Ruth Benedict

Term Paper # 110609

Anthropology > Cultural
Sociology
Women Studies > Historical Figures

Ruth Benedict

A look at Ruth Benedict's life and her achievements in the fields of anthropology and the social sciences.

2,305 words () | 3 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper describes Ruth Benedict's background, her search for fulfillment and meaning and her attraction to the field of anthropology. The paper discusses her relationship with Margaret Mead and outlines her exploration of various tribes, her interest in religion and life after death and her strong defense of civil liberties.

From the Paper:

"She was born Ruth Fulton in New York in 1887 into an upper middle-class Protestant family of Anglo-Saxon descent. As such, the child avoided troubling discrimination common in those times against southern or eastern European immigrants and Jews. Yet, she still felt like "an outsider and observer of American life rather than a participant" (Caffrey 1989 pg 15). Ruth's father died unexpectedly when she was a toddler, a traumatic event which took a significant emotional toll on her mother. Afterward, she was raised in a religious home on her maternal grandfather's farm and, as a child, possessed a vivid imagination which often "put her in conflict with the family emphasis on common sense" (Caffrey 1989 pg 23)."

Sample of Sources Used:

Caffrey, Margaret Mary. 1989. "Ruth Benedict: Stranger in This Land."Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Mead, Margaret. 1974. "Ruth Benedict." New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
NNDB Tracking the Entire World. 2008. "Ruth Benedict." Electronic document, http://www.nndb.com/people/786/000097495/