Final Project, Part 3. Methods Essay on Rituals (Paper).
This part of the final project is the paper that presents your description and interpretation
... [Show More] of the selected rituals.
Write a 5-6 page (1,250- to 1,500-word) essay in which you do the following:
• Provide a creative title that captures an overall theme of your paper. Include an accurate word count after the title.
• Compose a short introductory paragraph that summarizes the purpose and scope of the paper.
Describe the three rituals you have chosen, providing hard data on each from primary or secondary sources. Include the religion to which the ritual belongs, the place where the ritual occurs, and other basic facts, such as the number of participants, the leader(s) of the ritual, and so forth.
• Please note: For data on the rituals, you can rely on firsthand observations, videos from the Internet, and written discussions. If you are not writing about a ritual from firsthand observation, you can check YouTube or Google Images. Type in the word ritual, or the name of your ritual, along with the name of the religious tradition you want to explore. You can also add the word YouTube to your search terms to find some video accounts of rituals. Beyond that, you can check websites developed by various religious organizations and study sections of books and articles. Whatever you use, please make sure to provide complete bibliographic citations.
• Interpret one ritual from the Religionist perspective. You might include questions such as (a) What religious symbols are used in this ritual, and what is their meaning to the participants? (b) What ritual actions performed by the people (or religious specialist) are supposed to prolong a hierophany or kratophany? and (c) What are some of the religious experiences had by participants in the ritual? How might these reflect the mysterium tremendum and the mysterium fascinans?
• Interpret another ritual from the Reductionist perspective. You might include questions such as (a) Was the ritual performed by a certain social class, or for a particular political end? (b) What else was happening in the culture at the time the ritual was created or performed? and (c) Did this ritual serve to bolster the political interest of the status quo?
• Interpret a third ritual from BOTH religionist and reductionist perspectives (half and half) to include some of the questions from the theorists we looked at in the first weeks of the class, or others approved by your professor.
• Use and incorporate at least six examples of course vocabulary throughout your paper from the chart in part 2. Render all of these terms in boldface, ALL CAPS or underline them. See module 1 and module 2 vocabulary flashcards for most definitions.
• At the end of your essay, reflect some on your own method of looking at the ritual. Base your reflections on questions such as, (a) What biases do I bring to these rituals? (b) Have I viewed the rituals as an insider or as an outsider?
• Minimize or eliminate errors of grammar and spelling. Write logically, with topic sentences. Use Standard English conventions.
• Use at least three primary or secondary sources, and provide full and accurate bibliographical citations for all books, articles, and websites in MLA style. [Show Less]