Write one short critical paper of between 1400 and 1500 words. In this paper students will examine a key concept or category from the course in some detail, by carrying out a close reading of how that concept or category is treated in a particular course text. Suggested concepts/categories for this paper include: religious practice, faith/belief, religious identity, truth, ultimate concern, tradition, revelation, mysticism, God, orthodoxy, fundamentalism, secularization, heresy, and moral obligation.
Successful papers will have a clear thesis, give appropriate warrants in support of that thesis, and pay close attention to the historical context, author, language, argument, and purpose of the text.