Cultural Anthropology Final Exam Study Guide

Part 1 Information

The Final Exam for Cultural Anthropology is cumulative or comprehensive, meaning that it will cover the entirety of the course, and it is worth 100 points towards your overall grade in this course. The Final Exam will include true/false, matching, multiple choice, short answer questions, essay questions, and some extra credit questions.

The Final Exam will be administered in three parts; each part will be timed separately. Do not open up any other browsers, apps, or files on your computer or device while taking the exam, or you could be locked out of the exam. Make sure you have a good internet connection before starting the exam.

• Part 1 will include true/false, matching, and multiple choice questions. You will receive your score right away on Part 1 just like with your quizzes.

• Part 2 will include short answer and extra credit questions. Your instructor will need to grade this part of the exam, so you will not receive your score right away.

• Part 3 will include the essay questions. Your instructor will need to grade this part of the exam, so you will not receive your score right away.

This study guide will provide you with guidance as you prepare for the Cultural Anthropology Final Exam. You are responsible for all of the material that has been assigned and has been covered in this class. You should review all of the vocabulary words from the vocabulary sheets and review any notes that you took along with the summary section at the end of each chapter in your textbook as they will recapitulate the main topics presented. Below are some tips as you prepare for the various parts of the Final Exam.

Part 1 Information: Part 1 will include true/false, matching, and multiple choice questions. You should prepare for this part similarly to how you have prepared for the quizzes up to this point. Do keep in mind that this portion of the exam can test you on material from the textbook as well as material that was found in your readings, resources, videos, and presentations. Review the vocabulary and the main topics from your textbook chapters and other course materials.

• Review the topics that would be studied by each of the four fields of anthropology.

• Review the main subsistence activities of the following cultures: !Kung, Inuit, Australian Aborigines, Yanomamo, Samoans, Basseri, Saami, Rural Greece, and Rural Vietnam.

• Review Elman Service’s classification scheme of political organization.

• Review the various kinship symbols and be able to answer questions about a kinship diagram (like your homework assignment).

• Review ethnomusicology and the research done on whether variation in music is related to other aspects of culture.2

Part 2 Information: Part 2 will include short answer and extra credit questions. Here are the possible short answer questions that may appear on this part of your Final Exam. You will not see any short answer questions on your exam that do not appear on this study guide. Short answer questions can be answered using bullet points or in a few sentences (about 1-3). This part of the exam will also include Extra Credit questions; the extra credit questions can come from anything that was covered in this course.

1. What makes the discipline of anthropology unique from the other social sciences?

2. Culture is generally thought to be adaptive. What does it mean if something is adaptive?

Part 2 Information

3. What is participant-observation?

4. Other than participant-observation, what are two research methods that ethnographers use to conduct their fieldwork?

5. How does Koko the gorilla communicate with people? How does Kanzi the chimpanzee communicate with people? (Clearly indicate in your response which ape communicates with people in each method.)

6. Explain the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis in your own words.

7. Compare and contrast horticulture and intensive agriculture. List at least 3 similarities and/or differences.

8. What is the difference between reciprocity and redistribution?

9. What is the difference between balanced reciprocity and generalized reciprocity?

10. What is the distinction between sex differences and gender differences?3

11. Humans are sexually dimorphic. What are 3 of the differences between males and females of the human species that make them sexually dimorphic?

12. What theory best explains the universal incest taboo? Explain the theory.

13. What is the distinction between power and prestige?

14. What is the difference between an open class system and a caste system?

15. What two types of political organization are associated with an egalitarian society (based on Elman Service’s classification scheme)? What type of leadership is typically found in each of these egalitarian societies? Make sure to clearly indicate which leader goes with each type of political organization.

16. Is religion universal? What evidence is there to support your answer?

17. Why is it more difficult to prove (or disprove) an accusation of witchcraft as opposed to an accusation of sorcery?

18. What are 2 of the artistic differences in the visual art of egalitarian and stratified societies?

19. Explain the difference between diffusion and acculturation.

20. What are the three patterns (or types) of diffusion?

21. Why do anthropologists consider natural disasters and famines global social problems?4

22. What is applied (or practicing) anthropology? What is at least one specific example of a type of applied anthropology? What is at least one place where an applied anthropologist might work?

Part 3 Information: Part 3 will consist of essay questions. Here are the possible essay questions that may appear on this part of your Final Exam. You will not see any essay questions on your exam that do not appear on this study guide. Essay questions must answer all components of the prompt and should be approximately the equivalent of 0.5 – 1 pages in length double-spaced. Three of these five essay questions will appear on the Final Exam.

1. Cultural anthropology is the study of variations and universals in humans, focusing on living (or recently living) cultures. Explain the three types of cultural anthropology – ethnography, ethnohistory, and cross-cultural anthropology. In your explanation, make sure to also include specifically where a cultural anthropologist would get their data from in each. If you were a cultural anthropologist, which type of cultural anthropologist would you most want to be, and why?

2. What is ethnocentrism? What is cultural relativism? Does the concept of cultural relativism promote international understanding, or does it hinder attempts to have international agreement on acceptable behavior, such as human rights? Explain your position.

3. What is the difference between an egalitarian and class society? There is variation in class societies around the globe. Explain the difference between an open class system and a caste system. Today in the United States, we have an open class system. What is at least one way that your life, your parents’ lives, or your children’s lives would be different if we had a caste system instead?

4. What is unilineal descent? Explain the two types of unilineal descent (patrilineal descent and matrilineal descent). What are at least three important functions of unilineal descent in societies that have this type of affiliation with kin? How is a society with unilineal descent different from one with bilateral kinship?

5. What are diffusion, acculturation, and globalization? Explain each type of culture change. How has each of these forms of culture change affected the world today? Provide a specific example of each in your response.