Purpose: To research, critique and present a contemporary view of an issue or topic of violencein relation to an assigned religious or philosophical tradition; to summarize and evaluate themajor sources of the tradition that contribute to official doctrines (and unofficial contrarypositions) regarding violence.
TOPIC: Martyrdom through acts of terror
RELIGION: Hinduism
Length: The paper is to be 2000-2500 words – do not be fooled by word processor word-counts,they often count very small words, letters, numbers and citations as ‘words’ when they are not.An easy way to get a true academic word-count is to add up the major words on a single line ofrandom text and to multiply it by the number of lines per page, then multiply the result by thenumber of full pages.Requirements: Facts must be supported by information obtained from your research. Sourcesused must be properly cited – YOU MUST USE A PROPER STYLE GUIDE (APA or MLA) toformat your in-paper citations, bibliography, and the essay in general. Any use of other person’smaterials or prior assignments from previous sections, terms, or online sources will result in anautomatic F and an investigation into plagiarism. This assignment requires that you make use ofa minimum of 5 academic sources in writing your paper. Academic sources are documents thathave been reviewed by others in the field, items that are published by accredited institutions andwell-known organization.Researching: Researching your topic means going to the libraries, and online, to findinformation. You may use any of the readings uploaded to our UM Learn course but may notuse the Class Lectures Notes as sources. If you require help finding source materials for yourpaper – ASK! Ask the librarians, professor, advisors, etc. Do not wait until the day before yourpaper is due to ask for help!How to find sources: At the Library: Make sure that you know how to use the University ofManitoba Library Catalogue, especially how to do ‘subject’ and ‘keyword’ searches on the “OneStop Search”. You can also check the ATLA Religion Database of articles on religion andviolence (in any Campus Library’s list of on-line databases). Religion encyclopedias are also agood place to find information. Do not go to the library, find a big book about what you areresearching, and assume that you have done the necessary research. Seldom does one book, evenif it is long and detailed, do justice to a topic. At the same time, don’t try to read everything youcan find on your subject. Remember, you are writing an academic essay; do not try to includeevery single detail into your paper. Online: The internet can be a great source of usefulinformation. But anyone can put almost anything they wish on the Web, including stuff that isnot true. Generally, think of the Web as an odd mix of scholarship, personal opinion, and publicrelations junk (especially so in matters of religion). If you use Web resources, you need to beable to make such distinctions to ensure a given site’s academic reliability. Web sites run byuniversities, organizations like the United Nations or the like are generally trustworthy. Personalopinions of non-experts are not good sources for academic papers.What to answer and how to organize the assignment: To get full marks in each of the sectionsof the evaluation sheet for this assignment make sure your paper has the following information:
• What are the details/context of your assigned issue or topic of violence? Did you correctlyidentify it, give statistics, and identify the stakeholders or community it impacts?• What is the assigned religious or philosophical tradition? What are the major beliefs,statistics, and sources that this tradition relies on?• What are the traditions’ major teachings related to violence in general and towards thespecified issue or topic of violence? What are the consequences of violating the officialposition? What is the benefit (if any)?• What are the divergent opinions within the religious or philosophical tradition that mayendorse an opposite view? How does the rest of the religious community deal with suchradicalism? Are their options for peacebuilding or halting violence?• What is your opinion on this religion/philosophy’s approach to violence? Do you thinkthey are reliable?How to write a good essay with regard to content: Essay writing demands careful, precisethinking and expression. Developing your ability to think and express that thinking clearly is agoal of university. Consequently, the quality of your writing will affect your paper’s grade. Besure to write a well-structured essay:1. Start with a formal academic introduction which states your central thesis (the purpose ofthe paper), a good reason (or hook) for writing the paper, and a proper outline or blueprintof what is to come in the body of this paper. Do not use personal pronouns.2. The body of the paper should have paragraphs that answer all the above outlinedquestions with proper in-text citations and information from the sources you havecollected. Body paragraphs are not just one or two sentences; they should address aspecific portion of the assignment and be complete.3. Finally, the paper should have a strong conclusion which states your views – not just arepeated summary of the outlined facts. It is acceptable to use personal pronouns heresince an opinion is required.The classic form of writing an essay is simple— in the introduction indicate what this paper is goingto say, say it in the body, then indicate that you have said it (without overt repetition) in theconclusion.Grading will also be based on these criteria:• Essay conforms to an appropriate style manual, especially regarding citations andbibliography. You can find proper guides at: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html• It is printed legibly; it is double-spaced; it is the correct length; it is presented neatly.• Paper includes proper title page information with you name, student #, date, title of paper,and who it is for.• Formal Canadian English is used. Do not use contractions, clichés, and slang language. Ifyou use a spell checker, set its options to Canadian English (CE). If you use a grammarchecker, set its options to “formal”.• Non-gendered language is used when referring to human beings unless specificallydiscussing a man or woman. [See the University of Manitoba’s “Language UsageGuidelines”, in University Policies, University of Manitoba Undergraduate Calendar.]• Essay has been carefully proof-read for grammatical and spelling errors. Spell-checkhelps, but it does NOT catch everything that proof-reading does.• Direct quotations and paraphrased materials are sourced properly, documented with in-text citations. Failure to document your sources is dishonest and will lower yourgrade substantially.• Make sure you include a complete, and correct, bibliography of all sources used
