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Essay Available:
Pages:
3 pages/β‰ˆ825 words
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2 Sources
Style:
MLA
Subject:
Social Sciences
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
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Topic:

Anthropology: ethnocentrism and cultural relativism

Essay Instructions:

Please answer this question with an approximately 800 word essay. * a) What disadvantages exist for a person who has an ethnocentric attitude towards things, people, ideas, etc. that may appear different? b) Why might a culturally relativistic attitude be more advantageous? (You may describe a scenario to which there is an ethnocentric reaction and a culturally relativistic reaction in order to answer this question. You might want to define cultural relativism in the beginning of your essay. Keep in mind that cultural relativism is not how cultures are related to each other.)

HOW TO TAKE ESSAY TESTS

There are basically two types of exams:

 

Objective - requires answers of a word or short phrase, or the selection of an answer from several available choices that are provided on the test.

Essay - requires answers to be written out at some length. The student functions as the source of information.

 

An essay exam requires you to see the significance and meaning of what you know. It tests your knowledge and understanding of the subject and your skill in reading and writing. To be successful on an essay exam, you must:

 

Prove immediately that you know the material.

Make your meaning unmistakably clear.

Employ a reasonable organization and show sufficient thought development.

Make every word count.

Be specific.

Use your own voice and style.

 

When you are writing an essay as part of an exam, all this must be done within what amounts to a first draft written in a very limited amount of time. As with all writing, if you think of your essay as being produced in three stages, you can tackle the test in an organized fashion. The three stages are pre-writing, writing, and revision. Suggestions for each of these stages follow.

 

PRE-WRITING

Your first impulse in a writing exam is probably to read the question and start writing immediately, especially when you see those seconds ticking away on the clock. RESIST THAT IMPULSE! You can't successfully address the subject until you know precisely what you're required to do, you understand and have thought about the subject, and you are organized in how you approach the specific points you wish to make in your answer.

 

1.  Understanding what to do:

When you get your copy of the exam, read through to make sure you understand what is expected of you. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY! Underline or circle key words that direct the approach your answer should take. Some of the most common key words are:

Agree/Disagree: State your position and support it with facts

Comment or Evaluate: State your position and support it with facts, discussing the issue and its merits.

Analyze: Break down into all the parts or divisions looking at the relationships between them.

Compare/Contrast: Show differences and similarities.

Describe/Discuss: Examine in detail.

Explain: Tell why something is as it is.

Illustrate: Give examples and relate them to the statement in question. Prove/Defend: Demonstrate why something is true.

Interpret: Explain the significance or meaning of something.

List/State: Make a list of points or facts.

Summarize: Hit the high points.

 

2.  Understanding the subject

When you are confident that you understand the instructions, direct your attention to the topic. Collect your ideas. Formulate a thesis. Make sure it is a strong, concise statement that specifically addresses the question. Think of as many specific details and facts as you can that support the thesis.

 

3.  Getting organized

Jot your ideas down on paper, in very brief format.  Evaluate your ideas in light of the question. Ask yourself repeatedly: "Does this apply to the question I'm supposed to answer?" Select only those ideas most relevant to your purpose. Number your ideas in order of appropriate sequence (first step to last step, most important to least important, etc.)

Essay Sample Content Preview:
Name
Course
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Introduction:
Anthropology: ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
Ethnocentrism is judging other cultures on the basis of one’s own cultural standards. On the contrary, cultural relativism is judging cultures based on their standards. In ethnocentrism, one’s own culture and ethnicity are viewed as being superior to other cultures. However, cultural relativism allows people to be open minded on other cultures as one cannot use a single parameter to judge other people. Nonetheless, both ethnocentric and cultural relativism views have their pros and cons. Cross- cultural sensitivity is in between, and allows anthropologists to be wary of dangers posed when relying on values to reach decisions about cultures. This essay highlights on disadvantages for having an ethnocentric view, and advantages of a culturally relativistic attitude.
One of the main drawbacks of ethnocentrism is that there are increased misunderstandings and conflicts as people make judgments based on assumptions. Harboring an ethnocentric attitude is related to having a narrow view about the world, where contrary beliefs and opinions are deemed inferior. For instance, wearing ‘hoodies’ among young African American males might appear thuggish to people outside the African American community, but it is a common trend in some neighborhoods where there is no negative connotation. Even in communication, there is likely to be misunderstandings since certain aspect might seem trivial in certain groups but important to others, and hence viewing alternatives beliefs and practices as wrong has the potential to negatively affect relations.
In some instances, extreme ethnocentrism results to both social and political conflicts, where relations between communities worsen based on power struggles (Shepard 76). In essence, extreme ethnocentrism ignores and rejects that there is oppression of specific related groups during conflicts. Global peace and welfare of the victims is a secondary goal to the domination and supremacy battles both physical and economic might occur from holding ethnocentric views about other people (Shepard 76). The Arab led incursions in the Sudanese area of Darfur are a prime example how Black Africans have been pushed to the margins in an ongoing war based on ethnocentrism and indifference to the plight of Africans by the Sudanese government.
Even though, there is emphasis on cohesion through ethnocentrism among members of the same group, there is an element of exploitativeness. Members typically seek to advance their own self interest to the detriment of people different from them because of self- centeredness. Such interests override those of other groups and they are few or no considerations for out-groups so long as activities advance the interest of the in-group. This...
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