World religion writing assignment
Writing Assignment 2 Parameters and Standards
Summary: Compose a college level essay in which you explore two religious holidays, festivals, or celebrations as expressed in at least two different major world religions studied in the second half of this course: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, or a specific New Religious Movement. Be sure to pay attention to all of the details below.
Quick View Checklist (all of this is discussed in greater depth in the Parameters section that follows):
□ Select 2 (and only 2) specific religious holidays, festivals, or celebrations to explore.
□ Your selections should represent at least 2 different religions from the second half of the course:
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, or a specific New Religious Movement.
□ Each holiday, festival, or celebration is discussed in terms of activities, events, observances, and beliefs.
□ Research sources are academic, scholarly, or primary sources (scriptures or doctrines of the religion). □ Include an MLA formatted bibliography of at least 3 sources.
□ The structure is that of a standard college essay.
□ Submission is at least 600 words (bibliographies are not a part of the word count).
□ Contains appropriate sentence and paragraph formats, proper grammar, and correct spelling and punctuation.
□ Demonstrates original writing skills.
□ Quotes are limited to primary source materials only and are no more than 10% of the paper content.
□ Submission is provided in the Writing Assignment 2 dropbox by the due date posted in the Time Schedule.
Parameters: Here are the complete parameters of this research assignment:
EVENTS – You will discuss two different religion inspired holidays, festivals, or celebrations.
RELIGIONS – The holidays, festivals, or celebrations discussed represent events from two different religions studied in the second half of the course: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, or a specific New Religious Movement. This means that you cannot provide two holidays, festivals, or celebrations from a single religion. Instead, you are to provide an exploration of different religious traditions. In some cases, you will find events are observed by multiple religions. When this happens, you should identify each of the participating religions; but isolate your full analysis to only one (1) religion.
CONTENT – You should describe the various activities and events associated with each, the religion(s) responsible, and the beliefs behind them. Are there specific activities, props, and/or dietary aspects associated with the event? To what extent do the people participate? Are there variations in activities, events, observances, and beliefs based on geographical or divisional/denominational differences? Are the celebrations publically observed or isolated in the religious communities? Have they become secularized at all? Deductions of up to 30 points will be made for errors related to Events, Religions, and Content.
STRUCTURE – This paper should be done in a traditional essay format: Introduction paragraph, two to three content paragraphs, a conclusion paragraph, and then a bibliography of sources consulted.
RESEARCH – You are expected to do academic research for this assignment. This is not an opinion paper, it is a research paper. To that end, consult and cite multiple sources (at least 3) to illustrate depth of research. These academic or scholarly sources should be peer-reviewed journal articles or books (library resources), primary sources (sacred literature and official religious documents), or authorized publications of recognized religious organizations. The research sources consulted are to be provided in a Bibliography conforming to the MLA (Modern Language Association) format. For more information about the MLA format visit: spcollege.libguides.com/content.php?pid=98920&sid=742314. For useful research information, see: spcollege.libguides.com/world_religions. There will be deductions of up to 10 points for errors in this category.
ACADEMIC WRITING – Your submission is expected to conform to academic writing standards (i.e., demonstrate the use of proper sentence and paragraph formats, proper grammar, and correct spelling and punctuation). Up to 20 points will be deducted for these errors based upon their frequency and severity.
WORD COUNT – Your submission is required to be a minimum of 600 words, but no more than 1200 words (Bibliographies do not count as a part of the word count). Submissions larger than 1200 words or fewer than 600 words will receive no points. A college paper needs to demonstrate the skill of being thorough, yet concise.
QUOTING – Quotes are limited to primary source materials only (such as a verse from sacred literature) and should constitute no more than 10% of the paper content. In other words, quotes can only come from religious scriptures or documents, and should be used sparingly. You need to develop the ability to take the information that you would quote and express it in your own words as this is how to demonstrate understanding. Any quotes will need to have internal documentation done to MLA standards: owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Deductions will be assessed based upon the severity of the errors, with the points coming out of the “subject and content” section above.
ORIGINAL WRITING – Your paper is to demonstrate original writing (see this conversation in the Syllabus). Do not use the words of another as this can be considered plagiarism and may result in a failing grade and possible honor code disciplinary action: https://www.spcollege.edu/current-students/studentaffairs/student-right-to-know.
DUE – The essay is due by the date posted in the calendar. Any assignment submitted late for any reason is subject to a 5 point per business day late deduction, up to an assignment maximum of 30 points deducted. After the paper has been graded based on the categories above, the late points will be deducted.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS – Students are required to submit the paper electronically to the appropriate dropbox in MyCourses. Submissions to this dropbox are subject to an originality check through TurnItIn, a website that scans papers for signs of plagiarism and issues a report to the student and instructor.
