I have some test questions and one essay to complete based on the course religion and violence in the attached Question sheet.
Section I:
Short answers (40%/each answer is worth 4 points).
1. According to_______ (author’s name), during rituals, people achieved
a state of heightened emotion, or
effervescence,
in the presence of
other group members.
2. ______ (term), small or momentous, temporary or enduring-- serve to
re-enact central values and norms guiding society at large.
3. Freud claimed that
civilization places limitations on sexuality; it not
only dictates what forms of sexual expression are "permissible," and
censors all others, but it even places strict restrictions on the forms of
sexuality it allows, just like _______ (term) in “primitive” societies.
4. According to ______ (use an author’s name), mimetic desire is the
root of religious violence.
5.
Within any given community or society experiencing conflict,
designating a _______ (term) potentially may bring harmony back to the
group. It also might prevent acts of violence from occurring.
6. Regina Schwartz argues that ________ (term) "forges identity
antithetically” (pp.4-5) in such a way as to lead to violence against
outsiders
a. Yes
b. No
7. The relationship between the sacred and the profane is affected by
two processes that are complimentary: sacrilization and
desacrilization.
a. True
b. False
8. According to_______ (author’s name),
"A______ (term) is a unified
system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say,
things set apart and forbidden -- beliefs and practices which unite into
one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to
them”.
9. According to _______, (author’s name), _______
also figured as a
technique for internal control, among the Israelite population itself.
10.
Schwartz believes that _______ have fundamentally shaped our
modern concepts of “nation” and “state” as well as sense of historical
“origins”.
Section II:
Identifications (30%): Select three terms and write
no more than
four
to six sentences (one paragraph) for each identification.
Taboo
Sacred and profane
Mimesis
Monolatry
Religious rivalry
Sacrificial rituals
Section III:
Essay (30%): answer
one
of the questions below. Prepare to write this
essay within a time limit of about 30 to 40 minutes. Essays will be
graded on clarity and content. Suggested length: two pages/double-
spaced.
1). Using examples, discuss Burkert’s theory of violence. How is his
concept of violence related to ritual sacrifice?
2). Like Durkheim, Burkert sees the function of sacrifice in terms of
social bonding: participation, acting together, sharing a meal, or
sharing beliefs. Unlike Durkheim, Burkert argues that bonding can
actually occur through myth or symbols. Discuss in more detail the
different ways identity formation and sense of community may be
actualized through rituals.
3). Mauss and Hubert were especially interested in studying sacrifice
and ritual, and in particular, the ritual process as a means of
communication. From your critical reading of their work, how do these
two scholars define the object of sacrifice? In your essay aim to discuss
the definitions of the object of sacrifice, the sacrifical victim, and the
processes of sacrialization.