SOC 3350 FINAL EXAM ESSAY QUESTIONS AND SAMPLE QUESTIONS SUMMER 2011
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
I will choose one of these two questions as the required essay exam (10 points; 1-2 pages) for the final exam. You should incorporate appropriate material from the lectures, readings, videos, and group presentations from throughout the course into your answer.
1. You have just been appointed
the Minster of Development for a Latin American nation of your choice. Your
task is to find a way to promote economic development while simultaneously
reducing the problems of poverty and inequality that confront your chosen
nation.
A) What are the key economic and social problems confronting your nation?
B) What are the causes of these problems?
C) What is your plan for promoting economic development and reducing poverty
and inequality?
D) What groups nationally and internationally would support your plan? Why?
E) What groups nationally and internationally would oppose your plan? Why?
2. Take the position of a resident in a slum area of a major Latin American
city of your choice. From the perspective of this resident, answer each
of the following questions; make sure to incorporate relevant ideas about
social class, inequality, race and ethnicity, gender, history, religion,
international relations, or other topics we’ve discussed this semester.
A) How would you explain the economic situation of the residents of your
neighborhood?
B) How would you explain the political situation of the residents of your
neighborhood?
SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
The following are sample questions to help you prepare for the final exam (45 multiple choice questions covering the second half of the course). Please remember that these are examples of the TYPES of questions I will ask on the final, but these sample questions DO NOT 1) cover all the information that will be on the exam, and 2) substitute for studying the lecture notes and reading the Americas book. You should use these questions 1) to practice reading and thinking about these questions to prepare for doing the same during the actual exam, and 2) to identify areas that you do not know well so that you can spend more time on those areas (e.g. if you cannot remember anything from the Indigenous Groups section and are missing the questions about that topic, then spend more time studying that section of the notes).
The sample questions below are based on the lecture notes and readings. PLEASE IGNORE THE QUESTIONS ABOUT
RELIGION, SINCE WE DROPPED THIS TOPIC THIS SUMMER. There will be 10-12 questions drawn just
from the readings (Winn Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14; WE DROPPED CHAPTER
10), as there were on the midterm exam. Make sure to go through the chapters
and look for major points that were not covered in lecture from each chapter
(e.g. in Chapter 7, we did not discuss President Velasco's abolition of "Indian"
as an official category, the role of migration in the community of Mayobamba, the role of indigenous groups in Bolivia, and
the causes and impacts of the indigenous uprising in Ecuador), so look through
the sections of the book that we did not discuss in lecture for the main points
of these sections.
Good luck preparing for the final!
1. The Kayapo Indians opposed dam building in the Brazilian Amazon by:
a. taking a gold mining town hostage and using royalties from gold mining to protect their lands.
b. selling rubber from their lands to raise money to protect their lands.
c. selling Brazil nuts from their lands to raise money to protect their lands.
d. building a casino and using the revenues from
tourists to protect their lands.
2. The video "The Kayapo: Out of the
a. feminine movements in
c. patron-client relations in
3. In
a. changing their names. b. changing their hair's appearance.
c. working for U.S.-owned United Fruit Company. d. wealth.
4. In
a. communists and terrorists. b.
foreign infiltrators supported by
c. urban mulattoes attempting to seize power. d. rural blacks attempting to seize power.
5. ______ is defined as a category of people who perceive themselves and are perceived by others as distinctive on the basis of certain biologically inherited traits.
a. Ethnic Group b. Race c. Indigenous Group d.
Mulattoes
6. _____ is defined as people who perceive themselves and are perceived by others as sharing distinctive cultural traits such as language, religion, family customs, and food preferences.
a. Ethnic Group b. Race c. Indigenous Group d.
Mulattoes
7.
a. skin color. b. ancestry. c.
social distance. d. social class
8. Similarities between the Brazilian and
a. the rate of interracial marriage is the same in both nations.
b. immigration policies historically favored Europeans
over other racial groups in both nations.
c. the origins of the systems in both nations are in
the history of slavery of Africans and their descendants.
d. lighter color is higher status in both nations.
9. One difference between the racial systems of
a. in
b. in
c. Africans kept more of their distinct ethnic characteristics in the
d. there is a higher rate of interaction between racial groups in the
10. In the Brazilian concept of ______, a real man is powerful, fearless, always ready to prove his manhood, and dominant and sexually aggressive in relations with women.
a. machismo b. spiritism
c. popular Catholicism d. liberation theology
11. Marianismo in
a. political leadership. b.
working in the informal economy. c. female
promiscuity. d. motherhood.
12. _______ movements directly challenge male dominance in the economy and
politics and are mainly composed of middle class and upper class women.
a. feminist b. feminine c. marianismo
d. spiritism
13. One of the first areas of resistance that was permitted by the Brazilian military government as part of its efforts to open up politics in the 1980s was:
a. the formation of socialist political parties. b. the revival of communist political parties.
c. women's movements. d.
the formation of race-based political parties.
14. ________ was the first nation to give women the right to vote in
a.
15. All of the following have been major actors in
a.
16. During the _____, the most important fighting took place in
a.
c. Spanish-American War d.
17. The initial efforts by the
a. the failure to control consumption in the
c. the growth of drug consumption in
18. Legacies from the colonial period in
a. the dominant role of the
c. gender inequalities. d.
unequal land distribution.
19. All of the following have been development strategies followed by many nations in Latin America EXCEPT:
a. export-led growth. b.
socialism. c. ISI. d. neoliberal opening.
20. ______ is the largest religion in
a. Catholicism b. Protestantism c. Santeria d. Islam
21. ________ is(are) one of the most important
industries in
a. Maquiladoras b. The drug trade c. Tourism d. Gold mining
22. In _____ before the revolution, the
a.
23. ______ sent troops to
a.
24.
a.
25. ______ is defined as a category of people who perceive themselves and are perceived by others as distinctive on the basis of certain biologically inherited traits.
a. Ethnic Group b. Race c. Indigenous Group d.
Mulattoes
26. A government effort in ________ to carry out a land reform program that took away unused land away from elites and the U.S.-owned United Fruit Company ended in a U.S.-backed coup.
a.
27. Similarities between the Brazilian and
a. institutional discrimination. b. immigration policies historically favored Europeans over other groups.
c. hypodescent. d. race is a social construction.
28. In 1986,
a.
29. To _____ is defined as efforts to present one's self as a member of a different, typically higher status group.
a. migrate b. racialize
c. ethnicize d. pass
30. One goal of the Colombian drug lords is:
a. to replace the current government with a socialist government.
b. to replace the current government with a fascist government.
c. to become part of the traditional upper class.
d. to replace the Mexican drug lords as the major
suppliers to the
31. In the Peruvian Andes community of Mayobamba, the key question is who is a ________: a recognized member of the local community.
a. migrant b. mulatto c. comunero
d. mestizo
32. ________ was the first country in
a.
33. One consequence of
a. creating democracy in the region.
b. maintaining the inequalities that continue to cause more conflict.
c. the growth of Protestant religions.
d. promoting sustained economic development via the
neoliberal model across the region.
34. Systems of racial and ethnic inequalities and cultural ideas about race
and ethnicity in
a. were created by
c. were created during the colonial period. d. were important in former Spanish colonies but not in
35. The battle in
a. the difficulties of establishing decent quality housing in slum areas of Latin American cities.
b. a classic case of urban removal masked as urban renewal and discrimination against Mexican-Americans.
c. the role of feminist organizations in changing
political systems in
d. the role of feminine organizations in changing
political systems in
36. In the 1970s in
a. increasing the royalty paid by foreign bauxite companies.
b. promoting the drug trade to earn foreign currency.
c. allying with the
d. growing sugar cane to produce fuel, rather than
depending on expensive imports of foreign oil.
37. During the early 1900s,
a.
38. In
a. the
39.
a.
b. efforts by the
c. the unwillingness of the
d. the "war on terrorism" and the threat
that instability in
40. In Guatemala, the results of a rebellion made up mainly of Indians, government efforts to defeat the rebels, and the uncertain peace that began in 1996 include all of the following EXCEPT:
a. the creation of a new pan-Maya identity that unites Indians. b. the dramatic expansion of the drug trade.
c. military and death squads killing 200,000 Indian
civilians. d. one million people became refugees.
41. The Black Power riots of 1968 punctured the myth of _________ as a model of race relations.
a.
42. The video "The Kayapo: Out of the
a. feminist movements in
c. the use of resources from gold miners to stop
dam building. d. life in the slums of
43. The olla comun (common pot) communal kitchen provided women's families with nutritious meals in:
a.
44. ______ is the largest religion in
a. Catholicism b. Protestantism c. Santeria d. Islam
45. In
a. a new kind of Carnival group that was a reaction to the commercialization of Carnival by white entrepreneurs.
b. a feminine movement in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro that sought to force the government to provide schools, clean water, electricity, and other infrastructure to their neighborhoods.
c. a feminist movement that sought to reduce gender inequality by promoting the creation of women's police stations.
d. a social movement that sought to obtain land for
landless agricultural workers.
46. Marianismo in
a. women should be independent from men.
b. women should have full time jobs in the public
sphere to support their children.
c. women have moral authority over childlike men.
d. female promiscuity.
47. During the _______, the
a. World War I b. the Spanish-American War c. the War of 1812 d. the U.S.-Mexican
War
48. The current president of
a. the existence of anti-democratic elites. b.
c. the political role of drug lords. d. the existence of militaries skeptical of politicians'
ability to rule.
49. In
a. mestizo. b. ladino. c. mulattoes. d.
Haitian.
50.
a. social distance. b.
skin color. c. ancestry. d.
social class.
KEY:
1. A
2. D
3. D
4. A
5. B
6. A
7. B
8. A
9. C
10. A
11. D
12. A
13. C
14. C
15. C
16. C
17. A
18. A
19. B
<>20. A
21. B
<>22.C
23. A
24. B
25. B
26. C
27. C
28. D
29. D
30. C
31. C
32. A
33. B
34. C
35. B
36. A
37. B
38. D
39. D
40. B
41. D
42. C
43. B
44. A
45. A
46. C
47. D
48. C
49. B
50. C