501 Critical Reading Questions
Critical Reading Questions
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501 Critical Reading Questions
Critical Reading Questions
(1) (5) (10) (15) (20) (25) (30) affirming status, establishing and maintaining alliances, as well as ensuring the even distribution of food and goods. Agnes Alfred, an Indian from Albert Bay, explained the potlatch this way, “When one’s heart is glad, he gives away gifts. . . . The potlatch was given to us to be our way of expressing joy.” PASSAGE 2 The inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific, are united by a ceremo- nial trading system called the kula ring. Kula traders sail to neighbor- ing islands in large ocean-going canoes to offer either shell necklaces or shell armbands. The necklaces, made of red shells called bagi, travel around the trading ring clockwise, and the armbands, made of white shells called mwali, travel counterclockwise. Each man in the kula ring has two kula trading partners—one part- ner to whom he gives a necklace for an armband of equal value, although the exchanges are made on separate occasions, and one part- ner with whom he makes the reverse exchange. Each partner has one other partner with whom he trades, thus linking all the men around the kula ring. For example, if A trades with B and C, B trades with A and D, and C trades with A and E, and so on. A man may have only met his own specific kula partners, but he will know by reputation all the men in his kula ring. It can take anywhere from two to ten years for a particular object to complete a journey around the ring. The more times an object has made the trip around the ring the more value it accrues. Particularly beautiful necklaces and armbands are also prized. Some famous kula objects are known by special names and through elaborate stories. Objects also gain fame through ownership by powerful men, and, likewise, men can gain status by possessing par- ticularly prized kula objects. The exchange of these ceremonial items, which often accompanies trade in more mundane wares, is enacted with a host of ritual activi- ties. The visitors, who travel to receive kula from their hosts, are seen as aggressors. They are met with ritual hostility and must charm their hosts in order to receive the necklaces or armbands. The visitors take care to make themselves beautiful, because beauty conveys strength and protects them from danger. The hosts, who are the “victims” of their visitors’ charm and beauty, give the prized objects because they know that the next time it will be their turn to be the aggressor. Each man hopes that his charm and beauty will compel his trading partner to give him the most valuable kula object. 2 5 6 501 Download 0.98 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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