Can you think of cases in which it is not? What does it mean for religion to be maladaptive?

Communitas is the strong feeling of collective unity shared by individuals at the core of a society who define themselves in opposition to the society's liminal members.

Which of the following is NOT a problem with defining religion?

Ironically, religious fundamentalism is a very modern phenomenon. Why is this an irony? How does learning about the concept of modernism in the context of a chapter on anthropology and religion alter, if at all, the way you understand world events today?

What Is Anthropology

Culture

Applying Anthropology

Doing Archaeology and Biological Anthropology

Evolution and Genetics

Human Variation and Adaptation

The Primates

Early Hominins

Archaic Homo

The Origin and Spread of Modern Humans

The First Farmers

The First Cities and States

Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology

Language and Communication

Ethnicity and Race

Making a Living

Political Systems

Gender

Families, Kinship, and Descent

Marriage

Arts, Media, and Sports

The World System and Colonialism

Anthropologys Role in a Globalizing World

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