Select two of the following four essay topics. Provide an answer for each in the form of an essay of 800 words (two essays total, 800 words each).
In your answers, be sure to draw upon lectures, assigned readings provided on Nexus, and the textbook for this course. Do not use external sources for your essays. Use only materials found on the syllabus. For example, if I discover that you have copied part of your essay from online sources, I will report you for academic misconduct.
You will be graded on:
1) how well you answer the questions
2) your synthesis of assigned course materials
3) your comprehension and use of course concepts and themes
4) how well you have demonstrated a successful completion of some of the “Course Outcomes” listed on the syllabus; and
5) the general clarity of your writing.
Topic One:
Discuss the portrayal of women in some of the material we read this term. What seem to be gendered problems or concerns in Indian religions? What are some of the religious options available to women in this material?
Topic Two:
Religious figures, doctrines, or practices belonging to some traditions in India set themselves up in opposition to, or as an alternative for, other religious figures, doctrines, or practices. Using specific examples from our course material, attempt to unravel some of the polemics at play between Indian religions.
Topic Three:
What is karma? How does karma function? What role, if any, have doctrines of karma played in the development of Indian religions?
Topic Four:
In your opinion, what role, if any, has monotheism played in the development of Indian religions?
Again, draw upon only lectures and assigned materials found on the syllabus:
TEXTBOOK- Clothey, Religion in India (1–13, 20–29, 30–50, 60-69, 69-85, 90-93, 122-136, 141-149,)
Reading 1: “The Story of ‘My Sanskrit’”;
Reading 2: Selections form the Rig Veda;
Reading 3: Selections from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad; Please read pages 375–403 of Patrick Olivelle’s (trans. 1998) The Early Upanisạds: annotated text and translation.
Reading 4: The story of Mohadatta
Reading 5: Excerpt from the Mahavastu
Reading 6: The Bhagavad Gita
Reading 7: Selections from the Lives of the Eighty-Four Siddhas
Reading 8: An excerpt from the Traditional life of Sri Sankaracharya
Reading 9: Selections from the Lives of Sufi Saints
Reading 10: Excerpt from the story of Guru Nanak
A Custom Style Guide for Citations
In this course, students should only refer to assigned material including:
Clothey’s textbook Religion in India: a Historical Introduction (available as a hardcopy from the campus bookstore, or as an e-book from the library, or as an e- book edition available for Kindle), and
In your written work, do not draw upon external sources, like websites, books, or articles not found on the course outline. Use only assigned material found on the course outline in all of your work this term.
As course material has been assigned by your instructor, do not include a bibliography, reference page, or works cited page in your written work. You must, however, include in-text citations in your written work. Do not use footnotes or endnotes for citations.
Your in-text citations must be provided in parenthesis: ().
Citing Primary Sources
When citing primary literature, an in-text citation must include the author’s, translator’s, or editor’s family name (in most cases a last name), the year of publication, and a comma followed by the page number(s) on which the information you are citing was found.
An in-text citation referring to something found on page 607 of “The Story of ‘My Sanskrit,’” the assigned primary reading from the week of September 16th, will look as follows:
(Adarkar 2015, 607).
The translator’s family name is provided before the year of publication, followed by a comma, and then the page number that is being cited. All of this information is provided in parenthesis. If the information being cited spills onto page 608 from 607, then the in-text citation would appear as follows:
(Adarkar 2015, 607–608).
Note, the character appearing between the two page numbers is not a hyphen(-), but rather an en dash(–). An en dash should take up the same amount of room on your word processor as an uppercase letter n (N), and should not be confused with a hyphen or an em dash(—), which takes up the same room on a word processor as the uppercase letter m (M).
When providing a page range, always be as specific as possible.
Citing Religion in India: a Historical Introduction
When citing the textbook, provide page numbers according to whichever version of the book to which you have access. Page numbers from a Kindle edition, for example, might differ from those in the e-book provided by the library, or a hardcopy of the textbook found on the course outline. This is fine. However, if you are using an e-reader version, provide a quick note somewhere in your written work that your page numbers refer to the Kindle (or whichever) version of the textbook.
A sentence including an in-text citation referring to Clothey’s book might look as follows:
William Ward’s descriptions of India are early examples of the “Pejorative putdown” point of view of the religions of India (Clothey 2006, 2).
In this citation, Clothey is the author’s given name. 2006 is the year the book was published. If you refer to a later printing, you should refer to the year that copy was published instead. The year is followed by a comma and then the page number that is being cited.
Do not get caught up on whether this citation style guide reliably follows APA, MLA, Chicago, Kate Turabian, or any other standard, formal style guide. It does not. Instead, follow these instructions carefully and aim to be as specific as possible in your in-text citations. Make sure all requested information is provided in full in your in-text citations. Keep it simple and do your best to follow these instructions carefully.
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