Dancing Skeletons Homework Assignment

1. Why is it important for an anthropologist to be able to speak the local language? What advantages did the author enjoy because of her language ability? What difficulties ensue when a researcher is not able to speak the local language? If all contact with the population is through an interpreter, what sorts of bias might arise in the data collection?

2. What was the outcome of the author’s visit to #104’s compound? What had happened to the child since her last visit several years earlier? Why did the author use numbers to refer to people in her study, instead of their names? Do you think it was right for Dettwyler to intervene in the case of child #104, or should anthropologists just study people in other cultures and endeavor to have as little impact on them as possible? Is it possible to conduct anthropological research without having some effect on the people you study?

3. How do the medical resources of Magnambougou compare to those available in the United States? What are the main diseases children in Mali must contend with?

4. Using female circumcision as the focus, discuss the concept of cultural relativism as used by anthropologists. Even though we may understand the beliefs behind the practice, does cultural relativism compel us to approve of female circumcision? What are some of the rationales provided by cultures that practice female circumcision? What was Agnes’s attitude (Chapter 3) when she found out that neither the author nor her daughter had been, or where intending to be circumcised?

5. Aminata’s parents could see that she was very skinny even though she ate a lot of food. “Everyone knows that you can eat a lot and still be skinny” (Dettwyler 1994: 44). How do observations such as these contribute to the belief among some Malians that food intake and health are not related?

Essay and Homework Requirements:

• _Minimum of 2 typed pages of your writing (not including heading or prompt)

• _12 point font size

• _1 inch margins on all sides

• _Double-spaced throughout

• _Spell-checked, grammar-checked

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