Anth 308 (Fall 2005) Study Guide for Midterm #1

							                   Anth 308 (Summer 2006): Study Guide for Midterm
Format of the exam: About ½ of the exam will be multiple choice/true-false. There will be some short essay
questions (short = answers of a few sentences). There will be 2 longer essay questions which you will be able
to choose from several options.
Materials covered: Lecture and Week 2 articles, films “Love in the Sahel” and “Living Treasures of Japan.”


  Anthropology and the Study of Aging
     o What is anthropology, and what are its aims? What’s the emic perspective?
     o Past ethnographers vs. contemporary gerontology-oriented anthropologists?
     o Potential essay question: review notes on Anth studies of aging [i.e. experience of aging for
        individuals, cultural norms, age & society, medical anthropology, evolutionary perspective]
     o Ritual, rites of passage, age sets, examples of rites of passage, death as a rite of passage

  Demography of an Aging World
    o What ages are considered “elderly” and “oldest old” ?
    o How do developing and developed countries compare in terms of % of older people? fertility
       rates? (Know the general patterns, not numbers or statistics). What’s a population pyramid?
       What information can it provide?
    o What is the demographic transition? the epidemiological transition?
    o Compare males vs. females: longevity? marital status when elderly? financial situation when
       elderly?

  Culture and the Meaning of a Good Old Age (Fry article)
     o Review the author’s detailed analysis of the results of Project Age (pp. 103 – 118). For each of
        the 4 major issues (sociality, family, material security, physical health), how did the responses
        support the cultural characteristics of the 4 research sites (Africa, Ireland, U.S., Hong Kong)?
     o Review the summaries of the 4 sites (pp. 118-120). Think about the big picture. How did the
        participant’s responses reflect the cultural values and concerns?

  Varieties of Experience in Hunter Gatherer and Simple Agriculture-Based Societies
     o What was the environment and subsistence of the Inuit?
     o What was the definition of old age, and what was the role of the elderly in traditional Inuit
         society?
     o How did support of the elderly “fit in” with traditional lifestyle of hunter gatherer people?
     o How did the Inuit practice gerontocide?
     o Contrast the role, status, and experience of elderly Inuit in the past with that of the present.
     o Describe the environment and subsistence of the Samoans
     o How did Samoans describe old age, and what roles / functions did elderly men and women
         serve?
     o How did the Samoans practice gerontocide?
     o How is old age different for present day Samoans than in the past as it was described?
     o Potential essay question: Using either the Inuit or the Samoans, discuss the connection
         between “good old age” and role / function in one’s cultural setting.

  Films: Potential essay questions describing either cultural views of age and aging and/or rites of
  passage.