Anth 4 final study guide

Brunvand’s The Vanishing Hitchhiker

Chapter 5-Purloined Corpses and Fear of the Dead

Do you find humor in any of these stories? Why do you suppose the details of the various variations seem to be precise and well-described? How do these urban legends reflect American cultural values pertaining to cats? Little old ladies? Little old ladies and their cats?

Randolph’s Ozark Magic and Folklore

Chapter 4-Household Superstitions

What are some indicators of visitors arriving (without telephoning first)? Do some of these superstitions seem to involve contagious or sympathetic magical elements? What are some steps taken to ward off evil influences? Encourage good influences? Why does salt seem to be pervasive in luck-charms? Why would the color of items, such as buttons, indicate luck? Why would weather, directions of the prevailing winds, or phases of the moon affect the preservation of foods? Why is food disposal important? What is the importance of New Year’s customs?

Chapter 10-Ghost Stories

What are ghosts and wandering spirits? Why does Randolph relate humorous anecdotes in this chapter on ghosts? Ghost examples in this chapter include a girl who died tragically, a murdered man, an old maid, and a miser. Are these examples of marginalized members of their society?

Chapter 12-Ozark Witchcraft

How does one become a witch? Are most witches males or females? Why would speaking “backwards” be regarded as “risky”? Cemeteries, the moon, nudity and sexual acts are all linked with witchcraft, according to Randolph. Speculate on what these elements have in common. Why is transformation into animals, particularly cats, associated with witchcraft? What is a “hair ball”? Which anecdotal stories involve apotropiacs? Which feature contagious magic? Sympathetic magic? Magical mirrors are described in this chapter; in what ways do they differ from mundane mirrors? What can a person do to reveal a witch? What is a “witch master”?

Chapter 13-Death and Burial

What are some signs of an impending death? What are some things one should do/one should never do to prevent death? Mirrors and clocks seem important elements to predicting death; why do you suppose this is the case? Why might the bite of a dying man be considered deadly? What is corpse-money? Why would burning the heart of a murdered man ensure the murderer was caught? How does folklore describe the recovery of a body from water? Why is rain during a burial believed to be beneficial? What are feather crowns?

Randolph’s Pissing in The Snow

Entire Book

Humor is often used to expose those elements of society which are taboo otherwise to discuss. How does this archive of dirty stories from the 30’s and 40’s in the mid-Southern areas of the United States reflect the social roles of women? Men? Do you find this humor sexist? How has humor changed in the last 70-or-so-years? How does language shape humor? Taboo elements such as incest and masturbation are found in the collection of Ozark folk humor. How would you analyze these humorous anecdotes pertaining to sexual rights and social spaces?

Barber’s Vampires, Burial and Death

Chapters Preface-7

-Preface

Barber asks the following questions:

What was the relationship, if any, between the bog bodies of Northern Europe and the vampires of the Slavs? Were the phenomena common to the bogs and to vampires—the stakes, rocks, the position of the body—related to the exigencies of burial? What are the most efficient ways of getting rid of an unwanted body? How do people perceive death in preliterate societies?

-Introduction

The main focus of this book, according to the author, is to explore how people in preindustrial societies look at death and associated postmortem changes. What are some of the cultural distinctions among vampires? How is a revenant different from a vampire? Similar?

I-Peter Plogojowitz

How does one “kill” a vampire? What are the signs of vampirism? What accounts for the relatively intact state of the decedent? Why are vampires associated with sex and seduction?

II-The Shoemaker or Silesia

How does the method by which some die contribute to vampire accusations?

III-Visum et Repertum

Multiple exhumations reveal multiple vampires. What are the similarities in those accused of vampirism; that is, what do all the corpses have in common? What are the vampire motifs discussed by Barber? Note the definition of vampire given on page 20.

IV-De Tournefort’s Vyrkolakas

Why might quarrelsome people be likely to be identified as vampires after their deaths? How do Greek accounts of vyrkolakas differ from the Slavic examples? How does one kill a vyrkolakas?

V-How Revenants Come into Existence

Why do you suppose alcoholics in Eastern Europe, quarrelsome folk in Greece, or troublesome or sinful folk become vampires? What are some other common indicators of cultural marginalism? What events cause vampirism? What events must be dome to prevent vampirism?

VI-The Appearance of The Vampire

Cloaks? Fangs? Bats? Nails and hair growing after death, bloody purge at the mouth, graves “swimming in blood.” Self-destructing corpses.

VII-Apotropaics I

What substances are used to ward off vampires? How common are burning, decapitation, use of crosses or stakes in disposing the village of a troublesome vampire? What do these classes of apotropiacs seem to hold in common?

Chapters 8-14

VIII-Apotropiacs II

How can we prevent the dead from becoming restless? Why do you suppose garlic is so pervasive to anti-vampire charms?

IX-Search and Destroy

The Dangerous Dead. How does vampirism manifest? What is the difference, if any, between magical and mechanical death? Why is cremation problematic for disposal of human remains?

X-The Vampire’s Activity

Fictional versus folkloric vampires. Why are fictional vampires more likely to be sexual predators than folkloric vampires? What accounts for the frequency of disembowelment in vampire lore? What other postmortem changes account for vampire phenomena as illustrated in this chapter?

XI-Some theories of The Vampire

What are some of the recent theories proposed recently which attempt to detail postmortem changes shared with distinguishing features of vampires?

XII-The Body after Death

What are some signs of purification? Decomposition? What effect do temperature, predators, insects, time, moisture, and disposition method have on decay rates? What is bloody purge, livor mortis, rigor mortis, skin slippage? What accounts for longer fingernails and/or hair growth? What is adipocere or saponification? Why embalm?

XIII-Actions and Reactions

What are some normal changes postmortem, which while appearing as vampirism activity, are more attributable to predation? What are some functions of coffins? Why are cats and dogs (especially of some unusual color) perceived as dangerous in cemeteries? Why would the act of leaving the dead unattended be perceived as dangerous?

XIV-Hands Emerging from The Earth

Why do bodies and/or body parts leave the burial site? Why does the Earth reject the bodies of the unclean? Pervasive paranoia about the burial of the living wrought changes in the nineteenth century disposition customs. What are some cultural remnants of that paranoia in today’s traditional burial customs? When is a body considered “safe” and no longer “dangerous”? Why dispose of remains in water? What are some special challenges facing disposition in water? What are some challenges in burial in supersaturated ground or bogs?

Chapters 15-19

XV Down to a Watery Grave

Why would water, like Earth, reject the bodies of the unclean? Why cannot revenants, witches, or wizards cross water? Why do witches become vampires? Why do the dead leave their graves?

XVI Killing The Vampire

How far does “stink” travel? What are the more common methods of dispatching the dead? Why might piercing the skin of a corpse be a bad idea? Body disposal take a few major forms in various cultures. What two main things do these various treatments accomplish?

XVII Body Disposal and Its Problems

What are the forms of body disposal practiced by the majority of societies? What are attendant problems with each method?

XVII The Soul after Death

Why might mirrors and water be associated with souls? Wind? Fire? Why might souls and dreams or sleep be linked? Why are shadows associated with souls?

XIX Keeping Body and Soul Apart

Are all burial rituals designed to prevent the soul from reanimating bodies? How do we “stabilize” the dead?

Conclusions

Do the dead truly rest in peace?

From Lectures

Myth

Do you agree with the statement that jests are the most common form of folklore? Why or why not? What is the function of laughter?

Is Happily Ever After a traditional "fairy tale"? Is this a simple re-telling of The story? What new elements or motifs are included in this variant? Does Labyrinth contain gothic elements? What elements of folkloric humor is found in Labyrinth? Does The Princess Bride contain mythic or legendary motifs? What liminal states do Sarah and Buttercup pass through? Do Jareth and Wesley qualify as heroes or villains? Sarah and Buttercup? Did you notice there were three "sidekicks" in both movies? Describe the roles of these sidekicks and speculate on their function in relation to the hero's quest. How is humor used in these movies? How are colors used in these movies? Music?

From The small snippets of Tanith Lee's work, can you characterize Azhrarn? The Drin? The Vazdru? Are there clues to Azhrarn's archetype? Is Lee's work a "typical" myth? Fairytale? How would you analyze her prose?

The popular view of how the body decays differs from the observed data collected by scientists. How might this account for stories of the restless dead? Vampires? How might the Church's decision to allow cremation change funerary customs in the future? How do "crowded graveyards" change burial customs? How does "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" reflect the "new" vampire mythos?