Reading: Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa
Freeman, Margaret Mead and Samoa, pages 281-302 (article)

1) What was Margaret Mead's orienting question? How did it shape her fieldwork and presentation of evidence? How was her approach different from that of Malinowski or Rappaport?

2) Margaret Mead writes that she based her study on a relatively small sample, but feels the results can be fairly generalized. Why? Do you find Mead's argument here convincing? Why or why not? What model of culture does Mead's statement suggest?

3) Through examining life experiences and cultural values in Samoa, Mead argues for a re-evaluation of American educational practices. What are the advantages and disadvantages to using anthropology as a form of comparative analysis and cultural critique?

4) What does Mead see as the relationship between culture and personality, both in Samoa and the US? What role do nature and nurture play in the shaping of individual traits and behaviors?

5) What points does Freeman raise in his attempt to refute Mead's Samoan work? What do you think about his argument? What lessons does their dispute have for anthropologists today?

 

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