Mid-Term Fieldwork Project<\/p>\n
Midway through the course you will be asked to do a fieldwork paper (5 pages) that involves a visit to a religious service. Worth 80 points.<\/p>\n
The purpose of this assignment is for you to encounter and describe the worship service of a selected community as an occasion of religious ritual, and to think about its meaning<\/p>\n
in a social context. In general, we will want to find out \u2013<\/p>\n
-What events, symbols, and beliefs form this rite?<\/p>\n
-How do they compare with other forms of worship you have experienced?<\/p>\n
-What distinctive meaning and feeling does this rite have for those who participate in it?<\/p>\n
-What role does it play in their lives as individuals, as a group and as<\/p>\n
members of society?<\/p>\n
To discover some concrete answers to these questions, you will act as a participant- observer, visiting a religious community, either by yourself or with another student in the class. <\/p>\n
This community should be of a social composition different from your own in some important respect. These differences might include race, age, or social class of most of the people who belong to it, and should have some denominational\/religious distance from your own practices (if you belong to a faith community). The reason for this is that if you study your own faith community, if you have one, it will be harder to observe because very little will appear abnormal, different, worthy of careful description.<\/p>\n
As a participant-observer, you will directly observe the worship of a group of religious practitioners in detail as it unfolds. After the service you will informally interview several of its members about their experience of this worship and what it means to them. Try to talk with one person leading the service, but also with a few ordinary members not in positions of leadership. Introduce yourself, tell them what you are seeking to<\/p>\n
learn, and keep the conversation as short as they wish to make it. Don’t take notes during your talk or tape record it. Afterwards, you should draw up an overview of what you saw and heard. This will provide you with detailed notes for your paper.<\/p>\n
The paper’s first task should be DESCRIPTIVE, You should rely mainly on the methods of direct observation and informal interviewing. This description will be sharpened by any comparisons you see with your own religious experience and those of others you have observed.<\/p>\n
The paper’s second task is INTERPRETIVE. Drawing on the readings, lectures, and your own insights, what can you say about the relationship of this group to the larger American society? What are their points of tension and\/or accommodation? What is important for others to know about this group and their relationship to American society?<\/p>\n
The paper MUST have a thesis and this should be stated in the first paragraph.<\/p>\n
There is no need to do any external research.<\/p>\n
Your written report should be 5 double-spaced pages, in Times New Roman, 12 point font, with 1\u201d margins. You will need to be clear and concise, selective, and organized as a whole. Keep the primary thrust of the report descriptive, bringing in ideas from the reading and lectures where they throw light on the description. Conclude with some ideas about how you see the relationship between the ritual, religious meaning, and the social setting of their lives and how they relate to the larger American society.<\/p>\n
So, in sum, your paper should be about 5 pages, double-spaced. Going longer is fine. <\/p>\n
There must be a clear thesis in the first paragraph. This thesis should take a position. Not \u201cI visited a Catholic Church and this is what happened.\u201d But \u201cThe Catholic service I witnessed was filled with rituals.\u201d Or, \u201cCatholic worship is very different from the worship I experience as a Baptist.\u201d <\/p>\n
Then spend at least half of the paper giving a close description of what you saw and heard. <\/p>\n
Next try to interpret what you saw using what you have learned from the course and your own experience.<\/p>\n
Conclude by returning to your thesis and making clear that you have supported it throughout the paper.<\/p>\n
Grading Rubric<\/p>\n
Paper Assignment #1: Field Work Project<\/p>\n
CATEGORY<\/p>\n
Exceptional<\/p>\n
16 points<\/p>\n
Meets Expectations<\/p>\n
12 points<\/p>\n
Needs Improvement<\/p>\n
8 points<\/p>\n
Poor<\/p>\n
4 points<\/p>\n
Originality<\/p>\n
16 points<\/p>\n
Product shows a<\/p>\n
large amount of clear and vivid description, original insights, and creative interpretation.<\/p>\n
Product shows some<\/p>\n
description, good insights, and interpretation.<\/p>\n
Little description,<\/p>\n
insight, or original thinking.<\/p>\n
If poem, song, short<\/p>\n
story, etc is included, student fails to clarify whether it is original work or another person’s work<\/p>\n
Impact on Observer<\/p>\n
16 points<\/p>\n
Grabs observers’<\/p>\n
attention; very effective in conveying an image of the group and its likely explanation.<\/p>\n
Somewhat attention<\/p>\n
grabbing; description is not very revealing; interpretation is not that convincing.<\/p>\n
Does not grab<\/p>\n
observers’ attention; not at all effective in describing and interpreting the ritual.<\/p>\n
Requirements<\/p>\n
16 points<\/p>\n
All requirements are<\/p>\n
met and exceeded; student goes beyond requirements<\/p>\n
All requirements are<\/p>\n
met.<\/p>\n
Some requirements<\/p>\n
not met.<\/p>\n
Content<\/p>\n
16 points<\/p>\n
Covers topic in-<\/p>\n
depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is excellent.<\/p>\n
Includes essential<\/p>\n
knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to be good.<\/p>\n
Interpretation using<\/p>\n
personal experience and course content is not evident.<\/p>\n
Quality of Essay 16 points<\/p>\n
Well organized; good thesis topic; persuasive description and interpretation; effective conclusion; no grammatical errors<\/p>\n
Could use some improvement in one or two of the following criteria: organization; thesis statement; description and interpretation; persuasiveness; effectiveness of conclusion; grammar<\/p>\n
Poorly organized; no thesis statement; little description and\/or interpretation; no conclusion; numerous grammatical errors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mid-Term Fieldwork Project Midway through the course you will be asked to do a fieldwork paper (5 pages) that involves a visit to a religious service. Worth 80 points. The purpose of this assignment is for you to encounter and describe the worship service of a selected community as an occasion of religious ritual, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-105942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-paper-writing","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}