Ritual and Symbolism Study Guide Questions
Course Introduction
This course explores the central role rituals and symbols play in shaping cultural, religious, and social life across diverse societies. Students will examine anthropological, psychological, and sociological theories of ritual and symbolism, analyzing how these practices communicate meaning, establish identity, reinforce social norms, and facilitate transitions. Through case studies and cross-cultural comparisons, the course investigates the dynamic interplay between ritual actions, symbolic objects, and the values they express, providing a comprehensive understanding of how rituals and symbols function within human communities.
Recommended Textbook
Anthropology of Religion Magic and Witchcraft The 3rd Edition by Rebecca Stein Philip L Stein
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11 Chapters
532 Verified Questions
532 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Anthropological Study of Religion
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The term cognition refers to:
A)unconsciousness
B)the totality of all perceptions
C)conscious intellectual activities including perception,reasoning,and feeling
D)a form of psychotherapy
Answer: C
Q2) Two main ways that anthropologists organize societies are by:
A)culture area and food getting strategies
B)level of religious complexity and gender stratification
C)gender ratio and child rearing strategies
D)kinship system and language spoken
Answer: A
Q3) There are many approaches to the study of religion in anthropology.One approach is to ask the question: What does religion do? What roles does religion play in human societies? This approach is referred to as the:
A)functional approach
B)psychosocial approach
C)evolutionary approach
D)cognitive approach
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Mythology
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50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A god who gave humans important things by accident or through deception is known as a(n):
A)trickster
B)hero
C)deceit god
D)creator god
Answer: A
Q2) Émile Durkheim used a psychoanalytic approach to the analysis of myth and focused on the impact of myth on social structure.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) There are two creation stories in Genesis.In one man and woman are created together; in the other man was created first and woman was created later out of man's rib.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Religious Symbols
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50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) All languages have a similar set of basic color terms in terms of number and meaning.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) An isolated,remote village in the highlands of New Guinea sees an airplane for the first time and creates a word to refer to it.This illustrates the fact that symbols,in this case the new word of an airplane,are:
A)arbitrary
B)open
C)subjective
D)creative
Answer: B
Q3) A shell trumpet and a flute are examples of a(n):
A)cordophone
B)aerophone
C)idiophone
D)membranophone
Answer: B
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Ritual
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58 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Distinctions of rank and care for personal appearance are two of many characteristics of liminality.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Among the !Kung San of southern Africa the marriage ceremony involves the mock forcible carrying off of the bride from her parent's hut to a specially built marriage hut and the anointing of the bride with special oils and aromatic powders.This ritual can be classified as a:
A)therapeutic ritual
B)rite of intensification
C)rite of passage
D)technological ritual
Q3) A ritual that focuses on the religious experience of the individual,such as possession,is called a(n):
A)salvation ritual
B)ideological ritual
C)therapy ritual
D)revitalization ritual
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6
Chapter 5: Altered States of Consciousness and Religious Specialists
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41 Verified Questions
41 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the Holiness Church,an altered state of consciousness is interpreted as a physical manifestation of:
A)demonic possession
B)possession by the Holy Ghost
C)the need for salvation
D)being chosen for an afterlife with God
Q2) The Jewish Yom Kippur and the Islamic Ramadan are both characterized by:
A)fasting
B)ingestion of wine
C)spirit possession states
D)meditation
Q3) Dancing to heat up the energy known as n/um to enable healing characterized the:
A)Yanomamö
B)Blessing Way
C)Sun Dance
D)San healing ritual
Q4) Pain,caused by placing skewers through the skin,characterizes the Cheyenne Sun Dance.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Religious Specialists
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Sample Questions
Q1) All of the following are true about priests except:
A)priests are associated with temples and shrines
B)priestly offices are often inherited from father to son
C)priests obtain supernatural power from a spirit familiar
D)priests are responsible for the correct performance of rituals
Q2) A complex series of priesthoods where political authority is vested in the priesthood characterizes the:
A)Zuni
B)Akimel O'odham
C)Navaho
D)Cahuilla
Q3) Handsome Lake and Ngundeng were:
A)diviners
B)prophets
C)herbalists
D)priests
Q4) Zuni society recognizes many different priesthoods.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Magic and Divination
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47 Verified Questions
47 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The observation of animal behavior or objects in the sky such as comets is called omens.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Among Australian aborigines,the family will react to what they believe is an impending death by:
A)singing ancestral songs
B)withdrawing from the dying person
C)withholding food and water
D)all of the above
Q3) Magic that is based upon the Law of Similarity is termed:
A)contagious magic
B)homeopathic magic
C)sympathetic magic
D)none of the above
Q4) Important features of magic are that magic:
A)creates hypotheses and theories
B)comes to testable conclusions
C)deals only with empirical observations
D)assumes a causal relationship between things that look similar
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Chapter 8: Souls,ghosts,and Death
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Sample Questions
Q1) All Hallows Eve or Halloween takes place on the evening before:
A)Memorial Day
B)dama
C)All Saint's Day
D)Hollows Day
Q2) In Japan,a distinction can be made between ancestors and those who died in more recent memory.The latter are referred to as:
A)the departed
B)ghouls
C)kindred
D)the near gods
Q3) The concept of a single soul that animates the living body and leaves upon death is found in the vast majority of societies that have been studied.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The soul is the noncorporeal,spiritual component of an individual.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Gods and Spirits
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Sample Questions
Q1) An important goddess found in Hinduism is:
A)Isis
B)Kali
C)Ishtar
D)all of the above
Q2) An agnostic is one who:
A)is polytheistic
B)believes that the existence of a god in unprovable
C)believes that there is no god
D)none of the above
Q3) Generally speaking,all of the following are true about spirits except:
A)they are most often seen as classes of supernatural beings
B)they tend to be associated with specific locations
C)they provide protection and success,but also are blamed for minor mishaps
D)they are responsible for some powerful aspect of nature
Q4) The orisha are an example of:
A)otiose gods
B)spirit beings
C)attribute gods
D)trickster gods
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Witchcraft
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36 Verified Questions
36 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Witches in small-scale societies derived their power from the knowledge and use of spells.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is true about Navaho witchcraft?
A)Navaho witches are born with witchcraft substance within their bodies
B)witchcraft is a common factor in Navaho life that is freely talked about
C)witchcraft is learned from a close relative and requires initiation
D)witches participate in healing rituals
Q3) In contrast to the Gwari of West Africa,Nupe witches are always female.It appears to be due to the fact that:
A)Nupe wives engage in activities that their husbands cannot control
B)political power is vested in female chiefs who rule through their husbands and brothers
C)women sexuality and fertility is viewed as dangerous and powerful
D)the Nupe were influenced by Christian missionaries at the time of Witchcraze in Europe
Q4) The Witchcraze is a Neo-Pagan religion found in Europe and the United States.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Syncretism and Religious Movements
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46 Verified Questions
46 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Ghost Dance of 1890:
A)was begun by a Paiute prophet Wovoka
B)promised the return of the ancestors and the disappearance of the dominant society
C)is an example of a nativistic movement
D)all of the above
Q2) An example of a UFO religion is:
A)Heaven's Gate
B)Unification Church
C)Branch Davidians
D)Wicca
Q3) In Vodou,the term lwa refers to:
A)places of worship that are sacred to particular spirits
B)animals that are sacrifices to particular spirits
C)spirit beings
D)drums and musical idioms
Q4) The movement of the technology of processing acorns among the tribes of California is a good example of syncretism.
A)True
B)False
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