Religion Paper

Rel 103 - Fall 2015 - Paper #2

Rough drafts due via email: Thursday, October 29 by the end of class time Final drafts due via isidore: Sunday, November 1 by the end of the night (11:59pm) Late penalty: 10 points per day

Your task: Use our course texts on the Christian, Buddhist, and Islamic traditions to try to convince Dr. Stephen Prothero that his multiple mountain metaphor for studying religious traditions is not a perfect solution to understanding the “furiously religious” world that we live in.

Requirements: 1. You may not use any sources that we did not cover in our class! If you do this, I will ask

you to rewrite the paper and you will receive a significant point deduction. 2. You must find a way to use the following 3 documents: Nostra Aetate, A Common

Word Between Us and You, and Makransky’s “Thoughts on Why, How, and What Buddhists Can Learn from Christian Theologians.” Your use of these 3 documents should be close to the heart of your argument.

3. You are also allowed to use the other documents we covered so far, but you do not have to use them if you would rather stick to the 3 documents mentioned in #2.

4. You are allowed to creatively make use of the podcast that we listened to on October 22 during class. I’ve posted a link to it in the resources section of Isidore.

5. The paper must be at least 800 words but no longer than 1,500 words. 6. You must submit the final draft of this paper through Isidore as a Word or Pages file.

Other formats will not work!

Suggestions: 1. Consider writing this paper in the form of a letter to Dr. Prothero. This would allow you

to have a clear sense of your audience as you write. If you do it this way, you can spend less time talking about Prothero’s article and more time on your own argument.

2. Keep in mind that Prothero is a smart man and that his multiple mountain metaphor is not totally worthless. Try to acknowledge this in your writing too.

3. Write out an outline of what you plan to do before you write the full paper. I’d be happy to give you feedback on your outline if you send it to me before the rough draft deadline.

Grading rubric:

10% Contains solid grammar and spelling (Use the Write Place if this worries you!) 10% Fits the length requirement and contains appropriate citations 20% Displays ability to creatively and coherently link course concepts together 30% Contains a clear, convincing argument 30% Exhibits an appropriate use of sources