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On two of the scheduled "discussion" days, you are responsible for two response papers, on January 27 and February 22. Both papers are due at the beginning of class.
Format: The papers should be 2-4 pages, double-spaced, printed in a reasonably-sized font (I suggest 12-point Times New Roman), pages numbered, and no more than 1.25" margins all around. If you cite from the reading to which you are responded, please indicate the page number to which you are referring in parentheses at the end of the sentence. Even if you do not quote the text directly, please provide a page number citation whenever you refer to a specific part of the text.
Content: Both responses are to the readings for that day's class, specifically:
In your response paper, you may address any or all of the questions posted on the course syllabus for discussion for that day, or you may address more general ideas that occurred to you with respect to pilgrimage as you were reading this text. Please do not provide summaries of the text: assume your reading is also familiar with them. Your response should be an analytical and academic response ("This text really raised questions about what makes a 'pilgrim.'") and not a personal or emotional response ("I think monkeys are cute!").
You do not need to have a thesis or argument, but you should still provide a coherent essay (no lists, no meandering, disconnected thoughts) written in proper academic format (do not be overly colloquial, please observe the rules of grammar and spelling).
For a sample response paper, click here.
On the other two discussion days (January 11 and February 8), you must bring in some item--an object, a story, a book, anything--related to an aspect of pilgrimage (a site, a practice, a particular text) that has engaged your interest. If the object is physical, and portable, please bring it with you to class. If the object is not physical and/or not portable, please be ready to describe it to your classmates.
The item can relate to any aspect of pilgrimage we have discussed in class, or will discuss in class, or it may be some item related to an aspect of pilgrimage we are not addressing in class at all.
Your show-and-tell item should be accompanied by a one page write up (double spaced, printed in a reasonably sized font). This write-up should (briefly) describe the pilgrimage item, how you found it, why you think it is interesting and/or significant, and what you think it adds to our study of pilgrims and pilgrimage.
For examples of show-and-tell items, and a sample write-up, click here.
The culmination of the course will be your completion of a final project, in which you must find and analyze a particular instance of pilgrimage. You may focus on a particular pilgrimage text (e.g., the Piacenza Pilgrim), or a specific site (e.g., the Golden Temple of Amritsar), or a phenomenon related to pilgrimage (e.g., miracles and healing). For specific examples of final project ideas, click here.
Your grade for the final project is broken down into three stages, the first stage of which is the Final Project Proposal.
The proposal is due at the beginning of class in February 15.
The proposal should be one-page long, double-spaced, printed in a reasonably-sized font. Very briefly, it should provide a description of the subject (what/where/who is it); why you have chosen it; the resources necessary for completing this projecting (including significant books or articles, if appropriate; discuss whether these resources are readily available, or, if not, how you will get them); and a general idea of how you hope to approach your analysis of this subject.
For a sample proposal, click here.
The proposal is not binding on anything except your subject matter: you may find that the resources required are different, that your analysis moves in an unexpected direction. But by February 15 you need to demonstrate that you have chosen a final project subject and begun to explore it.
You should begin to make use of the resources on the links & further resources page in writing this proposal.
The second stage of your final project is your brief, in-class presentation. This will take place on the last day of class (March 10). In roughly five minutes (please, no more) you will tell your classmates:
If there is time, students may pose (generous, curious, thoughtful) questions to each other about their projects.
If you are not present in class, or if you are not ready to quickly summarize your subject and findings to the rest of the class when called upon, you will not get credit for this portion of your final project grade.
The final stage of your final project is the paper, due on Friday, March 18 by 2 p.m. to the professor's office (HMNSS 2620).
Format: The paper should be 10-15 pages long, double-spaced, printed in a reasonably-sized font (I suggest 12-pt. Times New Roman). Pages should be numbered; please do not use multiline headers on every page. Any graphs, charts, figures, or illustrations do not "count" toward overall page length. Margins should be no larger than 1.25" all around.
Please do not play font games to expand/shrink your papers. Ten-fifteen pages are general paper-length guidelines, please adhere to them.
Content: The goal of these papers is to explore a specific subject related to pilgrimage, propose some thesis or argument about the subject, describe it in depth, analyze it using the tools of the academic study of religion, and draw some conclusions about how study of this subject can contribute to the more general study of pilgrims, pilgrimages, and religious traditions.
Your opening paragraph should lay out the general facts about your subject, as well as provide a blueprint to the rest of the paper, and a sentence or two that encapsulates your organizing principle (thesis) for the entire paper.
As we have seen in the sample proposal, Jane R. Student is writing her final paper on contemporary pilgrimage to Mount Doom. The opening paragraph of her paper might go something like this:
Jane does several things in this paragraph:
1. She introduces the subject of her project (a pilgrimage site, Mount Doom) and it's overall significance (it ushered in modern history "as we know it"--a concept, we hope, she will flesh out later in the paper). She also specifies that her subject is contemporary pilgrimage, specifically "in the past thirty years."
2. She provides a general thesis: that certain pilgrimage practices to Mount Doom "illustrate the simultaneously political and religious qualities found in many contemporary pilgrimage sites"--that is a "return to a lost 'golden age.'" This thesis argues something specific about her subject, but also relates it more broadly to the themes of the class as a whole.
3. She gives a general "roadmap" of how the paper will demonstrate this: by looking at "internet packaging," "monuments and languages," and "new communal and individual rituals."
The structure of her paper would then follow the issues laid out in her introductory paragraph.
example of paper outline:
I. Introduction: Mount Doom in the 21st Century A. Geography (From Middle Earth to Middle East) B. History (From Third to Fourth Age) C. The creation of religio-political identity in a lost golden age II. The Internet: Packaging Your Mordor Experience A. Overview of sites 1. Mordor.org (non-profit) 2. Onering.biz (international for-profit: U.S.) 3. Frodocalls.tk (domestic for-profit: Turkey) B. Travel: Forced Bonding and archaism 1. Charter flights and closed entry 2. Lodging: "Like in the old days" 3. Food: "Eat like Elrond!" C. The irony: Technology and archaism III. Rebuilding the Past: Monuments and Languages A. What Really Survives from the Third Age? 1. Popular belief 2. Recent archaeology B. "Rebuilt" Monuments: "Reconstruction" as authentic past 1. Sauron's Hand 2. Gandalf's Hat 3. The Tomb of the Fellowship C. "Dead" Languages? From Elven to Turkish 1. Formal inscriptions from the Present-day 2. Informal "graffiti" from the Third Age 3. Language as mystifying experience of the past IV. New Rituals A. Communal Rituals 1. The viewing of the film 2. The procession to the fire 3. Silmarillion Laser Show B. Individual Rituals 1. Ring-tossing 2. The Wall of Prayer 3. Gift shop as ritual? V. Conclusion: The Golden Age that Never Was?
Citations: Attached to your paper should be a bibliography of works cited and consulted.
Citations of books, articles, essays, and other written documents in a bibliography should follow this format:
Citations of on-line sources should follow this format:
You can use whatever form of citation in the body of your paper that you are comfortable with: MLA, Chicago, footnotes (but no endnotes!) or parenthetical citation. You'll notice in Jane's introductory paragraph above, she cites a guidebook by someone named Baggins, written in 2004. Please just be consistent in your citation practices and remember that the goal of citation is to allow someone reading your paper to follow up and find the point of reference.
Also remember that you must cite the source of your information even if you are not quoting directly from it, but only referring to it.
Plagiarism is a serious offense, and any instance of plagiarism could result in a zero on your final paper and referral to the administration for reprimand.
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