Ch. 4

Question 1

Define: Worldview

Answer 1

an encompassing picture of reality based on shared cultural assumptions about how the world works

Question 2

Define: Totenism

Answer 2

the use of a symbol, generally an animal or plant, as a physical representation for a group, generally a clan

Question 3

Define: Ritual

Answer 3

a dramatic rendering or social portrayal of meanings shared by a specific body of people in a way that makes them seem correct and proper

Question 4

Define: Symbolic Actions

Answer 4

the activities- including ritual, myth, art, dance and music- that dramatically depicts the meanings shared by a specific body of people

Question 5

Define: Metaphors

Answer 5

figures of speech in which linguistic expressions are taken from one area of experience and applied to another

Question 6

Define: Domain of Experience

Answer 6

an area of human experience from which people borrow meaning to apply to other areas

Question 7

Define: Key Metaphors

Answer 7

a term to identify metaphors that dominate the meanings that people in a specific culture attribute to their experience

Question 8

Define: Myth

Answer 8

a story or narrative that portrays the meanings people give to their experience

Question 9

Define: Witchcraft

Answer 9

refer to the belief that an individual has the ability to cause harm to others through the manipulation of powerful substances

Question 10

Define: Magic

Answer 10

refers to the manipulation of words or substances to influence spiritual beings for good or evil purposes

Question 11

Define: Key Scenarios

Answer 11

dominant stories or myths that portray the values and beliefs of a specific society

Question 12

Define: Rite of Passage

Answer 12

this term, coined in 1908 by Arnold Van Gennep, refers to the category of rituals that accompany changes in status, such as the transition from boyhood to manhood, living to dead, or student to graduate

Question 13

Define: Shamanism

Answer 13

refers to a spiritual belief system whereby spiritual practitioners, called “shamans,” enter into an altered state of consciousness to seek guidance from spiritual forces

Question 14

Define: Revitalization Movements

Answer 14

the term suggested by Anthony F.C. Wallace for attempts by a people to construct a more satisfying culture

Question 15

Define: Syncretization

Answer 15

the term given to the combination of old beliefs or religions and new ones that are often introduced during colonization

Question 16

Define: Creole

Answer 16

a term used to refer to the formation of slave societies in the Caribbean in which elements of African and European cultures were merged, blended or combined into something uniquely Caribbean

Question 17

Define: Atheism

Answer 17

refers to a lack of belief in super natural forces or beings

Question 18

Define: Secularism

Answer 18

refers to the separation of political and economic realms of society from religion or spirituality