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The two observation reports and your end-of-term analysis of those reports are an opportunity to record your observations of the people in a local Hindu community, and then to relate your observations to the assigned readings encountered throughout the term.
All three assignments are essentially forms that you fill out. What you write, however, will be more reflective than for a paper proving a particular point. You will not be penalized for minor grammatical errors, but your responses to the prompts should be neatly written or typed, and revised to ensure that everything you say is clear.
The sequence and due dates of these assignments are as follows, with links to the more detailed instructions listed further below.
| Due
Dates |
Assignments
Due |
| September 30 |
turn in name of the site
you plan to visit |
| October 21 |
First Observation Report (site visit) |
| November 25 |
Follow-Up Report (2nd visit or interview) |
December 18 |
Audience:
Think of the Observation Report as a simulated conversation between yourself and a peer keenly interested in other religions, but who has not studied Hindu traditions in an academic context. This hypothetical conversation partner wants to hear about (1) the details of when, where, who and what you saw during your visit; (2) the high point of the events that you observed, framed by a succinct description of what happened from start to finish; and (3) how what you observed related to your prior experiences of religion and to your encounter with the assigned readings in this class. The Observation Report form guides you through this simulated conversation; while the steps are clearly laid out by the form, providing adequate responses requires careful planning and revision.
Instructions:
Select one "scene" (i.e., a set of related moments, or else two closely-related scenes) from the details you observed and recorded during your site visit. This scene should relate in some way to one or more details in the assigned readings done so far. Most obviously, you might chose a moment in a celebration or worship ritual you observed that reminds you of a practice your read about. But you could also focus on an image you saw at the site that reminds you of a deity or idea described in a reading, or a person you observed or spoke with who reminded you of some person or role mentioned in a reading.
Once you have chosen your "scene," complete all parts of the Observation Report form available for download here (PDF/MS Word), which asks you to address the three points numbered in the above description of your audience. Your responses should reflect the deep thinking involved in a conversation carried out over several days; responses composed in a single brief sitting will be unlikely to represent what you saw and understood in an accurate and comprehensive way (see FAQ #7).
Important Warning:
As noted in the syllabus, I will generally elect severe penalties for academic dishonesty: a zero score for the assignment, and failing the course for a second offense. Inclusion of material from uncited sources--including an internet site or another student's paper--is the most obvious form of plagiarism in paper writing.You are responsible for reading my comments regarding the importance of academic honesty, and my no-tolerance policy for incidents of dishonesty, in FAQ #10-13; as well as for requesting clarification if there is anything you do not understand.
Other Requirements:
**IN CASE OF LOSS, KEEP TWO (2) ELECTRONIC COPIES**
Note also late policy & style/format.
Extra Credit: up to three (3) points of extra credit may be given for any report that reflects thorough reading of one of the optional primary sources listed in the schedule of readings. Make sure to hand-write "PLEASE CONSIDER FOR EXTRA CREDIT" at the top of your paper if you wish you report to be considered.
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Follow-Up Report (2nd visit or interview)
Audience:
As a follow-up to your initial site visit, you will have EITHER (A) return to the same site to observe a different event OR (B) conduct an interview with a member of the site's community. The keenly interested conversation partner you imagined addressing in your first observation report will then also want to here about your follow-investigation of the same site. Your simulated conversation with her will follow the same format as the first time, but you will be comparing what you saw the second time with your first visit as you go along.
Instructions:
If you chose to visit the same site to observe a different event, you should once again select one or two "scenes" to highlight in your report, which as before should relate in some way to one or more details in the assigned readings done so far. If you chose the interview, select two or three key exchanges from your conversation with the interviewee, including at least two direct quotations of 2-4 sentences each, that relate to some detail(s) in the assigned readings.
Once you have made your choice, you should again complete all parts of the appropriate Follow-Up Report form, which adds a few comparisons to the earlier form. A different form is provided depending on whether you are reportng a 2nd site visit (download PDF/MS Word) or interview (download PDF/MS Word). As before, responses should reflect the deep thinking involved in a thoughtful conversation, which will rarely occur in a single brief period of writing (see FAQ #7).
Other Requirements:
**IN CASE OF LOSS, KEEP TWO (2) ELECTRONIC COPIES **
Please also review late policy & style/format as needed.
Extra Credit: as with the first observation report, up to three (3) points of extra credit may be given for any report that reflects thorough reading of one of the optional primary sources listed in the schedule of readings. Again, make sure to hand-write "PLEASE CONSIDER FOR EXTRA CREDIT" at the top of your paper if you wish you report to be considered.
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Audience:
As you approach the end of your term in this course, the conversation partner hypothetically addressed in your observation reports wants to know: did you learn anything from all those unusual, challenging in-class assignments and tests you've been telling her about? Or would you have learned just as much by simply visiting the local Hindus you observed, without bothering about all the complex historical readings? Your instructor thinks the answer is "yes" to the first questions and "no" to the second; but in the final assignment, you get to decide for yourself.
The Observation Analysis form guides you through the in-depth process of reviewing the terms and sources that you studied throughout the semester, in order to decide which are most relevant to the observations your recorded, and also to what extent understanding the records of the past provides greater insight into your contemporary observations. Once again, the steps are clearly laid out by the form but require careful thought to produce adequate responses; but the thinking process required for this final assignment is the most challenging task you will undertake for this course.
Instructions:
First, choose the five terms or names assigned for RPTs #1-4 that most clearly relate to observations presented in your observation reports. (CAUTION: do not use terms assigned for the trial RPT given at the very beginning of the term, as these are too general to provide the specificity needed for a focused analysis.)
Then, locate the single primary source that describes the ritual or custom most clearly related to one of the scene(s) or details you observed during your site visits (and/or to ideas and experiences described in your interview, if you did one).
Finally, complete the "Observation Analysis" form available for download (PDF/MS Word), which asks you first to relate the five terms to one another and to the observations detailed in your two reports; and and then to to the rituals &/or customs you observed during site visit(s) and/or heard about during your interview; and then to relate each term .
Other Requirements:
**IN CASE OF LOSS, KEEP TWO (2) ELECTRONIC COPIES **
Please review late policy & style/format one last time, if needed.
Extra Credit: up to FIVE (5) points of extra credit may be given for any
report that reflects thorough reading of one of the optional primary
sources listed in the schedule of readings. As with the observation reports, make sure to
hand-write "PLEASE CONSIDER FOR EXTRA CREDIT" at the top of your
paper if you wish you report to be considered.
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