Deck 8: Religion, magic, and Worldview

Question 1

Religious specialists who control supernatural power are called

A) priests.
B) diviners.
C) shamans.
D) witch doctors.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In "The Worst Lover: Boyfriend Spirits in Senegal," Mueller explains that an ndepp is

A) a single day spent in prayer to Mohammad, led by local marabout.
B) a private ceremony for the family of the girl possessed.
C) a ritual that involves making a month-long pilgrimage to a holy site.
D) a large, public ceremony that lasts for several days and includes dancing, drumming, and singing.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

As Mueller observes in "The Worst Lover: Boyfriend Spirits in Senegal," drumming is an important and overpowering part of the ndepp.A drummer walks around the crowd,interacting with the dancers,and playing a __________ with one stick and one hand.

A) tama
B) sabar
C) tam-tam
D) bakk

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to Mueller "The Worst Lover: Boyfriend Spirits in Senegal," the traditional part of Dakar boasts a Senegalese culture of terenga,which makes it difficult to

A) speak to anyone outside of your social class.
B) go anywhere without being invited to share a meal, even with complete strangers.
C) communicate in any language other than the native language of Wolof.
D) practice any religion other than Islam.

Question 5

According to Skinner,as noted by Gmelch in "Baseball Magic," magic once established requires to be maintained.

A) regular rewards
B) sporadic rewards
C) formal instruction
D) uncertainty

Question 6

During one season when Gmelch was playing baseball,he refrained from eating pancakes.This is an example of what anthropologists call

A) a taboo.
B) mana.
C) charms.
D) a ritual.

Question 7

Gmelch notes in "Baseball Magic" that fetishes are often associated with baseball magic.These are

A) things to be avoided.
B) repetitive actions.
C) lucky charms.
D) sayings.

Question 8

Folk concepts of ghosts,spirits,ancestral beings,and gods are,according to most anthropologists,signs of belief in

A) the supernatural.
B) taboo.
C) magic.
D) impersonal supernatural force.

Question 9

A central point that Dubisch makes about the men who participate in the Run for the Wall is that

A) they wish to repair the emotional wounds caused by their Vietnam war experiences and unpleasant homecomings.
B) they are motivated by a desire to embarrass those who opposed the war.
C) they enjoy showing off their expensive motorcycles to onlookers.
D) they seek to increase veterans appropriations by publicly pressuring Congress.

Question 10

The cultural knowledge of the supernatural that people use to cope with the ultimate problems of human existence is called

A) personified supernatural power.
B) mana.
C) transcendental values.
D) religion.

Question 11

A magical practice in baseball that is culturally learned rather than personal is

A) the wearing of the lucky number 77.
B) wearing a pair of shoes that bring luck.
C) tugging the hat before each pitch.
D) mentioning a no?hitter while the game is in progress.

Question 12

According to Mueller in "The Worst Lover: Boyfriend Spirits in Senegal," one of the most common reasons a faru rab attaches itself to women or girls is because of their

A) beauty and style of dress.
B) sexually promiscuous behavior.
C) lack of terenga, or hospitality.
D) disrespectful treatment of their elders.

Question 13

Religious specialists who mediate between people and the supernatural are called

A) witches.
B) shamans.
C) diviners.
D) priests.

Question 14

According to Mueller in "The Worst Lover: Boyfriend Spirits in Senegal," if visiting a marabou cannot rid a girl or woman of a troublesome rab,the next step is to

A) make a sacrifice of small animals.
B) take baths in holy water.
C) participate in an elaborate ritual called an ndepp.
D) dress conservatively while awake and while sleeping.

Question 15

In "The Worst Lover: Boyfriend Spirits in Senegal," Mueller notes that the Lébou recognize several different kinds of rab; only the __________ are the type that attach themselves to humans in a troublesome way.

A) Kumba Bang
B) Lumbay
C) Diop
D) Faru rab

Question 16

When people use well-defined procedures to control and manipulate supernatural forces in order to gain some end,they are practicing

A) prayer.
B) magic.
C) witchcraft.
D) taboo.

Question 17

In some societies,people believe that some individuals are born with supernatural force that they consciously or unconsciously use to cause harm.Anthropologists classify these supposed activities as

A) magic.
B) sorcery.
C) witchcraft.
D) alchemy.

Question 18

Magic,according to Malinowski,occurs in response to

A) anger.
B) frustration.
C) anxiety.
D) social pressure.

Question 19

According to Gmelch in "Baseball Magic," baseball players can least control

A) pitching and hitting.
B) hitting.
C) fielding.
D) arguing with the umpire.

Question 20

When a religious specialist reads the cracks in the burned scapula (shoulder blade) of a sheep to predict future events,the act would be called

A) divination.
B) sorcery.
C) magic.
D) witchcraft.

Question 21

In "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," Miner notes that the opulence of a Nacireman home is determined by

A) whether the home's shrine is equipped with a font.
B) what the home is constructed from.
C) how large the home is.
D) how many shrines the house contains.

Question 22

According to Dubisch in "Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage," the term liminality refers to

A) the emotional content of ritual.
B) a ritual period that is different from normal, everyday time.
C) the patterned, repetitive aspects of ritual.
D) the special social myths reenacted by ritual.

Question 23

According to Miner in "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," the Nacirema often undergo _________ procedures in order to care for their bodies.

A) month-long
B) painful
C) ineffective
D) sophisticated

Question 24

According to Dubisch in "Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage," Run for the Wall participants stopped at

A) Angel Fire, New Mexico.
B) Denver, Colorado.
C) the Apache reservation in Arizona.
D) Window Rock, Wyoming.

Question 25

In "Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage," Dubisch argues that participation in the Run for the Wall

A) is like a rite of passage, moving normal veterans into a select group of war advocates.
B) is a needless glorification of war.
C) is a personally transforming experience, partly designed to heal personal wounds.
D) is not effective as a form of protest.

Question 26

According to Dubisch in "Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage," anthropologist Victor Turner believed that ritual

A) organized all human behavior.
B) could be seen in people's normal, day-to-day behavior.
C) had two poles, one ideological and the other sensory.
D) is designed to express freedom, self-reliance, patriotism, and individuality.

Question 27

According to Miner in "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," the latipso is the name for

A) holy-mouth-men.
B) household shrines.
C) medicine men's temple.
D) the charm box found in a household shrine.

Question 28

In "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," Miner points out that the fundamental belief that underlies Nacireman body ritual is

A) that the human body is ugly and subject to disability and disease.
B) the concern about the beauty of the body.
C) that the health of the body depends on the health of the mind.
D) that disease of the body is caused by a person's failure to take care of it properly.

Question 29

According to Miner in "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," the Nacirema believe that

A) mothers are the only people who can teach their children body rituals.
B) fathers tend to put a curse on their children when they try to teach them body rituals.
C) holy-mouth-men, unless they are given a large gift, will harm children.
D) mothers are likely to put a curse on their children when they teach them body rituals.

Question 30

In "Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage," Dubisch notes that participants in the Run for the Wall

A) often frightened onlookers with their "outlaw biker" looks.
B) annoyed other motorists by hogging miles of highway with hundreds of bikes.
C) were mostly members of Western, especially Californian, motorcycle clubs.
D) were usually Vietnam veterans.

Question 31

In "Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage," Dubisch notes that the carnival period preceding Lent meets the criteria of a ritual because it

A) protects individuals.
B) moves individuals from one social status to another.
C) maintains order in the world.
D) designates a period of time when special activities are permitted.

Question 32

According to Dubisch in "Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage," motorcycles are associated with _____________in American culture.

A) cooperation
B) freedom
C) veterans
D) criminal behavior