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for this course consists of the following two-part writing assignment based on the assigned texts in the second half of the semester

Sociology

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for this course consists of the following two-part writing assignment based on the assigned texts in the second half of the semester. The first part consists of an essay question; the second part consists of four (4)short-answer questions. Your finished product (containing your responses to the questions in both parts)should be 4-6typed, double-spaced pages. Be sure to identify by number your response to each question.

Your responses to these questions should be your own work, written in your own words, and based on the assigned readings and our discussions about them. Do not consult any online sources for this assignment. Your responses should reflect your own engagement with the material we studied, not what others have written about it.

Part I: Essay(worth 50% of your exam grade)1. Write an essay from the point of view of Okonkwo. Imagine that he has come to Rockford, Ill., as part of a delegation headed by Claude Levi-Strauss to study American civilization. Taking the point of view of Okonkwo, answer the following question: “Is America a better place to live than tribal society?”

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Part II: Short-Answer Questions(worth 50% of your exam grade; 12.5% per question)2. Identify and explain ONE significant difference between the Caduveo tribe and the Nambikwara tribe.3.Levi-Strauss writes the following: “Rousseau, our master and brother...to whom every page of this book could have been dedicated” (p. 390). Why does Levi-Strauss think so highly of Rousseau? 4. Why did Christianity pose such a serious threat to Okonkwo’s tribe and its way of life? 5. Which character in Things Fall Apart would Achebe himself most like? Why?

Looking Ahead Today Finish Tristes Tropiques Tues., April 20 No Class (paper due by 10:00 PM) Thurs., April 22 Start Things Fall Apart (final reading assignment of the semester) Questions re the Paper? Last time we went over the bullet-point options for how to focus your paper. Tristes Tropiques: End of Part VII and Part VIII April 15, 2021 A Nambikwara Chief Ch 29 “Men, Women, and Chiefs” Is it good or bad that the social and political structure of the Nambikwara is "fragile and ephemeral" (p. 307)? Is political authority hereditary (p. 309)? What kind of inequality does the Chief represent (p. 310)? Does it weaken the possibility of happiness in the tribe? What kinds of relationships does the polygamous system make necessary (pp. 313-314)? Ch 30 “A Canoe Trip” What does Levi-Strauss mean when he says that "Although the civilizations which [those who set foot on Brazilian territory four hundred years ago] were the first to observe had developed along different lines from ours, they had nevertheless reached the full development and perfection of which their natures were capable, whereas the societies we are able to study today...are no more than debilitated communities and mutilated social forms" (p. 326)? Ch 30 “A Canoe Trip” If the native tribes of the Amazon are no longer in condition of "full development and perfection" are they still worth studying? Why or why not? Ch 31 “Robinson Crusoe” Why was Levi-Strauss left with "a feeling of emptiness" after visiting the Munde tribe (pp. 332-333)? Ch 32 “In the Forest” What was "the incident of the eagle"? What important phenomenon was it a characteristic example of, according to Levi-Strauss (pp. 343-344)? Ch 33 “The Village of the Crickets” • What habits and practices of the Indians described in this chapter are the strangest to you? the hardest to understand? • What are the easiest for you to understand? Ch 34 “The Farce of the Japim Bird” • What are the marital arrangements of the Tupi-Kawahib (pp. 354356)? How do they compare to those of the Nambikwara? What would Rousseau say about these arrangements? • What is the function of the chief in a Tupi-Kawahib village (pp. 357358)? How does it differ from the function of a Nambikwara chief ? Does this reveal anything distinctive about the Tupi-Kawahib tribe? “The Farce of the Japim Bird” • What was "the farce of the japim bird” (pp. 359-360)? • What might it tell us about the TupiKawahib tribe in particular or tribal life in general? Final Discussion of the Book nd 2 Paper Go over the list of topics to focus your paper on Tristes Tropiques: End of Part VII and Beginning of Part VIII April 13, 2021 A Nambikwara Chief Ch 29 “Men, Women, and Chiefs” Is it good or bad that the social and political structure of the Nambikwara is "fragile and ephemeral" (p. 307)? Is political authority hereditary (p. 309)? What kind of inequality does the Chief represent (p. 310)? Does it weaken the possibility of happiness in the tribe? What kinds of relationships does the polygamous system make necessary (pp. 313-314)? Ch 30 “A Canoe Trip” What does Levi-Strauss mean when he says that "Although the civilizations which [those who set foot on Brazilian territory four hundred years ago] were the first to observe had developed along different lines from ours, they had nevertheless reached the full development and perfection of which their natures were capable, whereas the societies we are able to study today...are no more than debilitated communities and mutilated social forms" (p. 326)? Ch 30 “A Canoe Trip” If the native tribes of the Amazon are no longer in condition of "full development and perfection" are they still worth studying? Why or why not? Ch 31 “Robinson Crusoe” Why was Levi-Strauss left with "a feeling of emptiness" after visiting the Munde tribe (pp. 332-333)? Ch 32 “In the Forest” What was "the incident of the eagle"? What important phenomenon was it a characteristic example of, according to Levi-Strauss (pp. 343-344)? Looking Ahead Thurs., April 15 Chs 33 & 34 (final reading assignment from Tristes Tropiques) Tues., April 20 No Class (paper due by 10:00 PM) Thurs., April 22 Start Things Fall Apart (final book of the semester) nd 2 Paper Due no later than Tues., April 20, at 10:00 PM Elements of a Good Argumentative Essay • An introductory paragraph that introduces your topic and provides an answer to the essay prompt in the form of an argument (a thesis) that the rest of your essay aims to support/demonstrate/prove • Body paragraphs that support your thesis • Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence that makes an argument/claim in support of your thesis or a part of your thesis. Everything in the paragraph that follows should relate to and support the topic sentence • Include in each body paragraph specific evidence/details from the assigned text to support your topic sentences • A concluding paragraph that sums everything up and perhaps answers the “so what?” question Tristes Tropiques, Part VII: Nambikwara April 8, 2021 The Rousseauean Influence on Levi-Strauss “…I had gone to the ends of the earth to look for what Rousseau calls ‘the almost imperceptible stages of man’s beginnings’. Behind the veil of the overcomplicated laws of the Caduveo and Bororo, I had continued my search for a state which – as Rousseau also says – ‘no longer exists, has perhaps never existed, and probably will never exist, and of which it is nevertheless essential to form a correct notion in order rightly to judge our present state’. I believed that, having been luckier than Rousseau, I had discovered such a state….” Tristes Tropiques, Chapter 29, p. 316 Ch 24 “The Lost World” Why does Levi-Strauss care about the origins of American civilization, given his admission that "the essential evidence has been lost and that all [the researcher's] efforts will amount to no more than a scratching of the surface" (p. 260)? Ch 25 “In the Sertao” What do we learn about native medical practices (p. 268)? What does the story Levi-Strauss tells reveal about the mindset of the natives (p. 269)? Ch 26 “On the Line” & Ch 27 “Family Life” Levi-Strauss describes the Nambikwara’s appearance, utensils, and social organization. According to him, they "appear...as survivors from the Stone Age" (p. 276); "as if one were looking at the infancy of the human species" (p. 274). How closely do the Nambikwara correspond with Rousseau's account of the earliest tribal life? Would Rousseau say that these people experience "the happiest epoch of human life"? Do the Nambikwara avoid inequality? Do they avoid dependence on others? Do they limit the bad effects of vanity, while enjoying the pleasures of love (see, e.g., p. 293)? A Nambikwara Chief Ch 28 “A Writing Lesson” According to Levi-Strauss, what effect does writing have on civilization? How does it change social relations (pp. 299-300)? Ch 29 “Men, Women, and Chiefs” Is it good or bad that the social and political structure of the Nambikwara is "fragile and ephemeral" (p. 307)? Is political authority hereditary (p. 309)? What kind of inequality does the Chief represent (p. 310)? Does it weaken the possibility of happiness in the tribe? What kinds of relationships does the polygamous system make necessary (pp. 313-314)? nd 2 Paper Due no later than Tues., April 20, at 10:00 PM Tristes Tropiques, Part VI: Bororo April 1, 2021 The Influence of Rousseau on Levi-Strauss • L-S took seriously Rousseau’s claim that people were happier at that moment in human history when they left the state of nature to live together in small tribal communities. • This must help explain why he would be willing to endure a great deal of hardship to visit these remote and hard-to-reach tribes in Brazil and then to study every aspect of their lives with such intense fascination. • L-S must have thought that he had something important to learn from doing this. Ch 21 “Gold and Diamonds” How do the local residents of Cuiaba regard the Indians (p.206)? Compare this to how the Spanish explorers and conquistadors regarded the Indians they encountered. Ch 22 “Virtuous Savages” • What is the significance of this chapter title? • Does L-S’s description of the physical condition of the Bororo confirm Rousseau's argument about the physical condition of man in the state of nature (p. 217)? The Pattern of Daily Life “The nights were given over to religious ceremonies, and the natives slept from dawn until midday” (p. 219). The Design of a Bororo Village • Why is the Kejara village designed the way it is (pp. 219-221)? • Why aren't all the rules concerning the social distinctions within Bororo society respected, according to Levi-Strauss (p. 224)? The Bororo Conception of Wealth How do the Bororo conceive of wealth (pp. 224-225)? How does this differ from the way in which wealth is viewed in modern society? • Levi-Strauss explains that the Bororo "put all their riches and imagination into their dress" (p. 226). Does this display of vanity support Rousseau's argument that concern for the opinion of others undermines the possibility of happiness? • Are the Bororo happy? Why do you think Levi-Strauss describes the Bororo as "virtuous savages"? Ch 23 “The Living and the Dead” • What are the main features of a Bororo funeral ceremony (pp. 234-235, 240-243)? What does this reveal about Bororo society in general? • Who is the bari (pp. 235-237)? What function does he serve in Bororo society? • Who is "the master of the way of the souls” (pp. 238-239)? What function does he serve in Bororo society? • Levi-Strauss says that the social and religious systems of the Bororo cannot be separated from one another. What does he mean by this? • According to Levi-Strauss, Bororo society "offers a lesson to the student of human nature" (p. 245). What lesson does it offer? Claude Levi-Strauss Tristes Tropiques Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) • French academic whose work was of critical importance in the development of the theory of structural anthropology • Has been called ”the father of modern anthropology” • Elected to the French Academy in 1973 Tristes Tropiques • Published in 1955 in French and in 1961 in English • Levi-Strauss accepted a position as Professor of Anthropology in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in 1935 • During the long university vacations he lived among Indian tribes in the interior of Brazil. Tristes Tropiques offers a record of his encounter with these tribes. • We turn to the book to put Rousseau’s argument to the test. The paradox is irresoluble: the less one culture communicates with another, the less likely they are to be corrupted, one by the other; but, on the other hand, the less likely it is, in such conditions, that the respective emissaries of these cultures will be able to seize the richness and significance of their diversity. The alternative is inescapable: either I am a traveller in ancient times, and faced with a prodigious spectacle which would be almost entirely unintelligible to me and might, indeed, provoke me to mockery or disgust; or I am a traveller of my own day, hastening in search of a vanished reality. In either case I am the loser…for today, as I go groaning among the shadows, I miss, inevitably, the spectacle that is now taking shape. —from Tristes Tropiques Caduveo A culture that produced huge amounts of abstract paining and sculpture Chapter 17 ("Parana") Why do the first Indians encountered by LeviStrauss, who have previously had significant contact with civilization, resist modern civilization? Chapter 18 (“Patanal”) • Why would non-Indians ever ”go-native”? • What kind of hybrid did Don Felix become (p. 168)? Chapter 19 ("Nalike") How does Levi-Strauss think an anthropologist should study the feast of puberty for a girl (pp. 176177)? What effect did alcohol have on the Caduveo (p. 177)? Chapter 20 (“A Native Community and Its Life-style”) • What is the "life-style" of the Caduveo Indians, according to Levi-Strauss? What is a "life-style" and why is it important, according to him? • Why do the Caduveo put so much importance on body paintings? • What does Levi-Strauss mean when he says "the female beauties trace the outlines of the collective dream with their make-up; their patterns are hieroglyphics describing an inaccessible golden age, which they extol in their ornamentation...and whose mysteries they disclose as they reveal their nudity" (p. 197)? What is "the collective dream," the "inaccessible golden age," and the "mystery" of the ornamentation? Discussion Questions • Does the inequality inherent in the Indian caste system undermine Rousseau's claim that in tribal society we can escape inequality? Does the caste system ruin the possibility of "happiness" in Caduveo? • What habits and practices of the Indians described in these chapters are strangest to you? Which are hardest to understand? Which are the easiest to understand? • Why do you think Levi-Strauss wants to visit and describe the Indians?