Paper on religion
Please be sure to select religion that is different from what you practice ( or at least make it seem as such when writing)
(6-8 pages) watch the film associated with the religion that you are writing about instead and include your observations and reactions to the experience of seeing the film into your paper:
Buddhism: Little Buddha (1993)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3o1fq7
Chinese Religion: Confucius (2010) Mandarin w/ English subtitles
Japanese Religion: Zen: The Life of Zen Master Dogen (2009) Japanese w/ English subtitles
Judaism: When Do We Eat? (2006) PLEASE NOTE: mature comedy (can be rented for $1.99 on Google Play, YouTube or Amazon Prime)
Christianity: The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
https://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/gospel_according_to_st_matthew
(also available on Amazon Prime: please do not watch colorized or edited version which are 91 minutes; full version is 2 hours, 18 minutes running time)
Original Italian w/ English subtitles
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6kf3qx
Also be sure to compare and contrast what the Written Lectures and Class Readings say about the religion you encounter in the film (always read both before watching the film) to what you learn from this experience as well as offer your own opinion of – and specific reactions to and reflections upon – the experience of doing this.
Don’t forget to not only to include the special material that you gather in your film-watching experience, but to also be sure to relate all of this back to the course material itself by including:
- what the Written Lectures said about the religion and relevant topics
- what the Class Readings said about the religion and the relevant topics
c. what is your own opinion on all of this
No other format will be accepted for these assignments, so please be careful to follow these assignment instructions carefully. A traditional research paper, for instance, will not be accepted. Nor will a paper on a religion we are not specifically studying (Baha‘i for instance) as the whole point is to have your own direct experience of what we are abstractly studying. Nor will it count to write about making a visit or having had an experience of another religion before taking the course or before reading the Written Lectures and Class Readings concerning that religion as it is essential to apply your newfound knowledge to the experience. Apart from the film-related portions of the above papers, the information about the religions themselves should only come from our class Written Lectures about that religion supplemented by Class Readings and class handouts.
After you select a movie, I can provide reading handouts from class in accordance to that religion!
