Choose only THREE (3) questions from the five questions given below. Answer in essay type only, with either online text or DOC/PDF file submission. Answer in at least 5 sentences for any question you choose. 1) Why is Asia considered geologically indistinct from Europe? 2) How was the name and identity of Asia imposed on it? 3) Why is it erroneous to assume that Asia is a homogenous region? 4) What would account for the physical, cultural, and linguistic diversity of Asia? 5) Why is the popular perception of Asia by the West (Orientalism) deemed inaccurate?
Answers 1
Southeast Asia is a geographically expansive and populous region characterized by fascinating social and cultural variation. Particularly striking to the outside observer is the region’s ethnic and religious diversity. The majority of the countries in this region are home to dozens of different ethnic groups (and in some cases, hundreds), many with their own distinct languages, cultures, and styles of dress. Many of these groups have their own systems of religious belief and practice as well. Groups living in highland areas tend to follow religions involving animistic beliefs and practices, which are based on the idea that spiritual or supernatural powers organize and animate the natural world or material universe. In animistic traditions, plants, animals, and other natural phenomena (mountains, streams, etc.) are assumed to have souls or to be inhabited by spirits. In animistic societies, certain people are believed to have personal qualities or special skills that enable them to communicate with spirits. They may be shamans who go into trance if possessed by spirits, undertake mystical journeys to the world(s) inhabited by spirits, or both. Shamans are ritual specialists, this being an umbrella term that refers to people who specialize in ritual practices of one sort or another and thus includes spirit mediums (like Raseh, from the village of Mentu Tapuh in Sarawak, East Malaysia, who recounts the epic poem, “The Story of Kichapi”), diviners, magicians, sorcerers, witches, and priests.
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