501 Critical Reading Questions
b. comparison of different arguments c
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501 Critical Reading Questions
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- Passage 1 describes the potlatch ceremony celebrated by native peoples of the Pacific Northwest. Passage 2 describes the kula ring, a ceremonial
b. comparison of different arguments
c. contrast of opposing views d. generalized statement e. illustration by example 483. The author of this passage would be most likely to agree with which statement? a. Babies of cold-permissive parents are doomed to lives of failure. b. Good parenting is the product of education. c. Instincts are a good guide for most parents. d. Conventional wisdom is usually wrong. e. Parents should strive to raise self-sufficient babies. 2 5 4 501 Critical Reading Questions 2 5 5 Questions 484–492 are based on the following two passages. Passage 1 describes the potlatch ceremony celebrated by native peoples of the Pacific Northwest. Passage 2 describes the kula ring, a ceremonial trading circle practiced among Trobriand Islanders in Papua New Guinea. PASSAGE 1 Among traditional societies of the Pacific Northwest—including the Haidas, Kwakiuls, Makahs, Nootkas, Tlingits, and Tsimshians—the gift-giving ceremony called potlatch was a central feature of social life. The word potlatch, meaning “to give,” comes from a Chinook trading language that was used all along the Pacific Coast. Each nation, or tribe, had its own particular word for the ceremony and each had dif- ferent potlatch traditions. However, the function and basic features of the ceremony were universal among the tribes. Each nation held potlatches to celebrate important life passages, such as birth, coming of age, marriage, and death. Potlatches were also held to honor ancestors and to mark the passing of leadership. A pot- latch, which could last four or more days, was usually held in the win- ter when the tribes were not engaged in gathering and storing food. Each potlatch included the formal display of the host family’s crest and masks. The hosts performed ritual dances and provided feasts for their guests. However, the most important ritual was the lavish distribution of gifts to the guests. Some hosts might give away most or all of their accumulated wealth in one potlatch. The more a host gave away, the more status was accorded him. In turn, the guests, who had to accept the proffered gifts, were then expected to host their own potlatches and give away gifts of equal value. Prior to contact with Europeans, gifts might include food, slaves, copper plates, and goat’s hair blankets. After contact, the potlatch was fundamentally transformed by the influx of manufactured goods. As tribes garnered wealth in the fur trade, gifts came to include guns, woolen blankets, and other Western goods. Although potlatches had always been a means for individuals to win prestige, potlatches involv- ing manufactured goods became a way for nobles to validate tenuous claims to leadership, sometimes through the destruction of property. It was this willful destruction of property that led Canadian authorities, and later the U.S. government, to ban potlatches in the late 1880s. Despite the ban, the potlatch remained an important part of native Pacific Northwest culture. Giving wealth—not accumulating wealth, as is prized in Western culture—was a means of cementing leadership, 501 Download 0.98 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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