Take-Home Final Exam
Language and Culture (ANTH 213D; Winter 2015)
Due date: Thurs March 12 @ 10am in HSS RM 231A.
Instructions: You must answer the question in section ( I), and any other question in section( II). Each question should not be more than a 3 page- type-written essay ( but not also a few paragraphs or one-page). Please begin each essay on a separate page (12 pt font size- double-spaced isrecommended). Note: clarity of expression, the appropriate use of examples from the assigned book and concepts learned in class will be taken into account in awarding points. Make sure that each essay has introduction, body and conclusion. Provide page numbers of cited quotations from the ethnography. Late and electronically submitted papers will not be accepted.
Section I (this question must be answered for 30 points)
a) Drawing on the concept of Muy Macha as explained by T REX, discuss four main ways in which Homegirls transgress societal gender norms. What consequences do they suffer for these transgressions and do you think the punishments are justified for their actions?
Section II (answer only one question for 20 points)
b) Describe the circumstances that led Norma into studying Gang dynamics. What were some of the initial challenges that confronted her in the course of her ethnographic research at the SJHS? Which, in your view, were the most challenging and why?
c) Drawing on the concept of positionality as discussed in class, discuss the ways in which Norma’s ethnographic study of the homegirls was either facilitated or hindered by the social group she was studying. Give 4 specificexamples from the book in support of your response.
d) Identify and discuss two of the hypotheses that have been put forward in the ethnography by Norma Mendoza-Denton to account for girls’ involvement in gang activities. Which one is informing the author’s analysis of the experience of Homegirls?
Good Luck
http://beyondthislife.net/back/Homegirls-Language-and-Cultural-Practice-Among-Latina-Youth-Gangs-pdf/download-1023879482/ the link to the book
