The shorter research paper will be on a topic related to our upcoming study of Gandhi. You will write a thesis-driven research paper exploring some issue related to Mahatma (Mohandas K.) Gandhi, Hindu and/or Jain models of holiness, the Indian doctrine of nonviolence before Gandhi, the history of the British raj or the Indian independence movement, political martyrdom in twentieth century nationalist struggles, or the reception of Gandhi and influence of Gandhi beyond India.
Base your arguments on the evidence you find in your sources, make sure you substantiate your claims with reference to specific primary or secondary sources, and avoid vague, general comments.
This paper is meant to help you develop the following skills:
i. Use secondary sources in conjunction with a thesis-driven argument about a primary text or figure.
ii. Become comfortable searching for and evaluating secondary source material.
iii. Become comfortable entering a critical debate about a given work or figure and assimilating competing viewpoints into one's own argument.
iv. Continue work on the rhetorical features of effective argumentation.
v. Achieve competence in correct bibliographical form for citation of a number of different kinds of sources
Spelling, grammar and writing quality will be evaluated as well as content.
***
You must use at least five independent sources in your research, one of which must be a journal article or essay and one of which must be an internet source. For help in evaluating web documents, see the following Cornell University site: Criteria and Tools for Evaluating Web Sites http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/webeval.html.
Each student will develop an annotated bibliography of materials to be used in the paper. Students are asked to post these bibliographies on line in order to bring a wide range of relevant material to your collective attention. You may certainly limit yourself to the five sources you identify in your own bibliography, but you should feel free to substitute a relevant work from someone else's list as well. Please be respectful of each other in your use of these materials; do not hoard books! There will be considerable overlap in material, and you should try to return books as soon as you are finished with them. Please feel free to email the class to track down sources that you suspect are being used by a classmate so that you can work out a speedy transfer.
Your paper should be about five pages long (no less than five, no more than 6), double-spaced with the usual margins (1" at top and bottom, 1.25" left and right). Please staple your paper in the top left corner and be sure to include page numbers.
You must cite in a footnote or endnote (set preferences in Microsoft Word for Arabic rather than Roman numerals) all sources from which you quote or paraphrase, as well as works to which you refer or from which you have culled information. Please follow Chicago Style format as described in Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers or The Chicago Manual of Style. . You can find most of what you need to know from this University of Wisconsin online presentation of Chicago Style at http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html
For citing Internet sources in a modified Chicago Style, see the following website: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite7.html.
In addition to footnotes or endnotes, your paper should also contain a select bibliography including not only those works you used directly, but also anything else you used for background in the course of your research (including encyclopedia entries, general histories, and so forth). The bibliography page does not count as one of your 5 pages of text. Again, please follow Chicago Style. Make sure you know the difference between a "Select Bibliography" and "Works Cited" or "Annotated Bibliography" so that you include the right sort of page. Points will be deducted from your grade for failure to attach the correct format.
Papers are due in class on Friday, October 29. I will deduct 3 points from the final paper grade if you arrive late to class and will deduct six points from the final paper for each day the paper is late, unless you have a valid excuse (documented illness, serious family emergency). Please note that a heavy workload in another class is not a valid excuse for lateness; you know long in advance when this paper is due and you are free to complete the work earlier if necessary.
Mugar library has a page with electronic resources for religion topics at: http://www.bu.edu/library/eresources/erelig.html
and for history at:
http://www.bu.edu/library/eresources/ehistory.html