CAPE CARIBBEAN STUDIES PAST PAPER REVIEW 2003 SHORT PAPER

QUESTION 1  ‘Plural society’ is a term used by some authors to describe society and culture in the Caribbean today. Explain what is meant by plural society. (2 marks)

RESPONSE  A plural society is one in which many racial and ethnic groups live, however they tend to live separate lives, where there is little or no social interaction with each other.

QUESTION 2  ‘Plantation society’ is another term used to describe Caribbean society and culture. Briefly describe TWO features of a plantation society. (4 marks)

RESPONSE  Low level of community integration  Hierarchical class relations  Unstable family organization  Monocrop society or dependent on one main industry.

QUESTION 3  Outline TWO practices of people living in the Caribbean that have contributed to accelerated soil erosion. (2 marks)

RESPONSE  Overgrazing  Deforestation  Ploughing up and down hillsides

QUESTION 4  Describe TWO methods of soil conservation that may be used to combat the problem of soil erosion. (4 marks)

RESPONSE  Contour ploughing  Reforestation practices

QUESTION 5  Name TWO territories where there are still significant numbers of indigenous peoples living today. (2 marks)

RESPONSE  Guyana  Belize  Dominica  Suriname

QUESTION 6  Give TWO explanations for the pattern of distribution of indigenous peoples in the Caribbean today. (4 marks)

RESPONSE  The virtual genocide of the indigenous peoples by the Europeans accounts for their very small numbers.  The fact that the Carib descendants came in after the Arawaks accounts for their existence in the lower half of the chain.

QUESTION 7  Describe THREE ways in which the education of Caribbean nationals abroad has influenced Caribbean culture. (6 marks)

RESPONSE  Food  Dress  Ideologies

QUESTION 8  Describe THREE ways in which enslavement of people in the Caribbean has contributed to the erasure of their cultural practices. (6 marks)

RESPONSE  Genocide of the Amerindians  The conversion of the Amerindians to Christianity  Africans giving up their native customs because of harsh treatment by European slave masters.  African slavery bringing together persons from different tribes on a plantation, and the effects of the process.

QUESTION 9  ‘Social and economic equalization’ is one index of development. Explain briefly what this term means. (2 marks)

RESPONSE  The difference between social classes in terms of the income earned and the quality of life experienced.

QUESTION 10  ‘Increase in modern knowledge’ is also widely accepted as an index of development. Explain briefly what this term means. (2 marks)

RESPONSE  This refers to the modernizing institutions such as schools and factories, who through the use of technology are thought to promote urban, industrialized societies.

QUESTION 11  State the difference between the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) an the Gross National Product (GNP). (2 marks)

RESPONSE  GDP is the total market value of the output (goods and services) of a country in a given year, whereas GNP is the value of output plus any income derived from abroad.

QUESTION 12  Describe TWO factors or relationships, in Caribbean countries that tend to maintain inequitable patterns in the distribution of wealth. (6 marks)

RESPONSE  Technological – not everyone has access to the benefits that can be derived from technology, especially in terms of advertising businesses.  Social – nepotism in society or prejudices that may prevent people from certain areas from moving up the social ladder.

QUESTION 13  State what is meant by the term ‘urbanization’. (1 mark)

RESPONSE  This refers to an increase in the population of a country living in the urban and periurban (just on the outskirts of) area.

QUESTION 14  Explain TWO positive effects that urbanization has had on development in the Caribbean. (4 marks)

RESPONSE  Cultural development in all the art forms tends to have a better chance of flourishing in areas where there are large numbers of persons who can participate and pay the artistes for their services and products.  More persons exposed to ‘urban values’, which promote the idea of development.

QUESTION 15  Identify ONE negative effect that urbanization has had on development in the Caribbean. (1 mark)

RESPONSE  Rise in crime  Traffic congestion  Land degradation

QUESTION 16  It is a common complaint of sportsmen and sportswomen in the Caribbean that they cannot achieve the full professional status that they seek in various sporting disciplines. Suggest THREE factors that prevent such individuals from becoming fully professional. (6 marks)

RESPONSE  Lack of sporting facilities for training  Lack of sporting scholarships available  Lack of adequate funding and investment in the sport, especially for females.

QUESTION 17  Identify TWO examples of social injustice in the Caribbean and show how EACH can impact negatively on economic growth and development. (6 marks)

RESPONSE  Gender inequalities has stifled ambitions and the potential of professional women and the contributions they could make to development.  Child abuse leads to a deterioration in family life, and produces individuals who become a charge of governments and of social welfare organizations.