Writing Assignment 1 Parameters and Standards

Writing Assignment 1 Parameters and Standards
Here are the parameters of this research assignment in the form of a checklist:

_____SUBJECT, FORMAT, AND CONTENT: Select 1 news article (worldreligionnews.com or wwrn.org) that has an
original date of publication within the previous 12 months. Religion needs to be the subject of the news article, so be
sure that you are selecting an article in which one of the religions studied to this point is the primary subject rather
than secondary to the topic (for example, stories about religious practitioners accused of crimes is a social issue rather
than a religious one). The only religions acceptable for this assignment are a specific Indigenous Tradition, Hinduism,
Jainism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, or Shinto.

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Please note that this is not simply a review of the article, rather you are exploring religion in more depth. Accordingly,
you are required to follow the format of the sample paper. You should begin with the title and original publication
date of the article (Please note that this is not your title for the paper, it is the title of the article). You will then compose
a paragraph that is an accurate summary of the article you are exploring. The next paragraph (or two) will present the
additional research you have done in response to the subject of the article. It is here that you should explore aspects
of the religious subject to provide information that is not present in the article (such as terminology, practices, beliefs,
historical situations, etc.). See the sample paper for an example of how to do this. The final paragraph should be your
own critique of the article based upon the information you have discovered in your research. It is here that you can
provide other solutions or issues that are related. Again, see the sample paper as a guide. Ultimately, you will need to
demonstrate a clear understanding of the religious issues involved. Deductions of up to 30 points will be made for
errors related to the subject, format, and content.

_____RESEARCH: You are expected to do academic research for this assignment. This is not simply an opinion paper
or an article review, it is a research paper. To that end, consult and cite multiple sources outside of the article (at
least 2 outside of the article) to illustrate depth of research. These additional sources should be scholarly sources,
not additional news articles. The idea here is for you to utilize academic resources to provide additional information
regarding the religious aspects of the subject. These academic or scholarly sources should be peer-reviewed journal
articles or books (library resources), primary sources (sacred literature and official religious documents), or

authorized publications of recognized religious organizations. Ultimately, you are using the news article as a
springboard for exploring aspects of a religious topic more deeply. Both the news article and research sources
consulted are to be provided in a Bibliography conforming to the MLA (Modern Language Association) format. For
more information about the MLA format visit: spcollege.libguides.com/content.php?pid=98920&sid=742314. For
useful research information, see: spcollege.libguides.com/world_religions. There will be deductions of up to 10 points
for errors in this category.
_____ACADEMIC WRITING: Your submission is expected to conform to academic writing standards (i.e., demonstrate
the use of proper sentence and paragraph formats, proper grammar, and correct spelling and punctuation). Up to 20
points will be deducted for these errors based upon their frequency and severity.

_____WORD COUNT: Your submission is required to be a minimum of 600 words, but no more than 1200 words
(Bibliographies do not count as a part of the word count). Submissions larger than 1200 word or fewer than 600 words
will receive no points. A college paper needs to demonstrate the skill of being thorough, yet concise.

_____QUOTING: Quotes should be limited to primary source materials (such as a verse from sacred literature) and should
constitute no more than 10% of the paper content. In other words, quotes should be used sparingly. You need to
develop the ability to take the information that you would quote and express it in your own words. This is how to
demonstrate understanding. Any quotes will need to have internal documentation done to MLA standards:
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Deductions will be assessed based upon the severity of the errors, with
the points coming out of the “subject, format, and content” section above.

_____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 is considered plagiarism and will result in a failing grade and possible
honor code disciplinary action: https://www.spcollege.edu/academichonesty/.

_____DUE: The critique 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 1 Dropbox. Submissions to this dropbox are subjected to an originality check through TurnItIn, a website
that scans papers for signs of plagiarism and issues a report to the student and instructor.