This is a take-home exam. It assesses your mastery of the course material thus far.
Please focus on making your responses thorough and thoughtful. You must write a minimum of
200 words for each response. (That said, “A” exams generally fall in 400-600 word range per
response.) There is no maximum word limit. Please provide at least two concrete examples
from the readings to illustrate your responses. (You are welcome to quote from the texts, but I do
not want responses that are entirely copied and pasted from the texts). You may also draw upon
personal experiences in your responses, but they should be contextualized through reference to
course material. If you have any questions about what is expected, please let me know well in
advance of the due date in class, during office hours, or via email. Please proofread, as spelling,
clarity, and grammar count.
PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
(20 pts. each)
1. What makes suicide a sociological and anthropological phenomenon rather than purely a
psychiatric issue? What makes Ittetsu Nemoto, the Japanese Buddhist priest, such an effective
counselor to his suicidal and lonely patients?
2. What does W.E.B Dubois mean by the term “double consciousness?” How does this “peculiar
sensation” affect people of color as they go about their lives in a racist society?
3. According to James Baldwin, how does racism produce feelings of ‘nobodiness’ and anger?
How can people regain a sense of ‘somebodiness’ and self-confidence?
4. Simone de Beauvoir writes, “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.” How is gender
socially constructed and learned? Describe some of the ways that patriarchy subjugates women
and relegates them to a secondary status in society? (You can draw on de Beauvoir, bell hooks,
and/or the Anita Hill documentary, “Anita,” if you were able to view it).
5. What does bell hooks mean by the term “homeplace” and what relevance did it have to the
lives of black women, in particular? In what ways is it a site of “affirmation” and “resistance”?
