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FINAL EXAM - REVIEW
DIRECTIONS: Please read the entire exam through before you start. This will allow you to best allocate your time. Suggested times are in parentheses after each question.
As on the midterm, all of the essay questions on this exam are broad and could be approached and answered in several ways. I do not want you to try and guess how we would answer because, for each question, we can think of several equally valid tactics. Thus, you may use any approach you wish. In fact, innovative approaches are often especially indicative of mastery of the material. What will affect your grade is not the approach, but the effectiveness of your argument. The best way to make an argument effective is to give examples from your readings, from lecture, from your audiovisuals. An unsubstantiated argument carries little weight, but a statement with proof is convincing.
Please note that you are to answer all parts of the questions you select.
PART I - Worobec (20 points, 20 minutes)
Please write an essay on one of the topics below. Support your argument with examples and be as specific as possible.
1) How did elite figures such as Dostoevsky and Tolstoy view klikushi? Did peasants share this view?
PART II - Magic People (30 points, 40 minutes)
All of the figures examined in this course are viewed in extreme terms. They are seen as either especially blessed or especially sinister. Discuss the phenomenon of viewing in opposites and extremes using one of the approaches below. As always, support your answer with examples and try to be specific. This is a longer essay and should be more fully developed than part I, including more of your own ideas.
1) Edna May McCauley is seen as basically good, except by her boyfriend's father and, eventually, by her boyfriend. What negative traits do they see in her? Rasputin is presented as overwhelmingly bad. Argue that Rasputin was really a misunderstood folk healer.
PART III - Healing Logics (20 points, 20 minutes)
Write an essay on one of the topics below. As always, please support and document; be specific. Be sure to answer all parts of the question you chose.
1) What role does faith play in biomedicine? Compare to the role of faith in folk medicine. Why would people stop believing in a treatment such as therapeutic touch after a single failure yet be willing to take drugs after disasters like fen-phen?
PART IV - Folk Belief (30 points, 40 minutes)
Again, choose one topic. Write an essay. Document and support with examples. Answer all parts.
1) Worobec's book focuses on the putative victims of witchcraft. In lecture we looked at the people who might be accused of witchcraft. Describe the process by which a healer (baba = grandmother) might be accused of being a ved'ma (witch). What might prompt accusations of witchcraft in a contemporary village?2) What especially good and useful traits are ascribed to minstrels? What negative acts are minstrels accused of? Examine both the good and the bad traits in the context of folk beliefs about the unquiet dead and folk beliefs about money.
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