Final ExamGroup 1When people look at a culture on a normal day, they tend to see only broad generalities, usually elements that are stereotyped and seemingly always mentioned in relation to that culture. A similar habit sometimes applies to anthropological studies. It's easy to forget how complex the approach to a seemingly cohesive culture is. This course as a whole approached India and the culture from many sides and helped me see the benefits of studying a culture from as many different perspectives as possible to gain in-depth analysis. Each of the authors assigned to the course approached a specific element of India from a particular direction, with some authors touching on the same issues from very different angles. For example, Octavio Paz and Margaret Trawick touched on Indian culture, but from two different angles. Paz approached North India as an ambassador to India focusing on India's history and philosophy in shaping culture. Trawick, on the other hand, approached South India as an anthropologist focusing on the construction of families and gender in India. The two images of India and culture presented by the authors were quite different, however, looking at them together allowed for a more comprehensive approach to India and the construction of Indian culture. The result between these two authors, as well as looking at the rest of the authors, was a more complete picture of what India is, as opposed to the dreams of a few from a narrow angle. The class also integrated a variety of different bodies of knowledge from which to approach India and culture. Ethnography is the traditional practice of social scientists in understanding culture; however, it is... middle of paper... this system is the only one of its kind in the world. It is safe to say that most human societies develop social hierarchies. Quite a few also develop a stratified system with an underlying ideology and relatively standardized marriage practices. Europe, until recently, had a full-fledged hierarchical system called the feudal system. It had much in common with the caste system, although its mechanisms were different. Europe may have almost completely eliminated the feudal system in favor of a very flexible socioeconomic class system, but it is not alone in doing so. India is also in the process of replacing the caste system with the socioeconomic class system, making it not as prolific as people tend to make it out to be. It is safer to say that the Indian caste system is the strongest surviving stratified hierarchical system in the world..