Bonus Points Assignment for Rel 2300
If you wish to earn bonus points by reflecting on the various religious traditions that we
study, you may discuss in a well-developed paragraph of approximately 250 words the
“kernel of wisdom” that you have extracted from a religion. You are to write about the
aspect (a principle, concept, or practice) of the religious tradition that seems most
significant to you for use in your own intellectual or spiritual life. In other words, you are
to discuss one thing about the religion that fascinates you and rings true for you,
something that you will take with you and use in your life after the course is over. (In
other words, do not write a general paragraph about several things that you learned about
the tradition, but focus on the one thing that seems both meaningful and useful to you.)
You may write about any or all of the traditions we study (Hinduism, Buddhism,
Taoism/Daoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam). You can write as few as
one or as many as seven separate paragraphs. Each paragraph is worth up to 5 points
depending on the quality of the thought and writing.
These are to be handed in (type written, double spaced) when you take the midterm
and/or final exam.
This is a bonus point opportunity; it is totally voluntary. If you did one paragraph for
each religious tradition, you could earn as many as 35 points.