Essay Exams

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Florida International University *

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3241

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Anthropology

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Apr 3, 2024

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Essay Exam 1: Anthropologists studying religions typically engage in various activities that fall under the umbrella of "participant observation " to understand how the religion is practiced and the importance of the religion in practitioners' lives. For example, an anthropologist studying a Catholic church in Miami would probably attend masses, volunteer at church fundraisers, try to become friends with some church members, attend baptism and wedding rituals, speak frequently with the priests who work there, and read the church newsletters or web page. Briefly describe the 5 activities that Karen McCarthy-Brown engaged in as part of her participant observation in Brooklyn and Haiti that you believe had the most potential to contribute to an understanding of how the religion is practiced and its importance in practitioners' lives. Also discuss why you chose these particular ones. Hint #1 : I discuss what "participant observation" means to anthropologists in the "Chapter 1 Video Lecture." The term is also discussed in Chapter 1 of the textbook. Hint #2 : McCarthy-Brown mentions several of her participant observation activities in the Introduction chapter of Mama Lola . They are not all described in one place, so you will need to read the entire chapter to do well on this question. (250 words) - Five activities that Karen McCarthy-Brown engaged in during her participant observation in Brooklyn and Haiti include, participating and being present in Mama Lola’s voodoo ceremonies, becoming friends with the community of voodoo ritual participants, being initiated by Moma Lola to help during voodoo rituals, spending daily time with Mama Lola, basically becoming part of her family and experiencing Mama Lolas voodoo firsthand. I Chapter 2 of the textbook introduces the following concepts: worldview; folktales; legends; myths; social charter; apocalyptic myth; trickster myth; and monomyth. Use three of these concepts to analyze the story of Joseph Binbin Mauvant (given in Chapter 1 of Mama Lola). You may do so in positive, negative, or mixed terms -- (for example: "this story is the perfect example of X, because...", or "this story is clearly not an example of Y because...", or "in some ways, this story fits the definition of Z because... but in other ways it does not because..."). Hint #1: Use the textbook definitions of these terms, which are OFTEN VERY DIFFERENT than many dictionary definitions (including ones on the internet.) (250 words) - J Essay Exam 2: What do the stories that Karen McCarthy Brown shares about Marie Noelsine (also known as "Sina" = Mama Lola's grandmother) and Philomise (also known as "Philo" = Mama Lola's mother) reveal about Mama Lola's worldview? (Anthropologists' understanding of worldview is defined in Chapter 2 of the textbook. For example, you could write about things such as gender roles, family ties, OR connections to Haiti and Africa.) (250 words; worth 50 points). HINT: If this question seems confusing, think about the stories you grew up hearing, either about your family members or from the Bible or other religious text. The people who tell these stories are often picking certain stories and telling those stories in a particular way so as to teach their worldview to listeners (their values; lessons about what types of behavior are likely to get you in

trouble, etc.). This question wants you to think about why certain stories about Sina and Philo were repeated over and over again and why. - The exchange of money, food, and other items is a big part of the birthday party ritual that Mama Lola threw for Azaka, (described in Chapter 2 of Mama Lola), and the trip that Mama Lola and Karen McCarthy Brown made to Haiti, described on pages 169-182 (for those of you using digital versions, these pages fall in the Kousinn chapter, starting with the section called “A Trip to the Provinces” and ending just before the section called “Storytelling.”) (1) Briefly describe these exchanges; (2) analyze how they create bonds among the individuals who participate; and (3) analyze practioners' beliefs about how the rituals create bonds between people and spirits (250-300 words; worth 50 points). HINT: essays that only discuss the Azaka ritual and do not discuss the trip to Haiti will not do well. - G Essay Exam 3: Each answer should be at least 250 words, not including the questions. 1. In Modules 6 and 7, we read various sources that describe the ideas that the Kichwa (also spelled "Quichua" or "Runa") of the Ecuadorian Amazon have about shamanism, the mind- altering drug ayahuasca, and relationships to the spirits. (1) Summarize these ideas and then (2) analyze three similarities or differences between those beliefs and the Native American Church's ideas about peyote (described in Module 5). - The Kichwa people of the Ecuadorian Amazon harvest the bark of the medicinal tree to ingest the ayahuasca. As a ritual before harvesting the bark, they go all around the tree and hit the tree to wake the tree up. They tell the tree they are going to take its bark to drink it so that they can stay healthy. The harvesters then peel the bark, first on the side of the tree where the sun sets and then on the side where the sun rises. During the harvesting of the bark, some harvesters also sing to the tree, they sing songs of how they hope to stand tall like the tree, signifying the medicinal properties they hope to gain by drinking ayahuasca. They greatly revere and honor the bark because of the medicinal properties it provides; they see the tree as a person hence the ritualistic steps they take when harvesting the bark. Similarly, the Native American Church treats peyote the same way, with much honor and respect, they do so by holding ceremonies for when peyote is consumed. Their ceremonies involve singing and a guide that takes them through their prayers as peyote is consumed. Both cultures view ayahuasca and peyote, respectively, not as a drug but as a healing medicine; it is typically the main medicine they rely on and use to cure anything. Something that is also similar across both cultures is that their ceremonies, or times when they take the medicinal plant typically occur at night.

2. Now, compare and contrast the Kichwa ideas to the ideas of the European and North American tourists who go to South America seeking shamans and ayahuasca experiences. For a good score, you should describe at least five different similarities or differences. Please NUMBER them -- First .... Second .... Third .... etc. to facilitate grading. Hint: My lecture on Shamanism and Magic in Module 7 may be particularly useful in answering this question, as will the first 20 minutes of the Metamorphisis film assigned in Module 6. - 1) One of the biggest differences between the two is their purpose for ingesting the ayahuasca. While the Kichwa take ayahuasca as a medicinal aid for day-to-day illnesses and to remain strong and healthy, the tourists from Europe and North America take it not for its healing properties but more so for the psychedelic effects it has on them. The tourists didn’t travel to ingest ayahuasca and treat it as a drug but more so to receive a cleanse from it and experience the journey that ayahuasca takes them on. - 2) Another obvious difference between the Kichwa and foreign tourists is that the kichwa have grown up with ayahuasca and have grown up ingesting it for its medicinal properties, the foreigners have not. This leads to a very big gap in understanding the true nature and spiritual power of ayahuasca; the foreigners come from a place where ayahuasca is considered a very powerful drug. - 3) I would say a similarity is that both the Kichwa and tourists respect the ceremony that needs to occur when taking ayahuasca and understand the journey that they will have to undertake to fully experience it. - 4) For the tourists, ayahuasca is a last resort in a way. Many of the foreign tourists that were interviewed went to Blue Morpho to take ayahuasca to change their lives, however, for the Kichwa people, ayahuasca is just part of their life, a routine. - 5) When it comes to shamanism, I believe a difference is that the Kichwa see shamans as a very honored title, similar to a religious leader of other religions. However, to the tourists, given that a foreigner was able to become a shaman, they don’t see the significance of having the title of shaman. Essay Exam 4: - The scene when the oracle tells Neo not to worry about the vase he ends up dropping after is an example of Presentiments, which is defined as A feeling in a person that something is about to occur. - The black cat the Neo passes before they go up the stairs makes everyone else think there is a glitch in the matrix, this serves as an omen which is defined as A fortuitous happening or condition that provides information. - Neo encountering the black cat as they enter the building it is an example of apantomancy, which is defined as Divination by a chance meeting with an animal. - The oracle reading Neos palms to see if he is the one is an example of palmistry which is defined as Divination through the reading of the lines of the palm of the hand. Pernology which is defined as Divination through the study of the shape and structure of the head is

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also an example that is shown in this scene because prior to analyzing his palms she checks his head. Another term expressed in this scene is deliberate divination which is defined Divination that someone sets out to do. This is found within the scene because the oracle set out to find out if Neo was the one by reading his palms. - I believe that when Neo was twisting the spoon and it reverted back to normal after he was distracted is an example of fortuitous divination which is defined as Divination that simply occurs without any conscious effort. He wasn’t trying to bend the spoon or bend it back, it just did so. - When the Oracle handed Neo the cookie it was not an act of aleuromancy which is defined as Divination by use of flour, as in fortune cookies. This is because although the cookies are made with flour and they may have had some effect from the oracle, it was not straight flour that was used. - Although similar, when the computer guy warns the man with the briefcase to get out of there, it is not an example of a prophecy which is defined as Divination through the communication of a prophet. This is because there were no spiritual components to it. - When Neo is being checked by the Oracle, it is not an example of ordeal which is defined as A trial by divination that is performed on the body of the accused person to determine guilt or innocence. This is because he is only getting checked to see if he is the one, not if he is guilty or innocent. 1. My belief in souls and what happens in the afterlife is greatly rooted in my religious upbringing through Catholicism. I believe that we each have a soul and that after death based on our actions on earth and how closely we followed the 10 commandments of God throughout our life, we will be judged by God and either sent to Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell. With burials, I have always been taught that we shouldn’t be cremated and should just be buried in the ground, however, it doesn’t affect what happens to you when you die, the act of cremation is more of a stigma than anything. Comparatively, the Hmong people believe that each person has multiple souls, as Catholics we believe that we each have one. The Hmong people believe that people's various souls can be stolen or scared off which results in the person falling ill. When it comes to death and the afterlife, they believe that a person's soul goes back to where the family originally buried their placenta from where they were a baby, and this guides them to where they need to go to join their ancestors. In Hinduism, people believe in reincarnation, their take on souls is that it is immortal and is simply reborn into a new person once they die. However, I would argue that their belief in karma and how an individual's actions have consequences in the next life is similar to Catholic's beliefs of sins and Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. Essay Exam 5: Please answer each of the three questions with at least 125 words in length to qualify for an A. (A little longer is fine, but don't go overboard! Part of making a good answer is deciding what the most important points are). Note that this is a different format than previous exams -- there are 3 questions (not 2), but your answers can be shorter.

1. Many of the parents interviewed in "The Virgin Daughters" indicated that they had not been virgins when they got married. Could the new emphasis on purity and efforts to get girls to sign purity pledges be seen as a revitalization movement? To support your answer, evaluate the movement in terms of 1) the definition of revitalization movements provided by the textbook; and 2) Anthony Wallace's model for the common origins of revitalization movements (Worth 35 points) - A revitalization movement is defined as, “A movement that forms in an attempt to deliberately bring about change in a society” (Stein, 2017). Based on this I would argue that the purity movement in “The Virgin Daughters” documentary is in a way a revitalization movement. According to Anthony Wallace’s model, these movements typically begin with one person or a small community of people and then transform into a larger movement, In this case, it starts with a small group of parents in Colorado who want their children to live a purer life, and then grows with more parents supporting them, those who see “…themselves as being elected to a special status…” (Stein, 2017). The final part of Wallace’s model is that this revitalization movement becomes structured and official, similarly, Randy Wilson, the father who began the purity movement, has been able to create the purity balls and solidify their community with parents who feel the same way. 2. What is the piety movement, in your own words? Please bring together information from "The Light in Her Eyes" documentary, the POV discussion guide that goes with the film, and the Saba Mahmood interview in your answer (and make it clear where your information is coming from by saying this such as, "as Mahmood tells us..., or "in the film..."). (NOTE: all materials are posted in Module 12.) (Worth 35 points) - Based on the reading and the way I perceive it, I believe that the Piety movement is a religious movement of women, primarily in the Middle East, educating themselves on the Qur’an and learning more ways to be contributors to society. They are taking advantage and taking charge of themselves to become a more educated and opportunistic group in the ever-modernizing society that exists today. In the interview with Saba Mahmood, she explains that so many women in Middle Eastern countries are joining this piety movement mainly because it fulfills them and offers them a sense of purpose in life by avidly pursuing God. The school that the documentary “The Light in Her Eyes” films is involved in this piety movement by offering girls the education they never received and by “…emphasizing the importance of modesty and piety.” (POV, 2012). 3. Compare and contrast the ways in which each of these religious movements -- the purity movement as discussed by the couple who organizes the purity ball and the piety movement model pursued by Houda in "The Light in Her Eyes" -- sees itself as empowering to women. Please discuss them in an anthropological way -- which means respectfully -- even if you don't agree with them. (Worth 30 points)

- Both of these religious movements see themselves as empowering women because they believe what they are doing aligns with their beliefs and most importantly their values. Although different beliefs, the two religions ultimately center their life on God and want his will to be done. However, they differ in their intent and overall structured belief of their religion. I would argue that to some degree both religious movements are pushing for the chasteness of women until marriage given that each religion has women dedicate their lives to God, the difference is that the purity movement more strongly pushes for it. A big difference between both movements is also based on their economic and social circumstances, the piety movement is occurring because of a lack of access to some basic rights whereas the purity movement has more funding and support from a more affluent community.

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