Death Without Weeping

The author claims that much of the culture and interactions of Northeast Brazil is a holdover from the prior feudal, slave-based system. What are some pieces of evidence that support this claim? What are crucial differences between that time and the present?

How does the author use conditions of "hunger" and "thirst" in Bom Jesus to illustrate the connection between economic and social issues? What is she trying to argue through the employment of these metaphors?

What is the "dual ethic" that the author believes governs the interactions of rich and poor in Bom Jesus? How does this represent, in her words, "self-colonization"? How do the residents themselves understand it?

What are some of the ways the residents of the Alto understand nervos? How does their understanding of nervos compare with how it is understood by medical professionals? What evidence is there for a social definition of nervos?

How does the experience of child death for the women of Bom Jesus differ from that typically experienced in North America? How does the author explain this difference of experience, and how do the women describe it?

There exists a wealth of folk beliefs and practices surrounding the death of a child for residents of the Alto. Describe at least three of these practices, and their possible function. How, in the author’s words, do these folk practices compare with the practice of mainstream Catholicism?

Explain the author's use of the terms "tactics" and "strategy" in Chapter 10. What are their key differences? Why does she believe "tactics" are more appropriate in the context of life on the Alto? What are some advantages and disadvantages of using this term?

What is "liberation theology," and how do its teachings differ from the teachings of the conventional Catholic Church? What is the author's opinion on liberation theology's relevance to life on the Alto? Are her views reasonable, or not?