Anyone Here a Cultural Anthropology Geek?

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This is my major, so I should not need any help with it, but this professor is just too damn vague.

I need to write a paper that includes, in order he said, the following: a definition of the concept (I'm doing tribes), an explanation of its orgin, a discussion of the scholar(s) associated with its development in anthropology, and a tracing of the development of this concept and how it has been studied and how it has changed the field of anthropology.

Here's the hard part. We are not allowed to use online sources. We need to use at least two physical books- our textbooks for his class can't be included- two journal articles, an anthropological encyclopedia, and documentary films if we wish. The problem is I don't think any one book or article can answer the above questions the way online sources can, but he says, "Not everything's online".

It's due next week and I just now checked out two books and printed two journal articles. My two books are The Notion of Tribe by Morton Fried (my professor reccomended Fried and the title of the book sounded specific to tribes, but not too specific) and Knowledges: Culture, Counterculture, and Subculture Peter Worsley. I think I'm going to return the Worsley one, though, and get a different book. Also, my two articles are Metaphors and Sacred History: The Geneology of Muhammad and the Arab "Tribe", which I think is too specific, and The Tribe as a Unit of Substence: Nomadic Pastoralism in the Middle East, which I also think is too specific, however it mentions Morton Fried numerous times.

Then it will be a very lacking one, but completed the paper in her/his view.

My interest goes to human behaviour in all it's aspects including cultural anthropology.

I'm very interested in it, and have actually been considering it as my major, but I have yet to take a course in that subject. I guess I'm interested in it because I think it would encompass all my interests in sociology, cultures, and history.

I'm thinking of just using online sources. I have no time to read whole books, and, for the purpose of this paper, online sources should have plenty of information.

I'm doing archaeology but I did have a teacher that was crazy about books. He taught Old World Prehistory and we covered a lot of this.


You could take a look at "Stone Age Economics" and "The original affluent society" by Marshall Sahlins. It does not deal with the concept of tribes but it does cover the background that led to them (energy, economics of it).

I am big time. Have anyone ever read a book titled: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond? Now that is a page-turner!

I'm a current Anthro grad student going through big time adjustments, not to mention stress that is increased by my job situation and economic outlook.
Unfortunately I let these pressures induce a minor breakdown here on the forums that made me sound more confused and desperate that I think I really am.

I'm better now so if anyone has anthro class questions, please send them via private message for more immediate replies. I don't get on that often, but if you send a PM, I'll get an email notification.