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Answer the FOUR (4) questions provided by  . Keep in mind that there is more than one approach you can take in answering these questions. Follow these guidelines:
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Organize your answer before you begin
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Where appropriate, be sure to state:
- What or who something is
- Where it occurred or is located
- Why it is important
- When it occurred
- How it happened or how it works
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State YOUR position or approach clearly
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Cite specific examples or references to support
your statements
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Mention problem areas or other relevant materials
which you would like to consider further in a more thorough statement.
That is, when you're finished with your answer, what major questions
are still left unanswered?
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Summarize your argument or discussion
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Where appropriate use materials from more
than one region of the world
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Remember that your responses should have a beginning,
a middle, and an end
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Do not discuss any topic or country at length in
more than one question
- For the questions indicated, do not write on any country for which
you were one of the presentors
This kind of question would generally be something like:
Exam II:
Much class time for the first part of the term was devoted to looking at how anthropology developed Europe as a "cultural area." How does what you have learned in Ireland support or disclaim the arguments of Susan Parman and others about the development of Europe in the Anthropological Imagination?
On the exam there may also be one or more questions asking you to compare what happened in Part II of the course with what happened in Part I
This kind of question would generally be something like:
Exam II:
Argue for the proposition that Susannah Hoffman, in making the film Kypseli , was actually making myth and constructing images -- similarly to what Robert J. Flaherty did with Man of Aran--rather than making an ethnographically accurate and objective film about the people of the community of Kypseli.
Include in your argument, as a part of your answer, comparison and contrast analysis with both Hoffman's work and with Flaherty's work.
Exam II:
From the CE forum:
"In Inis Beag: Isle of Ireland, John C. Messenger writes:
“Inis Beag as much as any community is characterized by gossip, ridicule, and opprobrium, which gain their effectiveness as social control mechanisms from the deep concern of the folk with ‘saving face,' and which serve to limit freedom of action and behavioral idiosyncrasy.” (p. 66)
"Discuss the evidence Messenger cites to support this statement."
Exam II:
From the CE forum:
"What is Flaherty's legacy on the Aran Islands?
"We saw in The Man of Aran that Flaherty was working on trying to show how man was against the elements. Life on the islands is hard work. Day in and day out the people of the island are working against the sea, the land and the wind. All of these natural elements make life very hard. We saw the next day [in the video in class] that many of the islanders feel that Flaherty took things out of context. There is now [electrical] power on the island and ferries that take tourists to the island and also take essential products to those in need. There seem to be two sides to the debate over the Aran Islands."
"Question: Discuss in detail “. . . the two sides to the debate over the Aran Islands” as outlined and described in this question."
Exam II:
From the CE forum:
"Describe the differences between the film Man of Aran and the realities as shown in How the Myth was Made."
Exam II:
From the CE forum:
"Specifically, what are the differences between the agriculture one sees in the videos Man of Aran compared to the Kypesli video, and in the monographs Inish Beag compared with Vasilika? In detail describe how these types of agriculture shape the lives of the people in these peasant villages."
- But, there will also be questions asking you to compare what happened in Part II of the course with what happened in Part I
- Current Affairs [if there is an appropriate subect in the news the week of or before the exam]:
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One of the paired tasks for the last part of the
term assigned Ch. XX from tba, " .
. . ," with Ch. YY from tbaon ". . . ." Compare and contrast the article
from Ch. XX of tba with Ch. YY in tba. Do not select this question if you
were one of the presenters on [the country disussed in Ch. YY of
tba].
[There may be more than one question like question 1 on the exam.]
- Compare and contrast Ch. ZZ from tba on " . . . " with the
class presentation on [that country]. Do not select this
question if you were one of the presenters on [the country in question].
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In " tba,"
tba talks about "X" and describes [a country]
as "X." Discuss tba use of the term "X"
and analyze the application of that concept to [the country indicated].
Do not select this question if you were one of the presenters on
[the country in question].
- Discuss X of a people [or a country].
As part of your answer include some discussion on how you are like
and unlike the [people of the country] with regard to X. Do
not select a country if you were one of the presentors of [the country].
- Assume that you just signed up for a UMD year-long Study Abroad
Program and selected the option to live with a family. You will be
staying in with. . . . Discuss how what you learned from Ch.
X of Understanding Global Cultures, " . . . ,"
might help you in your adjustment to the family you are staying
with. Do not select this question if you were one of the presenters
on [the country].
- Ch. X of Understanding Global Cultures discusses "Y."
This chapter talks about [a feature of the text] which. . . .
Why? Do not select this question if you were one of the presenters
on [the country].
- Relate the study of X in this class (tba) to what you have been studying
in tba Europe in the Modern Age. Do not select this
question if you were one of the presenters on X.
- tba' subtitle is " tba." tba presents many articles viewing
America from outsiders' points of view. . . . compare
and contrast at least five tba' authors' treatment of
[the X aspect] of American culture.
- Write an analytic essay on the X of America/Americans
as expressed by the authors in tba.
- Discuss the pros and cons of the use of X in understanding
global cultures. Be sure to give specific examples to back up your
statements.
- Discuss what you have learned about the importance of X
from looking at X cross culturally in the chapters from both
tba and tba
and from the presentations in class. Be sure to give specific examples
to back up your statements.
- [An opinion question, asking you to appraise and evaluate
one or more essays, might be included; an example of such
a question would read something like the sample question on the midterm
exam.]
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It has been said that X can be understood in terms
of Y. Discuss X and indicate what you think the relevance
of this might be to modern-day Global studies. Do
not select any country for which you were one of the presentors.
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tba uses the word / term
"X." Discuss the concept of
"X" as Gannon uses it in tba.
Be sure to include examples in your discussion.
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In the newspaper this week there was
an article on X. The following quote summarizes the authors'
position:
- Cultural/Social Change, Process, Historical Perspective:
There is likely to be one question asking about cultural/social change, process (how things change, develop . . .), and/or about a historical perspective. This question could be one of the "comparison/contrast" questions above (for e.g., compare Vasilika of the 1950s with rural contemporary rural village Greece), or it could be a longer-appearing question, which would give some background reading material and then ask you to compare that materials to what you have seen/learned in class. The following is an example of the latter type of questions:
From John Millington Synge , an Irish dramatist, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore (16 April 1871 -- 24 March 1909) . . . .
John M. Synge
The Aran Islands
1907
One hundred years ago John Millington Synge, who first went to the Aran Islands in 1898, from Paris, wrote upon his arrival to the Aran Islands – “a secluded region west of Galway Bay that symbolized the Eden of the Irish cultural renaissance”:
Every article on these islands has an almost personal character, which gives this simple life, where all art is unknown, something of the artistic beauty of medieval life. The curaghs [their traditional boats made of canvas and wood] and spinning-wheels, the tiny wooden barrels that are still much used in the place of earthenware, the home-made cradles, churns, and baskets, are all full of individuality, and being made from materials that are common here, yet to some extent peculiar to the island, they seem to exist as a natural link between the people and the world that is about them.
The simplicity and unity of the dress increases in another way the local air of beauty. . . . (pp. 9-10)
And Synge writes, in 1898:
“On the low sheets of rock to the east I can see a number of red and grey figures hurrying about their work. The continual passing in this island between the misery of last night and the splendor of to-day, seems to create an affinity between the moods of these people and the moods of varying rapture and dismay that are frequent in artists, and in certain forms of alienation. Yet it is only in the intonation of a few sentences or some old fragment of melody that I catch the real spirit of the island, for in general the men sit together and talk with endless iteration of the tides and fish, and of the price of kelp in Connemara.” . . . (p. 25)
“This continual danger, which can only be escaped by extraordinary personal dexterity, has had considerable influence on the local character, as the waves have made it impossible for clumsy, foolhardy, or timid men to live on these islands.” (p. 43)
“The women are the great conservative force in this matter of the language. They learn a little English in school and from their parents, but they rarely have occasion to speak with any one who is not a native of the islands, so their knowledge of the foreign tongue remains rudimentary. In my cottage I have never heard a word of English from the women except when they were speaking to the pigs or to the dogs, or when the girl was reading a letter in English. Women, however, with a more assertive temperament, who have had, apparently, the same opportunities, often attain a considerable fluency, as is the case with one, a relative of the old woman of the house, who often visits here.” (p. 60)
“These people make no distinction between the natural and the supernatural.” (p. 72)
“Like all work that is done in common on the island, the thatching is regarded as a sort of festival.” (p. 75)
“It is likely that much of the intelligence and charm of these people is due to the absence of any division of labour, and to the correspondingly wide development of each individual, whose varied knowledge and skill necessitates a considerable activity of mind. Each man can speak two languages. He is a skilled fisherman, and can manage a curagh with extraordinary nerve and dexterity He can farm simply, burn kelp, cut out pampooties, mend nets, build and thatch a house, and make a cradle or a coffin. His work changes with the seasons in a way that keeps him free from the dullness that comes to people who have always the same occupation. The danger of his life on the sea gives him the alertness of the primitive hunter, and the long nights he spends fishing in his curagh bring him some of the emotions that are thought peculiar to men who have lived with the arts.” (p. 77)
“I have never heard talk so simple and so attractive as the talk of these people. This evening they began disputing about their wives, and it appeared that the greatest merit they see in a woman is that she should be fruitful and bring them many children. As no money can be earned by children on the island this one attitude shows the immense difference between these people and the people of Paris.”
“The direct sexual instincts are not weak on the island, but they are so subordinated to the instincts of the family that they rarely lead to irregularity. The life here is still at an almost patriarchal stage, and the people are nearly as far from the romantic moods of love as they are from the impulsive life of the savage.“ (pp. 87-88)
Question:
From what you know about Aran from the film Man of Aran [1934], and from Inis Beag [1983], and from class [2003-2006], how would the tone and content of what Synge said a hundred years ago fit Aran Island life in the mid-and late- twentieth century?
[One of the texts or chapters or articles or videos] is called X . . . . Discuss the significance of [that title or section of the book or video] to anthropological studies of Europe.
This kind of question would generally be something like:
Exam II:
In Inis Beag: Isle of Ireland , John C. Messenger writes:
“Inis Beag as much as any community is characterized by gossip, ridicule, and opprobrium, which gain their effectiveness as social control mechanisms from the deep concern of the folk with ‘saving face,' and which serve to limit freedom of action and behavioral idiosyncrasy.” (p. 66)
Discuss the evidence Messenger cites to support this statement.
[quote will be inserted here].
How would you interpret X from the point of view
of what you learned in your tba class this
term?
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