iBook Essay Prompt

Essays must be submitted to Canvas

The Writing Process

1. Define the assignment

2. Research—read and ask questions

3. Brainstorm—articulate concepts and ideas

4. Outline—organize ideas

5. Write the essay

6. Review, critique, and edit

Instructions

The essay is to be 4 pages long (900-1200 words). Use APA format for organization, formatting, in-text citations, and the works cited page. Click (Owl Purdue & Lynn’s Library Website) for help citing in APA format.

Pick from any of the following prompts for your essays (choose only 1). When you select a prompt for your essay, you are also selecting the topic for the presentation conjoined to it. The prompts are as follows:

1) Evaluate (from either a psychological or sociological standpoint) the benefits or detriments of religion. Select 3 of the following readings (“Genesis 1 & 2,” “Qur’an,” “Mere Christianity,” “Why I am not a Christian,” “Exodus,” “The Messiah,” “Transcripts of the Salem Witch Trials,” or “the Age of Reason”)to inform your evaluation. How does religion provide models of relationships, social/political constructs, values, coping mechanisms; are these paradigms beneficial?

2) Take a popular culture figure (non-fictional) and use one of the iBook readings to analyze them. For example, how does Taylor swift portray “feminine identity” in her music or personal life, and how would the readings (perhaps Genesis 2) agree or disagree with that concept?

3) Choose a fictional character from your favorite movie or show (Walter White, Dexter, Francis Underwood, Cerci Lannister, etc.) and analyze their character from the perspective of an iBook reading. For example, what would the author of the readings (perhaps Benjamin Franklin or the 10 commandments) say about Jack Sparrow? What is your character’s ethic, and how do they justify what they do?

4) Summarize and evaluate concepts of spirituality found in three of the following sources: Mere Christianity, Why I’m Not a Christian, Each and All, or the Age of Reason. For each reading you choose, you should briefly and accurately summarize what each reading says about the meaning of spirituality. After that you should then provide a critical evaluation of the reading’s concept of spirituality. Once you have done that for each of the readings you’ve selected, your final body paragraph ought to provide your definition of spirituality informed by the readings and your critical evaluation.

5) Compare or contrast the ideas about Jesus using three or more of the following readings: Mere Christianity, Why I’m Not a Christian, Age of Reason, the Other Jesus. Are these sources in agreement or disagreement about Jesus or Christianity? After analyzing the three sources’ positions, inform your reader how their ideas compare or contrast with your own thinking about Jesus.

6) Evaluate the ideas about the relationship between faith and reason found in three of the following sources: Mere Christianity, Why I’m Not a Christian, or the Age of Reason. For each reading you choose, you should briefly and accurately summarize what each reading says about the relationship between faith and reason. After that you should then provide a critical evaluation of the reading’s concept of that relationship. Once you have done that for each of the readings you’ve selected, your final body paragraph ought to provide your opinion about the relationship between faith and reason informed by the readings and your critical evaluation.

7) Using the readings of Mere Christianity, Why I’m Not a Christian, and the Age of Reason as a base, conduct an interview with a spiritual or religious leader. Ask them about some of the concerns found within the readings and document their responses. How do they make sense of “the problem of evil” and how do they respond to Russell’s statement that faith is rooted in fear? If they represent an institutionalized religion, how do they respond to Paine’s pronouncement: “My mind is my own Church.” Also, feel free to ask them the deep questions that you have about life and God. Your paper will use the interview as the main source and capture what you felt were the most important aspects of the interview and your evaluation of the person’s responses. (Click here for citing interviews in APA format)

8) For those of you who are more artistically inclined, create a work of art (music, comic book, comic, video, drawing, short-story, painting, poem, etc.) that captures either 1) your evaluation of a reading; 2) A theme of the course (from class discussion or your reading); 2) or take one of the prompts above and use art to express your opinion/evaluation/comparison/contrast. In addition to the work of art itself, you must produce a three-page summary of your work. The summery should include a description of your artwork, a detailed explanation about how the artwork relates to the themes we are covering in the readings and class, as well as a description of the creative process you underwent. You also must also have a citation page that adheres to APA formatting. For your presentation, you will display and explain your artwork. Your work (the 3 pages and the art work) must be submitted to Canvas (you can embed a photo of your art work in the 3-page document and upload the single file to Canvas).

DIALOGUES OF LEARNING