Deck 3: The Social and Cultural Construction of Reality

Question 1

What does the "Cannibal Dance" show an audience about the Kwakwaka'wakw people's view of reality?

A) Life is dangerous and full of suffering.
B) All humans are cannibals that must be socialized and tamed.
C) People are born innocent and are later corrupted by society.
D) Eating the flesh of one's ancestors is a way of preserving their memory.

Answer 1

All humans are cannibals that must be socialized and tamed.

Question 2

A myth in which a hero undertakes a dangerous journey and returns successfully is an example of a:

A) warrior tale.
B) key scenario.
C) instructive device.
D) symbolic action.

Answer 2

key scenario.

Question 3

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that:

A) certain grammatical patterns are universal.
B) metaphors make language more efficient.
C) the grammar of a language is linked to the culture of its native speakers.
D) grammar is neither logical nor efficient because it is not planned.

Answer 3

the grammar of a language is linked to the culture of its native speakers.

Question 4

The Shaking Quakers embraced which of the following?

A) The New Testament
B) Celibacy
C) Sexuality as an expressive form of worship
D) Polygamy

Question 5

Members of Holiness Churches in the U.S. handle poisonous snakes:

A) as a test of their faith.
B) as a form of entertainment.
C) as a sport.
D) to create group cohesion.

Question 6

What do metaphors do?

A) Provide a way to accurately describe reality.
B) Illustrate the inherent limits of language.
C) Use language from one domain of experience to describe another domain.
D) Provide similes to better describe human experience.

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT communicated by the structure of the chess game?

A) There is a rigid social hierarchy.
B) 'Fair play' is a strictly American notion.
C) As in war, the most strategic player wins.
D) Rank and power are linked in the outwitting of an opponent.

Question 8

Which of these is NOT an example of symbolic action?

A) New Year's Eve in the United States.
B) A college football game.
C) A family garden.
D) An outdoor concert by the band U2.

Question 9

Which of these domains of experience is NOT a key source of metaphors in mainstream American society?

A) Marriage
B) War
C) Economic actions
D) Sports

Question 10

How does the act of eating reflect Kwakwaka'wakw views of the relationship between birth, life, and death?

A) Through acts of ritual cannibalism.
B) Through the transfer of souls from deceased people to salmon and thence to babies.
C) Through the ritual destruction of the bodies of deceased people.
D) Through special meals prepared at funerals and at births.

Question 11

The use of specific metaphors and domains:

A) demonstrates a speaker's poetic skills.
B) creates cohesive meaning in a culture.
C) allows a speaker to win debates.
D) makes language more colorful.

Question 12

According to Tanya Luhrmann, tarot cards provide:

A) a means of predicting the future.
B) an understanding of white magic.
C) a symbolic means of understanding themselves.
D) a useful financial skill.

Question 13

North American native groups who adopted the ghost dance sought:

A) a treaty that would offer them more land.
B) the adoption of a modern way of life.
C) a revival of a traditional way of life.
D) an independent country.

Question 14

According to Joseph Campbell, what is a very common scenario found in myths across cultural lines?

A) A poor man who becomes successful through hard work.
B) People with spiritual insights shunned by their own communities.
C) A person who sets out on a journey or a quest.
D) A hero who avenges unjust actions.

Question 15

"The slow, often unacknowledged shift in someone's manner of interpreting events as they become involved with a particular activity" is called:

A) interpretive drift.
B) metaphorical change.
C) symbolic reaction.
D) belief shift.

Question 16

A totem is:

A) a physical representation of a spiritual being.
B) a symbol of group identity.
C) a compendium of religious teaching.
D) one of a number of spirit doubles linked to someone's soul.

Question 17

According to the anthropologists Sapir and Whorf, vocabulary in every language primarily reflects:

A) the way native speakers view the world.
B) key grammatical issues.
C) unspoken truths about a culture.
D) the ways in which language is universal.

Question 18

Metaphors through which the Kwakwaka'wakw understand and describe their life come from:

A) war.
B) romantic love.
C) eating.
D) sex.

Question 19

"Wovoka" was:

A) a ritual dance.
B) the Paiute language.
C) a Paiute prophet.
D) a Paiute animal spirit.

Question 20

Shaker communities accepted which of these?

A) Second Coming of Christ was anticipated imminently.
B) Men and women were equal.
C) Private property was valued.
D) People should "be fruitful and multiply."

Question 21

When an individual is classified as "high grid/high group":

A) he or she is a "fatalist."
B) he or she is an "individualist."
C) he or she is a "hierarchist."
D) he or she is an "egalitarian."

Question 22

Revitalization movements usually occur during which time periods?

A) In periods of social upheaval.
B) In periods of political stability.
C) During times of economic expansion.
D) During extended periods of prosperity

Question 23

In Mary Douglas's "grid-group" model the grid describes how much:

A) an individual controls his or her personal space.
B) one's life is limited by externally imposed perceptions.
C) one's life is based on obligations to others.
D) an individual must conform to the group.

Question 24

Language serves to order the experiences of the language speaker.

Question 25

Language is a transparent, technical tool for the transmission of people's thoughts.

Question 26

Metaphors are an example of how people try to make sense of the world and their lives by trying to impose order.

Question 27

The structure of English grammar demonstrates that English speakers tend to view the world as a collection of objects.

Question 28

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis suggests that the grammar of a language structures the culture of its speakers.

Question 29

Emile Durkheim argued that early humans imagined souls to be the essence of life.

Question 30

Linguist George Lakoff defines "frames" as:

A) mental structures we use to make sense of the world.
B) the language tools we use to make sense of reality.
C) a new way of describing the function of grammar.
D) the symbolic rituals that anchor social relations.

Question 31

Modern magic assumes that people's thoughts and everyday matter are linked together.

Question 32

"Secondary elaboration" describes which of the following?

A) Approaching an event through scientific principles.
B) Explaining away inconsistencies or contradictions in a set of beliefs.
C) The underlying meaning that is found in myth.
D) The symbolic rituals that anchor social relations.

Question 33

The movies "Star Wars" and "The Wizard of Oz" are examples of anti-hero myths.

Question 34

The Paiute language pays little attention to direction and geography.

Question 35

In Mary Douglas's "grid-group" model, the group describes:

A) how little the individual comes in contact with others.
B) how much one's life is limited by externally imposed perceptions
C) how much one's life is based on obligations to others.
D) how much an individual is incorporated into the group.

Question 36

Key metaphors can shape the larger culture of a group.

Question 37

From Lakoff's perspective conservatives' frame prompts them to see the family as:

A) a collective entity
B) run by a strict father
C) preparation for a competitive world
D) run by a loving mother

Question 38

The concept of selective perception describes which of the following?

A) People believe only what they are told to believe.
B) People believe the positive aspects of their faith.
C) People see only those things they expect, or those that confirm what they already believe.
D) People use objectivity to filter out distorted or biased perspectives.

Question 39

The Kwakwaka'wakw believe they need to control hunger in their society in order to:

A) ensure a good hunting season.
B) keep evil spirits away from children.
C) solve the problems of greed, conflict, and child rearing.
D) ensure a plentiful supply of food for the group.

Question 40

When language is borrowed from one area of experience and extended to another, the meaning of these borrowings is also extended.

Question 41

The idea of an earth-centered universe is readily believable in a society in which humankind is afforded the central place in the universe.

Question 42

Holiness Church members believe the Bible directs true Christians to handle poisonous snakes and drink poison.

Question 43

Using her "grid-group" model, Mary Douglas argues that some people are most comfortable in rigid and hierarchical societies.

Question 44

When a particular view of the world or belief is threatened, people utilize secondary elaboration and selective perception to preserve what they believe.