Write a paper for the following prompt.
Length: Minimum of 1200 words
Turn in on Isidore (assignments tab) as a Microsoft Word document
Late submissions will lose 10 points per day
Prompt
This course has looked primarily at 2 religious traditions, Christianity (with a particular focus on Catholic Christianity) and Islam. Your broad task is to demonstrate your ability to speak coherently about each of these traditions on their own terms AND in relation to one another.
You will be graded on the following requirements:
1. Thesis: Formulate a recognizable thesis to organize your writing. In other words, you must try to make some kind of basic argument with your essay. I am happy to give feedback on this if you contact me with your thesis idea.
2. Professionalism: Display a charitable approach to both Christianity and Islam. This does not mean you have to agree with everything that these 2 traditions teach, but I expect you to treat them both with respect.
3. Sources: Make excellent use of at least 5 course texts. At least 2 of these must be from our section on the Christian tradition and at least 2 must be from our section on Islam. See below for the list of texts from each section.
4. Sources 2: Refrain from using any sources that were not part of this course. The idea here is to demonstrate your mastery of our course material! If you are convinced that you have an external source that would greatly enhance your paper, you MUST check it with me first.
5. Connections: Demonstrate an ability to write about how different texts and conversations from our course connect to each other. In other words, don't simply string together 5 paragraphs that each summarize 1. Article from class.
6. Grammar: Please check your essays for basic grammar and spelling. The Write Place in the UD Library offers a free service to assist you in this. They even send me a notification that you used it so that I know you put in the extra effort. Please use this if you think your grammar and spelling might be an issue. Depth: A good paper will reasonably satisfy the first 6 requirements, but a truly excellent paper will discuss difficult concepts and explore deep questions along the way.
Texts you might consider from our Christianity section: Genesis; Mark's Gospel; McCabe; Portier's Classical Christology; Augustine (Books 2 and 8); Dorothy Day selections; Nostra Aetate.
Texts you may consider from our Islam section: Overview of Islam; Being Human in Islam, A Common Word; Williams' response to A Common Word.