World Cultures Exam Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
World Cultures is an interdisciplinary course that explores the diverse traditions, beliefs, and social systems of societies around the globe. Through the examination of art, literature, religion, customs, and historical development, students gain a deeper understanding of how cultural identities are formed and expressed. By engaging with case studies and comparative analysis, the course encourages appreciation for global diversity and fosters critical thinking about the interconnectedness of human societies in a rapidly changing world.
Recommended Textbook
Cultural Anthropology 1st Edition by Kenneth J. Guest
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17 Chapters
1120 Verified Questions
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Chapter 1: Anthropology in a Global Age
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which field of anthropology uses participant observation as a research strategy?
A) historic linguistics
B) cultural anthropology
C) primatology
D) archaeology
E) descriptive linguistics
Answer: B
Q2) Anthropologists take a comprehensive approach to understanding human beings, and this is accomplished through:
A) exploring the past.
B) the four-field approach.
C) looking at biology.
D) participant observation.
E) cross-fertilization.
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Culture
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Q1) Migration in the world is now occurring at unprecedented levels. How does migration relate to globalization? What is meant by a two-way transference of culture and how does migration figure into it? What are three examples of two-way transference of culture? What effect do you think migration will have on cultures in the future?
Answer: Students should identify migration as part of two-way transference, which is one of three key interrelated effects of globalization. They should also be able to explain two-way transference and discuss how migration contributes to it via the movement of people who have different cultural beliefs and practices. The movement of people with different cultures can influence the culture of their host country if aspects of their cultural beliefs and practices become incorporated into the host community culture and vice versa. Students should conclude by offering at least one argument for a type of effect that they believe migration will likely have on cultures in the future.
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Chapter 3: Fieldwork and Ethnography
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ are commonly used as a strategy to collect quantitative data.
A) Interviews
B) Surveys
C) Life histories
D) Conversations
E) Social networks
Answer: B
Q2) The trafficking of human organs discussed in the text provides a disturbing example of the impacts of:
A) colonialism.
B) imperialism.
C) participation.
D) globalization.
E) fieldwork.
Answer: D
Q3) Define zeros and explain their significance for ethnographers.
Answer: Zeros are the elements of a story or picture that are not told or seen; they are key details omitted from the conversation. This omission offers insight into which topics are too sensitive to discuss publicly.
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Language
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ________ of any language refers to names, ideas, and events that offer a catalogue of what is spoken, and can be compiled into a dictionary.
A) dialect
B) grammar
C) lexicon
D) pidgin
E) paralanguage
Q2) Anthropologist Laura Bohannan discovered in her attempt to translate a classic text from English literature that:
A) an underlying universal grammar that all humans share facilitated her work.
B) the landscape of the Nigerian village shaped the folklore of the inhabitants.
C) accurate translation of Shakespeare is best accomplished through sign language.
D) the meaning of the story became lost as the original meanings of the English words could not be easily translated.
E) it is straightforward to translate stories across different languages.
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Chapter 5: Human Origins
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Sample Questions
Q1) Modern humans became successful at survival as a result of certain biological and societal factors, EXCEPT:
A) genetic diversity.
B) developmental adaption.
C) acclimatization.
D) cultural adaptation.
E) genetic adaption.
Q2) Dark-skinned people are found in equatorial regions because:
A) dark skin protects against heat.
B) those populations are the oldest evolved groups.
C) dark skin is a genetic adaptation to ultraviolet radiation.
D) the skin contains excessive amounts of vitamin D.
E) dark skin confers resistance to malaria.
Q3) Changes in the environment due to global warming will:
A) cause massive population growth in animal species.
B) stimulate less frequent extreme weather.
C) result in intense pressures on the human species.
D) dramatically increase rainfall and flooding.
E) cause the sea level to retreat.
Q4) Contrast the two theories on the ultimate fate of the Neandertals.
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Race and Racism
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Q1) In at least two cultures discussed in the text, wealth is a factor in determining race. Explain how money can have an effect on racial determination, a supposedly biological classification, and provide an example from the class.
Q2) Explain how and why the "one drop rule" was traditionally used to determine race in American culture.
Q3) What term describes policies favoring native-born inhabitants over new immigrants?
A) nativism
B) eugenics
C) racism
D) supremacy
E) colonialism
Q4) Identify three reasons why anthropologists feel that the concept of "race" is a flawed system of classification, and give an example to support each reason.
Q5) Compare and contrast the concepts "genotype" and "phenotype."
Q6) Identify three factors that determine race in the Dominican Republic.
Q7) Explain what is meant by the concept of "white privilege."
Q8) Explain how European colonial expansion gave rise to "race" and racism.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Ethnicity and Nationalism
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Q1) The invented sense of connection and shared traditions that underlies identification with a particular ethnic group or nation whose members likely will never meet refers to the concept of:
A) cultural imperialism.
B) imagined community.
C) invented identity.
D) nation-state.
E) nationalism.
Q2) The text notes that the stories of the Mayflower, the first Thanksgiving, the Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution, and the settling of the West are retold to emphasize a shared destiny as well as the values of freedom, exploration, and individualism. These illustrate the concept of a(n):
A) folk tale.
B) history.
C) "just so" story.
D) legend.
E) origin myth.
Q3) Explain why England is called the "ninety-minute nation" and why it is so important to people who identify as English.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Gender
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Sample Questions
Q1) The process through which a sense of gender becomes normative and seems natural is called:
A) sexual dimorphism.
B) gender stratification.
C) enculturation.
D) enculturation
E) hierarchies.
Q2) Evaluate which of the five sexes in biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling's continuum represents the hijras of India. How do they perform their gender identity in daily life? What economic and social roles do they play in society? Why are they often victims of violence?
Q3) Early feminist anthropological studies focused on identifying:
A) the myth of matriarchy in prehistoric societies.
B) the underlying roots of universal male dominance.
C) gender equality in industrialized societies.
D) sources of female power in nonindustrialized cultures.
E) gender stratification in U.S. schools.
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Chapter 9: Sexuality
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Sample Questions
Q1) The "wedding industry" is which of the following?
A) a reality television show about weddings in different cultures
B) a store that sells traditional wedding packages in Romania
C) the network of commercial activities and social institutions that market weddings in the United States
D) the name of a sex tourism promotion company in the Dominican Republic
E) an emerging field of study for cultural anthropologists
Q2) All of the following are examples of sexuality in contemporary media and politics, EXCEPT:
A) international campaigns for gay and lesbian rights.
B) the ongoing conversation about sexual violence on college campuses.
C) the U.S. public policy debate over the criminalization of sex work.
D) the debate over U.S. intervention in Syria.
E) the overturning of DOMA.
Q3) Compare and contrast gay and lesbian commitment ceremonies with the traditional "white wedding." How might the differences between these rituals be minimized by the legalization of same-sex marriage? In what ways are gay and lesbian commitment ceremonies both rituals of acceptance and resistance?
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Chapter 10: Kinship, Family, and Marriage
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Q1) In 2007, 14 percent of all U.S. adoptions were arranged across national borders. The top "sending" country for transnational adoptions that year was China. What are some of the reasons that China was a top "sending" country for transnational adoptions? What is the typical marriage pattern in China and how does it contribute to the availability of Chinese children for transnational adoption? How do female infanticide and abandonment of baby girls reflect the preferred marriage pattern in China? In your opinion, why were so many Chinese children adopted by families in the United States rather than by families from other countries? Is transnational adoption the only option for abandoned Chinese children or are there other options that may also work to address this issue? What are some of the consequences of transnational adoptions for Chinese adoptees?
Q2) Clans that do not permit marriages within the group are considered:
A) endogamous.
B) monogamous.
C) polygamous.
D) polydromous.
E) exogamous.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Class and Inequality
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Q1) Since the mid-1970s, class inequality in the United States has:
A) decreased as income and wealth have been disbursed from the wealthy elite down to the middle- and lower-class social strata.
B) increased due to decreasing tax rates for the wealthy and stagnating salaries for the middle class.
C) held steady as tax breaks for the wealthy have been balanced by increased salaries in the middle class.
D) decreased as a result of increased tax rates on the wealthy and redistribution of benefits to the poor.
E) fluctuated wildly as the middle class booms and stagnates at irregular intervals.
Q2) The total value of what someone owns-including stocks, bonds, and real estate-minus any debt, such as a mortgage, student educational loans, or credit card debt, is considered:
A) wealth.
B) investments.
C) income.
D) profits.
E) wages.
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13
Chapter 12: The Global Economy
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Q1) Underdevelopment is best defined as:
A) a term used to suggest that poor countries are poor as a result of their relationship to an unbalanced global economic system.
B) a theory that predicts that former colonies would progress along the same lines as the industrialized nations.
C) a strategy by which wealthy nations would spur global economic growth by alleviating poverty by investing in former colonies.
D) a critique that argued that despite the end of colonialism, the underlying economic relations in the global economy had not changed.
E) a continued pattern of unequal economic relations despite the formal end of colonial political and military control.
Q2) Humans first began to produce food approximately:
A) 1,000 years ago.
B) 200,000 years ago.
C) 100 AD.
D) 11,000 years ago.
E) 2000 BC.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Migration
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Q1) A significant amount of attention has been given to people in Sudan who have been displaced as a result of ethnic and religious conflict. Do you think that there should be international oversight for people who have been internally displaced? Discuss whether conflicts that take place within national borders but are caused in part by larger global forces should involve international interventions. How does the conflict in the Republic of Congo discussed in the textbook differ from the crisis in Darfur, Sudan?
Q2) All of the following are effects of remittances sent back to countries of origin, EXCEPT:
A) increased social status in local communities for labor immigrants.
B) financial resources for roads, schools, and water systems.
C) economic support for basic needs like food, shelter, and education.
D) increased consumer spending in communities that receive immigrants.
E) infrastructure projects such as senior centers, churches, temples, and mosques.
Q3) What are the unique challenges and opportunities faced by what the author calls the "1.5 generation"? Define this term, and compare and contrast how the experience of this generation compares to first- and second-generation migrants. Be sure to use concrete examples to explain how these generations become part of U.S. culture.
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15
Chapter 14: Politics and Power
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Q1) The modern state of Germany has existed in many forms from its inception. The hundreds of German principalities were formerly united in 1871 into Germany until 1918. After defeat in World War I, Germany's government was known as the Weimar Republic until the Nazis came to power in 1933. With the defeat of Nazi Germany, the country was divided into East and West during the cold war, and finally reunited when the Soviet Union collapsed. This demonstrates how the state of Germany has often been:
A) aligned.
B) constructed.
C) rebuilt.
D) maligned.
E) reimagined.
Q2) Discuss how alternative structures are used to circumvent state power, and provide an example to illustrate your points.
Q3) Describe the concept of hegemony, what does it does, and how it works. Provide an example.
Q4) Describe the concept of agency and how it works, and give an example from the class.
Q5) Describe what it means to say that the state, soldiers, and warfare are all constructed.
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Chapter 15: Religion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following constitutes the complex historical and social developments through which symbols are given power and meaning?
A) democratizing process
B) secularizing process
C) authorizing process
D) globalizing process
E) standardizing process
Q2) Anthropologist Clifford Geertz found that:
A) symbols used in religion acquire significance only for the actual material of which they are made and nothing more beyond that.
B) symbols used in religion acquire significance far beyond the actual material of which they are made and allow believers to feel that the religious world is truly real.
C) symbols are irrelevant to religious practice.
D) we cannot understand what makes religion work without understanding the authorizing processes that give symbols their power.
E) most definitions of religion are Eurocentric.
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Chapter 16: Health and Illness
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Q1) Analyze the anecdote of the centenarian twins from the beginning of the chapter. Based on what you've learned about health and illness in this chapter, do you agree that laughter, close family ties, religion, and a simple lifestyle can account for their longevity? If so, how? If not, what other factors could explain their long lives?
Q2) According to the text, Texas colonias are of interest to medical anthropologists because:
A) the majority of the residents return to their native Mexico for medical treatment. B) their rates for many diseases are considerably above state and national averages. C) the majority of the residents came to the United States in the 1950s and are now in dire need of medical specialists in gerontology.
D) they are investigating if there is a genetic reason why cancer rates are low.
E) most expectant mothers have midwives attend them rather than going to hospitals.
Q3) What is biomedicine, and how do the practitioners view and treat diseases? Discuss two criticisms that anthropologists have about the European biases in the model relative to ethnocentric views about non-Western populations.
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18
Chapter 17: Art and Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) The archaeological record shows evidence of human artistic expression dating back ________ years.
A) 10,000
B) 100,000
C) 50,000
D) 1 million
E) 500,000
Q2) The complexity of cave art suggests that:
A) the paintings may have been used in storytelling or for record keeping.
B) humans did not yet have advanced cognitive skills.
C) cavemen had limited knowledge of the technology required to show movement.
D) the type of paint used for painting was simple watercolors.
E) cavemen began to paint before they were able to carve bones.
Q3) Evaluate this statement: "As people become frustrated with the lack of intimacy provided by electronic technologies, this form of communication will become less important in coming decades." Is it true or false? Use examples from the text to support your conclusion.
Q4) Consider the global trade of West African "wood" and "mud" artwork. Are these objects "authentic"?
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