Compare and contrast Catholicism and Protestant Christianity, considering various aspects such as (but certainly not all of these!) beliefs, ritual, leadership structures, authority sources, approaches to sacred texts, and attitudes toward gender and the LGBTQ+ community. Analyze how these differences influence religious practices, social dynamics within each tradition, and interactions with broader society. Additionally, discuss the historical contexts that have shaped the development of Catholicism and Protestantism, and examine how these traditions continue to evolve in response to contemporary challenges and cultural shifts.
In this essay you will carefully select your main points of comparison (I would suggest no more than three). You’ll want to tell a story that acknowledges the diversity of Christianity and its traditions.
A thesis statement can be your most helpful tool in writing an outline and a research essay. It functions as a signpost, reminding yourself and your readers of your primary task in the essay. Each supporting point that you develop in your essay should reflect your thesis, so ask yourself, how does this idea I’m discussing highlight or prove what I’ve argued in my thesis statement. Finally, thesis statements don’t have to be static as you’re writing—they might change or develop as you write, and that’s okay. But by the end of your essay writing your thesis statement should direct everything you’ve written, and vice versa.
Writing a research essay gives us the opportunity to dive into an idea or a topic that we find really interesting. The idea of writing a research essay can feel intimidating to many students, but I know that you can rise to the challenge! We have spent some time in this course preparing for this assignment, from the weekly writing tips to the essay outline assignment, and now, also having spent more time studying some of the different world religions, we are set to tackle the research essay. The teaching team always enjoys reading your essays because we can see firsthand all the effort that has gone into the research and the writing. We look forward to reading yours.
In this assignment you will research and write an essay based on one of the essay topics. Your task is to take one of these questions and use it as a springboard for developing your own thesis that you will explore in your essay. As a research essay, you will need to locate your own appropriate sources in order to develop and support your thesis. Your essay will be assessed for both content and style (see grading rubric).
Requirements
2500 words (8-10 pages)
Double-spaced, 12 pt font
Consistent use of MLA
Bibliography
Title page with course number, instructor, your name, student number, and date submitted
About Sources
As this is a university class, your research will need to be collected from appropriate academic sources. This includes:
Books
Peer-reviewed Journal
Sacred Literature (e.g New Testament, Buddhist Sutras, Daodejing)
Data from a census or public survey
You’ll notice what’s missing from this list: Wikipedia, websites, and blogs. These sources are excellent in their own right (I would argue that Wikipedia can be very useful when you’re trying to choose an essay topic and you want a brief summary of a particular issue or historical event), but they are not appropriate for an academic research essay. Books and journal articles are peer-reviewed, which means experts in the field assess them often offer feedback to the author, who then revises and edits their work. It’s about maintaining a level of scholarly integrity, and it’s a world you enter into when you write a university essay.
There are a few types of sources that sometimes work for a university essay, and if you find something from the following list please email me directly and we’ll see if it’s a good fit:
Documentaries
Online articles from a religious organization
Interviews (recorded, not conducted yourself)
You must have at least four academic sources and one of these four sources can be from our class reading list. That said, I encourage you to use more than four, as you want to write an essay with well-rounded research.
Citing Your Sources
In a research essay you are going to have a lot of in-text citations! What are in-text citations? In the case of this class (because we follow either MLA or APA guidelines) they are the parenthetical citations you include anytime you want to indicate that an idea isn’t your own. For example, at the end of this sentence you’ll find a parenthetical citation (LaGrone, 38). In this citation, LaGrone is the last name of the author and 38 is the page number from where the idea was taken (there won’t be a page number for some sources, and in this case you would just use the author’s name). The citation gives enough information for the reader to find the full listing of the source in your bibliography.
You are expected to cite your sources in two different situations. The first is when you directly quote an author’s writing (most people are familiar with this one). The second is when you’ve paraphrased an author’s words into your own words (most people aren’t familiar with this one). This means you will have many citations on each page of your essay. You will be collecting research on ideas and events that you haven’t personally experienced or done original investigations into, which means much of your essay will be written—in your own words—based on the work of someone else. Citing your sources is just about giving some credit.
Due on Jul 20, 2024 10:00 PM
Rubric Name: Research Essay Rubric
Print
Criteria
Excellent to Exceptional
Very Good
Reasonably Good
Minimally Acceptable to Acceptable
No Submission
Criterion Score
Analysis
40 points
A fully developed thesis or argument with excellent use of detailed supporting points.
30 points
Attempt made at a developed thesis or argument. Effective use of detailed supporting points.
20 points
Thesis or argument is not fully developed. Ineffective use of supporting points and lacking detailed examples.
10 points
Thesis or argument is lacking important points and is not supported
0 points
Score of Analysis,
/ 40
Organization
25 points
Very well organized with clearly presented material. Very well structured discussion that flows smoothly throughout the essay. Essay has clearly defined introduction and conclusion.
18.75 points
Well organized essay, with a structured discussion. Argument usually easy to follow.
12.5 points
Essay not organized according to an introduction, thesis, supporting points, and conclusion. Very little structure to the writing of the essay. Argument difficult to follow.
6.25 points
Essay is not organized, lacking coherent structure. Argument difficult to follow.
0 points
Score of Organization,
/ 25
Style
15 points
Very well written with very few or no grammatical or spelling errors.
11.25 points
Generally well written with some grammatical and spelling errors.
7.5 points
Written with some grammatical and spelling errors.
3.75 points
Many grammatical and spelling errors.
0 points
Score of Style,
/ 15
Referencing
10 points
Sources are cited using the MLA or APA style guideline. Sources are excellent and support thesis throughout essay. Bibliography follows style guidelines.
7.5 points
Sources are cited using the MLA or APA style guideline Sources are strong. Bibliography follows style guidelines with one or two errors.
5 points
Sources are cited, but do not follow the MLA or APA style guideline Sources are on topic but not strong. Bibliography does not follow style guidelines or is missing entirely.
2.5 points
No sources cited and/or do not follow the MLA or APA style guideline. Bibliography does not follow style guidelines or is missing entirely.
0 points
Score of Referencing,
/ 10
Presentation
10 points
A very well-balanced presentation of complex ideas. Writing is thoughtful and critically constructed.
7.5 points
A well-balanced presentation of complex ideas but room for some improvement. Writing is thoughtful at times but could be more critical of the material.
5 points
Elements of a balanced presentation of ideas but with room for improvement.
2.5 points
Presentation is weak with room for improvement.
0 points
Score of Presentation,
/ 10
