Touchstones are projects that illustrate your comprehension of the course material, help you refine skills, and demonstrate application of knowledge. You can
work on a Touchstone anytime, but you can’t submit it until you have completed the unit’s Milestones. Once you’ve submitted a Touchstone, it will be graded
and counted toward your final course score.
Touchstone 3: Evaluating the Impact of Religion on Individuals, Society, and the World
ASSIGNMENT: In each of the three units in this course, you have learned about the role of religions in our world. You have already reflected on some of
the major approaches to studying religions, and compared and contrasted two religions. In Unit 3, you have investigated the impact of religion on
individuals and society, including learning about religion’s role in shaping morality and ethics, as well as ritual and material culture. Finally, you also
thought about religion’s influence on government and global affairs.
For your final Touchstone, you will evaluate the impact of religion on individuals, society, and the world.
In a 400-600 word short essay, you will evaluate some of the ways in which religions both unite and divide, using specific examples from the lessons in
Units 1, 2, and 3 to support your conclusions, by responding to this question: How do religions both unite and divide humanity?
A. Assignment Guidelines
DIRECTIONS: Write a short essay of 400-600 words that responds to this question: How do religions both unite and divide humanity?
As you develop your response, you should choose two of the following areas of religious influence from Unit 3 to analyze:
• Religion & the Individual
• Religions & Society
• Morality & Ethics
• Ritual & Material Culture
• Religion in Government
• Religion in Global Affairs
Your short essay should include four parts:
Not Submitted
Submitted Scored
You can work on a Touchstone whenever you want, but you must complete the previous assessments in the Unit before you can submit it.
SUBMIT TOUCHSTONE
Currently, the average time for a Touchstone to be graded is 2-3 days from submission.
UNIT 3 — TOUCHSTONE 3: Evaluating the Impact of Religion on Individuals,
Society, and the World
SCORE
-/25
• Briefly introduce your topic and develop a clear and succinct response to the question: How do religions both unite and divide humanity?
• Support your response by analyzing the first area of religious influence that you have selected from Unit 3. Use at least two specific examples from the
lessons in any unit in your analysis.
• Support your response by analyzing the second area of religious influence that you have selected from Unit 3. Use at least two specific examples from
the lessons in any unit in your analysis.
• Briefly summarize and conclude your short essay.
You will use information from the Sophia tutorials to support your response. When citing material from a tutorial, please include the name of the tutorial and
use the following format (using Sophia’s Primal Religions tutorial as an example):
• In-text citation: (Primal Religions, n.d.)
• Reference: (n.d.). Primal Religions [MOOC]. In Approaches to Studying Religions. Sophia Learning. https://app.sophia.org/spcc/approaches-to-studyingreligions–2/unit1/study-guide/7845/primal-religions-2
Refer to the completion checklist below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines.
❒ Have you chosen two areas of religious influence from Unit 3 to analyze?
❒ Drawing on these areas of influence, have you written a clear and succinct response to the question: How do religions both unite and divide humanity?
❒ Have you supported your response by using at least two specific examples from the lessons in any unit, related to the first area of religious influence
that you selected?
❒ Have you supported your response by using at least two specific examples from the lessons in any unit, related to the second area of religious
influence that you selected?
❒ Have you ensured that your evidence supports your initial response? If not, now is a good time to go back and revise your response.
❒ Is your short essay between 400-600 words, double-spaced, and formatted in 12-point font?
❒ Have you cited examples with in-text citations?
❒ Have you proofread your short essay for mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization?
B. Rubric
Advanced (100%) Proficient (80%) Needs Improvement
(60%)
Non-Performance
(0%)
Question Response (5
points)
Essay provides a clear and
thoughtful response to the
prompt.
Essay develops a clear and
succinct response to the question
prompt, and considers how
religions both unite and divide.
Essay develops a response to the
question prompt, but may only
consider how religion unites or only
how it it divides.
Essay develops a response to the
question prompt, but the response may
lack clarity and demonstrate a limited
understanding of the content.
Essay does not respond to the
question prompt, or response is
highly irrelevant.
Advanced (100%) Proficient (80%) Needs Improvement
(60%)
Non-Performance
(0%)
Evaluation of Religious
Influence (1) (5 points)
Essay evaluates a first area of
religious influence in support of
the response.
Essay evaluates the area of
religious influence and its effect on
uniting or dividing humanity. The
analysis fully supports the
response.
Essay evaluates the area of religious
influence and its effect on uniting or
dividing humanity. The analysis may
only weakly support the response.
Essay minimally or inaccurately
evaluates the area of religious
influence and its effect on uniting or
dividing humanity, and/or no
connection to the response is made.
Essay does not identify or
evaluate an area of religious
influence and its effect on uniting
or dividing humanity.
Evaluation of Religious
Influence (2) (5 points)
Essay evaluates a second area
of religious influence in support
of the response.
Essay evaluates the area of
religious influence and its effect on
uniting or dividing humanity. The
analysis fully supports the
response.
Essay evaluates the area of religious
influence and its effect on uniting or
dividing humanity. The analysis may
only weakly support the response.
Essay minimally or inaccurately
evaluates the area of religious
influence and its effect on uniting or
dividing humanity, and/or no
connection to the response is made.
Essay does not identify or
evaluate an area of religious
influence and its effect on uniting
or dividing humanity.
Use of Evidence (5 points)
Essay uses specific examples
that support the response.
At least 4 specific examples from
the lessons in Unit 3 are used to
support the response. Examples
are cited appropriately.
2-3 specific examples from the
lessons in Unit 3 are used to support
the response. Examples are cited
appropriately.
At least 1 specific example from the
lessons in Unit 3 is used to support the
response.
No specific examples from the
lessons in Unit 3 are used to
support the response.
Conventions (4 points)
Essay follows conventions for
standard written English.
There are one or no errors in
grammar, punctuation, spelling, and
capitalization.
There are minor errors in grammar,
punctuation, spelling, and
capitalization that do not impede
readability.
There are frequent errors in grammar,
punctuation, spelling, and capitalization
that impede readability.
There are consistent errors in
grammar, punctuation, spelling,
and capitalization that
significantly impede readability.
Meets Requirements (1 point)
Submission meets formatting
requirements, including 12-point
font, double-spacing, and word
count.
All requirements for formatting and
length are met.
Requirements for formatting and
length are mostly met.
Requirements for formatting and length
are somewhat met.
Requirements for formatting and
length are not met at all.
C. Requirements
The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:
• Composition must be between 400-600 words.
• Double-space the composition and use one-inch margins.
• Use a readable 12-point font.
• All writing must be appropriate for an academic context.
• Composition must be original and written for this assignment.
• Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
• Submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your composition.
• Include all of the assignment components in a single file.
• Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx.
• In-text citations should use this style: (National Religions, n.d.)
• References should use this style: (n.d.). National Religions [MOOC]. In Approaches to Studying Religions. Sophia Learning. https://app.sophia.org
/spcc/approaches-to-studying-religions–2/unit3/study-guide/8190/national-religions-2
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