You will need more space to answer these questions adequately so take as much as you need. Please type your answers.
1. Summarize the general argument of the reading:
a. What is the overall claim of the article/chapters?
The overall claim of this article is that it shows us how a society can speak for itself through the various cultural and ritual events that take’s place. The importance of understanding peoples culture and their rituals is what anthropologists try to seek out. Through Balinese cockfighting only were they able to better understand how such an event can be used to show case culture and societies values. The association between an animal and man showed that more prestige was given to the more powerful one and thereby increasing male status in the village.
b. What kinds of evidence does the author base this claim on? What are the anthropological methods used to collect this evidence?
Geertz uses a mixture of research methods in his ethnography, predominantly employing long-term participant observation and supports this participant observation method with the inclusion of historical and literary research, and cross-cultural comparison. Anthropological methods such as interviewing along with the use of ethnographic realism which aims to define accurate and objective methods that accounts the different ways of life from first hand observations and experience. Other ethnographic techniques such as in depth interviewing of the Balinese people have made it possible to find out about the beliefs and perceptions.
c. How does the author present the evidence to support the claim in this article? In other words, outline the argument, explaining how it works.
The author’s observations and claims about how cockfighting is intertwined in Balinese life is made from developing an argument that is formed through anthropological functionalism. Through the primitive groups symbols are shaped through representations. Thus implying that’s symbols are a collective that can shape culture and traditions, in this case, masculinity in Balinese culture is observed and noted. Geertz effectively uses a combination of research methods to analyze Balinese cockfighting, however, his interpretation is bias towards its masculine element. Consequently, the exclusion of feminine implications and understanding of cockfighting, results in an incomplete assessment of the true nature of cockfighting, demonstrating the need for adaptive and varied research methods within the field of anthropology
