Format of the Final Exam: The final exam consists of three parts. Parts 1-2 are essays, while Part 3 consists of identification terms.

PART 1 (40 points): A required essay on a topic synthesizing material from the entire semester. In your answer, you must discuss three authors or examples chosen from the list provided.

PART 2: (one essay, 40 points): The essay questions in this section will focus on the second half of the course. You must write on one of the three questions provided. Your essay must include discussion of two examples from readings, lectures, or films. For Part 2, you are free to choose any two examples relevant to your argument, but some suggestions will be provided to guide you.

PART 3 (20 points): Identify 5 out of 8 terms chosen from the list circulated in class and posted to the website. For each term, explain what it means and where it comes from (1.5 points) and why it is significant in the context of the themes covered in class (2.5 points).

Note: Your essays in Part 1 and Part 2 may not repeat examples. While you may, for example, discuss Tarlo's analysis of the anti-colonial politics of dress in one essay and her views on ethnic chic in the other, you cannot describe her views on anti-colonial dress in both essays. If you repeat material, points will be deducted from your essay grade.

The following is a selection of final exam questions, either ones which have appeared on past exams or review questions submitted by students who took this course previously. In thinking through possible answers for these questions in preparation for the final, pay particular attention to formulating a clear, interesting, and arguable thesis statement. For more information about thesis statements and some examples, see the writing assignments handout.

ESSAY QUESTIONS FOR PART I

1. Can fashion or style be used as a form of resistance? With what consequences? Use THREE authors to discuss: Hebdige, Kondo, Tarlo, Jacobs-Huey, Hansen, Bowen.

2. One of the advantages of fashion is that it allows us to convey characteristics of ourselves to others--like our social class, gender, purchasing power ("pecuniary status"), and group associations. Yet this quality of fashion can also cause problems, because often fashion is interpreted or assigned meanings different from the message or meaning intended by the wearer. Discuss how THREE of the following authors/movie examine this issue: Hebdige, Veblen, Neich, Hansen, Tarlo, Jacobs-Huey, Wilson, Bowen, Kondo, Woodward, and Leshkowich and Jones.

3. (From an actual final exam given in a previous year) Is fashion a means for fitting into a social, cultural, or political order, a means to resist norms and expectations, or both? What are the effects of these attempts to fit in or to resist? What are the advantages or disadvantages of using fashion in these ways? (Hint: Issues to consider in developing your analysis might include agency, constraint, intentionality, performance, and interpretation.) Discuss with reference to THREE of the following authors: Veblen, Hansen/Bourdieu, Hebdige, Tarlo, Kondo, Bowen.

ESSAY QUESTIONS FOR PART II

1. (From an actual final exam given in a previous year) Is veiling a tool for oppressing women or a strategy for liberating women? Can veiling be considered feminist? You must discuss TWO authors/examples. While you can choose any relevant example from the course, you may wish to consider: Bowen, Tarlo, Under One Sky, Friedan, Jacobs-Huey, Bordo, Wilson.

2. (From an actual final exam given in a previous year) How has Orientalism shaped the encounter between Europeans/North Americans and Asians, both during the colonial era and contemporary globalization? What role has fashion played in this encounter? Have Asians been able to use fashion to combat Orientalism? Why or why not? Discuss with reference to TWO examples from the readings, lectures, and films we have encountered in this class. Suggested authors/topics to include are: Tarlo, Kondo, Bowen, A Notebook on Cities and Clothes, "ethnic chic", Leshkowich and Jones.

3. This semester, gender has played a large part in our discussions of Fashion and Consumption. How does our understanding of gender (in particular, feminization) relate to other topics in the course, including Orientalism and veiling? (Discuss with reference to TWO authors.)

4. (From an actual final exam given in a previous year) Why are women in our society more closely associated with fashion and consumption than men are? What are the social, political, and cultural effects of this association, both positive and negative? Discuss with reference to TWO examples from the readings, lectures, and films we have encountered in this class. Suggested authors/topics to include are: Veblen, Bordo, Friedan, Wilson, Nava, Gladwell, Campbell, Davidoff and Hall, Killing Us Softly, Jacobs-Huey, Bowen, Woodward, Schor.