IDS 254: Midterm Exam, Fall 2008

Instructions

Write well-developed, clearly organized answers to all the questions. 

This is an exam that you complete outside of class. In completing the exam, you are free to refer to the readings and your notes, or to talk with other students about your answers. In fact, you are encouraged to work together with other students on this exam. But whatever you finally turn in MUST be your OWN writing, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, expressing YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING at the time you wrote it.

Please limit yourself to 2500 words all together (about 8 pages).  Each question counts equally.  Submit answers printed on paper -- not electronically, and not hand-written.  No fancy stuff like plastic covers, binders, elaborate cover sheets, money stuffed between pages, etc.

bulletDO NOT QUOTE OR CLOSELY PARAPHRASE ANYTHING WITHOUT CITING YOUR SOURCE. (Not even the textbook, or course materials.)
bulletDO NOT INCLUDE MORE THAN A FEW very BRIEF QUOTATIONS OF ANYTHING IN YOUR ENTIRE SET OF ANSWERS.
bulletTHE ONLY ALLOWABLE REASON FOR QUOTING ANYTHING IS TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT A POINT YOU HAVE STATED IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Do not construct answers by stringing together quotations or paraphrases of things written by others.THE PENALTY FOR ILLEGITIMATE QUOTING IS "DEATH".

If you work with another student in preparing your answers, don't draft your actual answers together, and don't agree on exactly what examples you will use, or how you will express a particular point.  When you work with someone, talk over the issues and share ideas, but don't do any writing together.  Don't show your completed answer to someone else in order to help them; there have been some cases in which the helper ends up helping too much and then we have serious troubles.

Advice

1.  The biggest problem with this kind of exam has been that students write answers that are too incomplete or sketchy.  Don't assume that the reader will "just know" what you're getting at; instead, assume the reader is relatively ignorant about this particular subject matter. Do not assume that the reader has been in the class!  Instead, think of your audience as generally intelligent, unbiased people who know nothing specific about this subject. Maybe it will help if you think of yourself as writing to inform one of your friends, or a relative -- perhaps your mother or father.

2.  These questions can all be answered quite well simply by drawing ideas from our class discussions and the assigned readings.  You are not expected to go out and find more sources.  You are not prohibited from finding more sources, but if you decide to use more sources, don't get sucked into just paraphrasing something someone else wrote that you don't really understand.  The latter can be a cause of real trouble; your answer will sound as though you don't understand what you are talking about, because you don't.  You are much better off saying what you really think and understand than trying to sound profound by half-copying from something you don't really "get".

3.  Your answers are graded on how well they answer the question that is asked.  Don't shoot yourself in the foot by going off on a tangent.  Instead, focus on giving an accurate and complete answer to the question.  Your space and time is limited.  So, be direct, precise, clear.  You have a lot of information to squeeze into these answers.

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Questions

  1. (4 points) Explain why mythological worldviews are not modern, using our definition of "modern".  Connect this with the difference between tribal and modern forms of social organization.  Explain how these things relate to the problems that modernity creates for religion.
  2. (4 points) US Protestant activist fundamentalisms and separatist fundamentalisms seem quite different from each other, but both are termed "fundamentalist".  What is it about these movements that lead observers like Marty and Appleby to declare that they are all fundamentalist in character?  (In your answer, include both general descriptions of these movements as well as specific examples of what they believe or say or do.)
  3. (4 points) The Gush Emunim and the Israeli haredim seem quite different from each other, but both are termed "fundamentalist".  What is it about these movements that lead observers like Marty and Appleby to declare that they are all fundamentalist in character?  (In your answer, include both general descriptions of these movements as well as specific examples of what they believe or say or do.) 
  4. (4 points)  Provide a representative list of the main religious ideas promoted by Christian and Judaic liberal reform movements.  What is it about these ideas that allows us to lump these movements together under the label "liberal reform"?  How do these ideas differ in overall spirit from the reform ideas favored by religious fundamentalists?
  5. (4 points)  Discuss the degree to which each of the following statements is accurate.  Give specifics to back up any general claims you make.
    1. Christian and Judaic fundamentalists reject modernity and aim at returning to some past pre-modern culture when things were much better.
    2. Christian and Judaic traditionalists reject modernity and aim at retaining a pre-modern mythological outlook on life.
    3. Christian and Judaic liberal reformers accept modernity and therefore reject the value of religious traditions.