BOOK REVIEW

Printer Friendly Version

Book Review is on Portraits of ‘the Whiteman.’ This 5-page review is due June 25th and worth 20% of your final grade. Your review addresses a series of questions each worth 10 pts for a total 100 pts.

Chapter 1

1. What aspect of language is Basso studying among the Apache?

2. How does the author approach his research; how does he do ethnography?

3. How does the author define a cultural construction?

4. What is ‘functional differentiation’ with regard to ‘code-switching AND how do the Apache use it in their imitations/jokes?

Chapter 2

5. What major historical events shaped the Apache’s construction of ‘The Whiteman’ as a cultural category?

Chapter 3

6. Summarize the linguistic principles/techniques employed by Apache jokers in their impersonations of ‘The Whiteman’.

7. Based on the impersonation/joke from pages 45-55, what does it mean to be a ‘Whiteman’: Give TWO ways in which ‘The Whiteman’ contrast with being Apache.

8. Describe ONE way in which the person who is the butt of the joke responds to imitations/jokes helps reveal how the Apache see ‘The Whiteman’?

Chapter 4

9. What is the social function of joking for inter-personal relationships?

10. Why are ‘Whiteman’ jokes so dangerous?