Deck 9: Religion

Question 1

According to Tylor, what kind of religion is based on the idea that a person's body is inhabited by two entities-one that is active during the day and another (a double or soul) that is active during sleep and trances?

A)Olympianism
B)Totemism
C)Animism
D)Mana
E)Polytheism

Answer 1

Animism

Question 2

Belief in mana was especially prominent in

A)the North Pacific coast of North America.
B)Madagascar.
C)ancient Greece.
D)Melanesia.
E)sub-Saharan Africa.

Answer 2

Melanesia.

Question 3

Polytheism refers to

A)belief in a single, all-powerful god.
B)the second stage of a revitalization movement.
C)the third phase of a rite of passage.
D)belief in a force that animates all living things.
E)belief in multiple gods.

Answer 3

belief in multiple gods.

Question 4

What term refers to the manipulation of the supernatural to accomplish specific goals?

A)Animism
B)Magic
C)Religion
D)A rite of passage
E)Pantheism

Question 5

What is the term for the marginal or in-between phase of a rite of passage?

A)Voodoo
B)Mana
C)Taboo
D)Liminality
E)Animism

Question 6

Who was the founder of the anthropology of religion?

A)Emile Durkheim
B)Anthony Wallace
C)Victor Turner
D)Edward B.Tylor
E)Bronislaw Malinowski

Question 7

What is communitas?

A)Social inequality that is accepted even by those who are less privileged
B)A feeling of great social solidarity, equality, and togetherness
C)Anxiety about the meaning of life
D)The Latin word for mana
E)The supernatural

Question 8

Why were the bodies and possessions of Polynesian chiefs considered taboo?

A)Chiefs were the primary totems for Polynesian descent groups.
B)Chiefs occupied a liminal place in society.
C)Chiefs were considered to be ritually unpure.
D)Chiefs were practitioners of contagious magic.
E)Chiefs were imbued with a great amount of mana.

Question 9

Witchcraft accusations are often aimed at

A)powerful politicians.
B)individuals who are widely respected in a community.
C)socially marginal people.
D)upstanding citizens.
E)prominent religious leaders.

Question 10

The use of voodoo dolls is an example of

A)imitative magic.
B)contagious magic.
C)taboo.
D)animism.
E)superstition.

Question 11

According to Tylor, what is the sequence through which religion evolved?

A)Olympianism, polytheism, monotheism
B)Animism, polytheism, monotheism
C)Mana, polytheism, monotheism
D)Animism, cargo cults, monotheism
E)Polytheism, animism, monotheism

Question 12

Which of the following statements concerning mana is true?

A)Mana is a kind of bread prepared during communal rituals in Melanesia and Polynesia.
B)The concept of mana is absent in societies with differential access to strategic resources.
C)Most anthropologists agree that mana is the most archaic religious doctrine.
D)Mana is concerned with supernatural beings rather than with powers or forces.
E)In Melanesia, anyone could acquire mana, but in Polynesia mana was attached to political offices.

Question 13

Rites of passage usually consist of what phases?

A)Uncertainty, anxiety, and solace
B)Ritual, purification, and absolution
C)Separation, liminality, and incorporation
D)Aggregation, celebration, and liturgical orders
E)Confusion, ecstasy, and nirvana.

Question 14

What kind of magic is based on the belief that whatever is done to an object will affect a person who once had contact with it?

A)Contagious magic
B)Imitative magic
C)Serial magic
D)Sequential magic
E)Simultaneous magic

Question 15

What term refers to a custom or social action that operates to reduce status differences and bring standouts in line with community norms?

A)Rite of passage
B)Revitalization movement
C)Syncretism
D)Taboo
E)Leveling mechanism

Question 16

Malinowski found that the Trobriand Islanders used magic

A)as a means of increasing social solidarity.
B)to increase the bountifulness of the yam harvest.
C)in psychologically stressful situations, such as sailing.
D)as a means of leveling Europeans who refused to redistribute their wealth.
E)to kill their adversaries during intertribal warfare.

Question 17

What frequently occurs during the liminal phase of a rite of passage?

A)Reversals of ordinary behavior
B)Intensification of social hierarchy
C)Formation of an implicit ranking system
D)Use of secular language
E)No change in social norms

Question 18

Which of the following kinds of religion involves full-time religious specialists?

A)Communal religion
B)Shamanic religion
C)Olympian religion
D)Mana
E)Taboo

Question 19

What did Handsome Lake initiate among the Iroquois at the beginning of the 19th century?

A)A shamanistic cult
B)A revitalization movement
C)A rite of passage
D)A structuralist movement
E)A cargo cult

Question 20

Induction into the U.S.Marine Corps and the Native American vision quest are examples of

A)revitalization movements.
B)generalized reciprocity.
C)totemism.
D)rites of passage.
E)imitative magic.

Question 21

The Taliban's measures restricting behavior is an example of religion's function as

A)a revitalization movement.
B)shamanism.
C)a form of social control.
D)a mechanism to reduce fear and uncertainty.
E)a rite of passage.

Question 22

The largest religion in the world, in terms of number of practitioners, is

A)Buddhism.
B)Islam.
C)Judaism.
D)Hinduism.
E)Christianity.

Question 23

What is a rite of passage? What three phases ordinarily constitute a rite of passage? Provide at least two different examples to illustrate your answer.

Question 24

How do you explain the universality of religion?

Question 25

Voodoo dolls are used to perform contagious magic.

Question 26

Is religion becoming more or less important in contemporary American society? Why? If you believe that religion is becoming less important, what is replacing it?

Question 27

According to Tylor, religion evolved from polytheism to animism to monotheism.

Question 28

Discuss three ways religion may act as a form of social control.How do leaders mobilize communities and gain support for their policies? Consider the connections between religion and politics in states, both ancient and modern.

Question 29

Contrast ritual behavior with ordinary behavior.Give examples of religious and secular rituals.What are the main differences between such kinds of ritual?

Question 30

Discuss two cases in which religion played an important role in social change.

Question 31

The Musée du Quai Branly is unique because

A)it was founded during the Roman Empire.
B)it provides context for how the artifacts were used in their original culture.
C)it was inspired by the founder of anthropology, Anthony F.C.Wallace.
D)it is the only museum that holds fossils of the earliest hominins.
E)it holds the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings.

Question 32

By participating in a ritual, performers signal that they accept a common social and moral order.

Question 33

All of the following are examples of shamans except

A)priests.
B)curers.
C)palm readers.
D)astrologers.
E)mediums.

Question 34

According to Malinowski, religion provides people with emotional comfort during times of stress or uncertainty.

Question 35

Which of the following statements about religions is not true?

A)Specific religious beliefs and practices vary cross-culturally.
B)Religion can be an instrument of societal change, even revolution.
C)Religion serves only to maintain social solidarity; it does not create or maintain social divisions.
D)Religion is a cultural universal.
E)State religions are presided over by full-time specialists.

Question 36

What are the similarities and differences between shamanistic and communal religions? How do both compare to Olympian religions and monotheism?

Question 37

In a rite of passage, people experiencing liminality together form a community of equals.

Question 38

In Melanesia, mana was a sacred force that could reside in people, animals, plants, and objects.

Question 39

What kind of religion is most frequently found among foraging bands?

A)Communal
B)Shamanic
C)Cargo cult
D)Monotheistic
E)Polytheistic

Question 40

Sequences of words and actions that are used during rituals are known as

A)ritual scripts.
B)rites of passage.
C)taboos.
D)liturgical orders.
E)communitas.

Question 41

Shamans are full-time religious practitioners generally found in state-level societies.

Question 42

The cargo cults of Melanesia predated the arrival of Europeans in the region.

Question 43

The cargo cults of Melanesia paved the way for the unified political action of indigenous communities.

Question 44

Communitas is the strong feeling of collective unity shared by individuals at the core of society, who define themselves in opposition to the society's liminal members.

Question 45

Full-time priests are an essential part of communal religions.

Question 46

All rituals occur in sacred contexts.

Question 47

During the liminal phase of a rite of passage, participants occupy ambiguous social positions.

Question 48

Witch hunts are an example of how religion can be used to limit deviant social behavior by instilling strong motivations to behave in a certain manner.

Question 49

Totems are animals, plants, or geographical features from which members of a totemic group claim to be descended.

Question 50

The Handsome Lake revitalization movement urged its followers to reaffirm the traditions of the Iroquois.

Question 51

Rites of passage involve three phases: separation, liminality, and totemism.

Question 52

Religion is a cultural generality-that is, it is found in most, but not all, societies.

Question 53

Belief in mana, or manalike forces, is a primitive form of religion found only among tribal societies.

Question 54

Religion can be a powerful means of controlling society.