Homework Questions
Suppose that you were a graduate student at a university and for your research, you were going to do an ethnography of surfers in Malibu, California. In order to prepare for your extensive study, you first decided to do a week-long study of them. What would you do? Explain how you would spend your week with the surfers, including a description of the kind of information you would like to learn from them initially. What kind of methodology would you use? Would you use structured or unstructured interviews?
As you learned in this module, language is a reflection of culture. There is a tendency for a large number of words to develop around areas of culture that are important to members of the society. For example, there are lots of ways of referring to beer (suds, brew, cold one, etc). Choose an area of American society (that was not discussed in the textbook or lecture) that shows a similar pattern. You should select an area where there are lots of ways of saying the same thing (like “beer” for a type of alcohol made from barley). (a) Name some of the terms involved in that area and (b) explain why that element of culture is important (e.g., because alcohol consumption is important in our society as a means to relax and socialize) and why so many terms are required (e.g., one might grab some brews with one’s friends, but would ask a boss out for an IPA – a type of beer – in order to show sophistication).
Do the Anthropological Thought Exercises found in the Module 3 Study Guide. Use the movements described in the online lectures for your answers (unilineal evolution, historical particularism, functionalism, structural functionalism, updated evolutionary approaches, idealism, and materialism). Do not include the prompts in your answer. I already know what they are.
Homework Instructions
You must follow these guidelines when submitting homework. In addition, please review the homework guidelines.
Turn your work in on time. Late assignments will be accepted, but will be marked down for every day late.
Do not include the questions with your answers. If you do, I will initially assign you 0 points until you send me a message saying you understand this requirement.
Submit all three answers at the same time.
Paste your answers into the submission box. Do not attach separate files.
Rely only on the class material (lectures and textbook), unless otherwise specified. Using any outside information will result in 0 points for any question where outside material is used.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Do not submit work that others have turned in. This will result in 0 points for the entire assignment.
Homework Instructions
Your efforts should correspond to the fact that you are turning in college-level work. Homework questions are designed to be challenging since this is the only part of the class that forces students to apply the material from the lectures and textbook. Students cannot wait until the last minute and expect high scores. Providing information that is only marginally related to the question topic will not be worth many points. Sometimes, answers can be found right in the course materials and all you need to do is demonstrate that you understood the material. In other instances, you will have to apply what you learned to novel situations.
Homework answers must be in sentence format. You should proofread your submission since points can be lost for poor grammar. The length of your answer will vary, depending upon the type of question being asked. Sometimes a single sentence will suffice for part of a question, while in others a few paragraphs are required. Make sure you specifically answer the questions being asked and that you answer each question that is being asked. Adding extra information that is not really related to the question will not yield additional points.
Using outside information is not necessary, unless otherwise specified, and is actually discouraged. You should rely on the information from the class lectures and/or the textbook. If you have trouble, then email me and I can point you in the right direction.
Feedback is not automatically given for final submissions of homework. If you would like to know how you did and why you received the number of points assigned, simply contact me and I will leave feedback.
