Writing Assignment 1 Parameters and Standards   Tapic: Pilgrimages are journeys to sacred places that are a common feature of religions

Writing Assignment 1 Parameters and Standards

Tapic: Pilgrimages are journeys to sacred places that are a common feature of religions. For this writing, you will

have the opportunity to explore one of the religious pilgrimages provided below. Describe the journey in terms

of the specific sites visited, why they are visited, and what they mean for the adherents of the religion. For each,

you have been provided with a video as a place to start; however, there is additional research required. Be sure

to pay attention to all the details in the rest of this document before writing. Here are the options from which

you will choose gui one to explore:

e The Shikoku Pilgrimage of Buddhism.

e The Kumbh Mela Pilgrimage of Hinduism.

© The Osun-Osogbo Festival Pilgrimage of the Yoruba.

Quick View Checklist (all of this is discussed in greater depth in the Parameters section that follows):

O Select only ane (1) of the religion inspired pilgrimages listed above as the subject of your essay.

O Describe the journey pilgrims take by identifying the sacred places visited, the meaning/purpose of each site

within the religion, and the religious benefits that the pilgrims to these sites believe they receive.

O MLA formatted bibliography includes at least 3 sources that you consulted (the video and at least 2 more).

O Additional research sources are academic, scholarly, or scriptures and doctrines of the religion.

O Quotes are limited to religious scriptures or doctrines only and can be no more than 10% of the paper content.

O Submission is at least 600 words (bibliographies are not a part of the word count).

O The structure should be that of a standard college essay.

O Contains appropriate sentence and paragraph formats, proper grammar, and correct spelling and punctuation.

O Demonstrate original writing skills.

O Upload to the Writing Assignment | dropbox by the due date posted in the Time Schedule.

Parameters: Here are the complete parameters of this research assignment:

OPTIONS - Select only gue (1) of the following religion inspired pilgrimages to explore: The Shikoku

Pilgrimage of Buddhism, The Kumbh Mela Pilgrimage of Hinduism. or The Osun-Osogbo Festival Pilgrimage

of the Yoruba. You should focus your attention on what the pilgrims do today rather than historically. Most of

these pilgrimages have evolved over time. therefore they may have had a different journey 100, 500, or 1000

years ago. Since our focus is on today, you should participate in a virtual version of the pilgrimage using the

videos provided in the module of MyCourses that contains these instructions.

CONTENT - You should describe the various activities associated with your selected pilgrimage. the places

visited, and the beliefs behind them. Some things to consider: Where geographically is the pilgrimage? What

is the specific path taken? Why are each of the specific sites on the pilgrimage visited? What meaning does

each hold? What does one get from visiting these places? Are there specific activities, props, and/or dietary

aspects associated with the journey and the stops along the way? To what extent do the people participate in

the various events? Are the events publicly observed by all at the same time or privately at the individual's

own pace and own time schedule? Have aspects of the pilgrimage become secularized and/or commercialized?

It IS NOT necessary to identify all the stops on the journey, just enough to support your conversation (and |

certainty DO NOT want to see a list of stops as a part of your essay). The idea here is that you have

demonstrated cross-cultural knowledge through a written description of the journey taken by the religious

pilgrims. This would include identifying some of the sacred places visited, the meaning/purpose of these sites within the religion, and the religious benefits that the pilgrims to these sites believe they receive. Deductions of up to 30 points will be made for errors related to the parameters for the Options and Content categories as
QUOTING - Quotes are limited to the sacred literature or official doctrines of a specific religion and should

constitute no more than 10% of the paper content. In other words, you are not pernitted to quote from your

research articles. 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 (sce Paraphrasing and Summarizing). The

quoted material from religious scriptures or documents is only to support your conversation and should be

used sparingly. Any quotes will need to have internal documentation done according to Modem Language

Association (MLA) standards. Deductions will be assessed based upon the severity of the errors, with the

points coming out of the 30 points assigned to the Options and Content sections above.

RESEARCH - You are expected to do academic research for this essay. This és a research essay: not an

eninion paper. To that end, consult and cite guidtiple different sources (at least 3) to illustrate depth of

research. Be aware that different pages. articles, or parts of the same source still only count as one source.

dlibrary resources), primary sources (sacred literature and official religious documents). official websites of

or_ educational). See Evaluating Sources for more information. The research sources consulted are to be

provided in the MLA (Modem Language Association) format: How To Do MLA Citations. For useful

research information you should see How To Do Library Research. Sce the “Writing Assignments” section

of the syllabus for more library research information. There will be deductions of up to 10 points for research

and citation errors.

WORD COUNT - Your essay content is required to be between 680-1260 words (the bibliography information

is not part of the word count). Submissions with fewer than 600 words will receive no points. Such papers

lack the necessary depth. Submissions with more than 1200 words will receive no points. Such papers tend

to lack focus and conciseness.

ACADEMIC WRITING - 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. Additionally,

the essay is expected to conform to academic writing standards (i.¢., demonstrate the use of proper sentence

and paragraph formats, proper grammar, and correct spelling and punctuation). You are strongly encouraged

to have your paper reviewed by an SPC tutor before submission (tutor information here: SPC Tutor

Information). Up to 20 points will be deducted for writing errors based upon frequency and severity.

ORIGINAL WRITING - Your paper is to demonstrate original writing (see this conversation in the Syllabus).

In short, 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. Additionally, it is unacceptable to submit your own work

(in whole or in part) from another assignment, class, or a previous attempt of REL 2300 (Student Academic

Policies). For original writing assistance, sec Plagiarism & Academic Integrity.

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 “Writing

Assignment }" 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. Please note that the allowed file types are MS Word, WordPerfect, Postscript, Acrobat PDF,

HTML, RTF, and plain text. No other file types are accepted. DO NOT paste your paper into the

“Comments” section of the dropbox. | will grade and provide feedback within seven to ten days of the

assignment due date.