essay

Reli 25
Summer 2005

Guidelines and Topics: Final Essay

I. ASSIGNMENT AND DEADLINE:
Write an essay of five typed pages. Use 12 point font, 1" margins, and double-spacing throughout. Consistently follow one method for citing sources. Any established method is acceptable. That might mean, for instance, the methods outlined in the MLA Handbook and The Chicago Manual of Style. Please observe how those sources reference web pages.

Number your pages. Include a separate title page listing your name, the title of your paper, "Religious Studies 25" and the date. Do not put your name on each page.

Please bring your first draft of the midterm essay to class on July 26. Exchange your essay with a peer editing partner and follow procedures for collaborative editing.
Return your editing comments on your partner's paper by July 27 so you both can do final revisions of your papers.
Please turn in your completed essay to my mail box in Saunders 125 by 5 pm on Friday, July 29. (You can hand it in early, but you cannot be late.)

II. GUIDELINES:
The topic of your mid-term essay is listed below. Please note: if you hand in an essay on an unassigned topic, you will receive a failing grade for the mid-term. No exceptions. So make sure that you follow the instructions given below. You may wish to come to me with a sheet of paper that includes a title and thesis paragraph.

Make sure that you offer an argument about, or interpretation of, the examples mentioned in the topic assignment. Make one overall point. Do not try to do too much. The point of this assignment is to encourage depth, since the journals and recitation sections encourage breadth.

Each essay also must include a thesis or point statement, typically towards the end of the introductory paragraph. To write a successful argumentative essay is to avoid two errors:

First, do not simply restate the facts. A string of historical facts or statistical data does not constitute an argument.
On the other hand, no essay is persuasive that does not offer evidence to support its claim. So, avoid a second error: do not assert simply that you feel this way or that. Argue! In other words, offer evidence to support your thesis. That evidence may be from any of the books or web pages mentioned below, or from related outside material that you bring in to the discussion.

Those sorts of sources count as evidence. Remember to cite any source you use at the end of each sentence in which you summarize or quote material from the source. Unless you thought of the argument or did the research yourself, you must cite it. The best style of citation for a paper like this is to give your sources in parentheses at the end of the sentence in which you have used the quote or paraphrase. Usually this is done with the author and date of publication and then the page like this: (Malcolm X 1992[1964]:132). If you mention the author's name in the sentence, then only the date and page is necessary. In this paper, of course, you may want to cite class lectures. Do this in a simplified form. Cite as Class Lecture and then given the date, like this: (Class Lecture, 1-5-04). If you are using ideas from discussion, then (Class Discussion, 1-7-04).

To support a position you also can appeal to reason and common human experience. It is not appropriate in a public university, however, to cite a sacred scripture or church tradition as a source of authority to support a thesis. Although such sources might be crucial in your personal life, it is not appropriate here to suggest that a view is right because it says so in a holy book--the Qu'ran, New Testament, or the Book of Mormon. You can (and should) analyze a historical figure's use of a sacred text, if that is important to your topic.

Consider also possible counter-evidence and objections to your thesis and respond to them in advance. Imagine what an intelligent and informed classmate might say to challenge your argument.

Finally, at every step of the process--from thesis statement to completed paper--give your essay a revealing title. The title should hint at your thesis and reveal the general topic. So "Islam in America" is too broad. "The Search for Racial Identity in the Nation of Islam" is better.

As I noted above, I invite all students to show me a thesis paragraph. Of course, you may show me several thesis paragraphs or paper outlines. But please allow sufficient time to review and discuss them. If you are worried about writing the essay, relax: I will try to give you all the help you need to succeed on this assignment. Come see me during office hours, or if that is not convenient for you make some other arrangement to meet. My email address is listed on the syllabus and the course homepage.

III. FEATURES OF AN ESSAY AND CRITERIA FOR GRADING
One of the things that drives students nuts is guessing what is important to each professor. To relieve you from that guessing as much as possible, I here attempt to state clearly the standards by which we distinguish poor, fair, good, and excellent essays. We will talk about these in class and section. If you do not understand these, please ask for a fuller explanation. So, here are the criteria that are most important:

FEATURES OF A SUCCESSFUL PERSUASIVE ESSAY: CRITERIA FOR GRADING
I will use the following criteria in grading your paper. Note that a passing or even a good paper may not meet all of the criteria, which are arranged in order of difficulty within each section.

A. Use of sources. In this assignment the student:

has used the sources accurately to support the thesis
was fair and balanced in their critiques of all sources
was discriminating in the use of sources. (i.e., was able to distinguish between advocacy Web sites and informational Web sites)

Template for Religious studies Evaluation of Websites (TREW)

What is the address of the site? (give the complete address, beginning with http://)
Who is the author, contact person, or webmaster?
What is the religious affiliation or institutional sponsor of the site?
What is the latest date of revision? Is it kept up to date?
What is the statement of purpose, and what audience is intended?
Is the site primarily informational, sectarian (advocating a particular religious position), or polemical (arguing against another position)?
What links are offered to other sites, if any, and what is their purpose?
How much information is available on the site?

Ultimately, it will be necessary to go to additional sources outside of the web site in order to place it in a context and evaluate its content. But these questions provide a starting framework that is suitable for analyzing the structure and purpose of a web page that deals with religion.

B. Quality of the thesis.

In this assignment the student had a clear thesis
the thesis demonstrated that the student understood the nature of the question
the thesis was defensible.
the thesis presented a sophisticated argument that demonstrated excellent perception into the issue.

C. The quality of the argument. In this paper the student:

understood the difference between a sound argument and sheer rhetoric
did not confuse the specific issues on religion as presented in the question with personal opinions about religion or God or practice in general.
showed an understanding of both the pros and the cons of their own argument
marshaled resources well to support each point of the argument
was able to present a counter argument when the sources did not necessarily agree with their thesis (i.e., if the student did not always agree with the interpretation of materials given in the class lectures or the comments of their class fellows--this can include a good argument against the professor's interpretations!)
demonstrated an ability to be creative (i.e., to go beyond the issues presented in class or discussions pertaining to this question)

D. The quality of the writing style. In this paper the student:

used and spelled words correctly including technical terms
used the best word possible to present the case
had a clear paragraph and sentence structure
created good transitions from point to point
wrote with varied vocabulary and sentence structure
was able to use language with rich connotations.

IV. ESSAY TOPICS. Choose one of the following:

The historical novelists we have read (Kenan Makiya, Amin Maalouf) both give significant emphasis to skeptical thinkers of premodern Islamicate civilization; both cite Abu al-A`la al-Ma`arri (though Maalouf refers mostly to `Umar Khayyam as his skeptic, and al-Ma`arri only once). What does this prominent theme suggest about the authors’ perspectives on Islam in particular and religion in general? Explain with reference to particular quotations of these authors' poetry in relation to the overall themes and plots of the books.
One of the main themes of Jonathan Berkey's The Formation of Islam is in fact the crystallization of Islamic religious identity in a series of historical developments. Select two of the key points he emphasizes as critical for the formation of Islamic identity. On that basis, how would you describe the relationship between religion, politics, and authority in terms of the development of Islamic civilization?