Analysis Paper

Select one primary source document from those which we have read in this unit of the class. Make an historical argument about how its author employed religion in an attempt to shape American culture in some way. Use brief quotations from the document and your interpretation of their meaning as evidence to support your thesis throughout the paper. (N.B.: Papers written on secondary sources – articles or book chapter written by historians or other scholars – are not acceptable for this assignment and will receive zero credit. If you select a document from the syllabus that is marked with an *, you will avoid this problem.)

Your writing should engage the content of the reading rather than summarizing it. Consider the following questions as you write: What does this reading reveal about religion in American history? What is the author’s religious perspective and purpose for writing? How does he or she address issues we have discussed in class? Be sure to consider whether the reading reinforces, extends, confirms, or contradicts ideas we have encountered in class and what such engagement reveals about the historical context in which the document was written. Pay close attention to change over time, competition for cultural dominance, and the relationship of a religious tradition to the larger society in your writing.

Each paper should be three typed pages long (not including the header or title). Papers that do not meet this requirement are incomplete and cannot receive full credit. N.B.: These assignments are not reflection papers. Your focus should be on academic argumentation and explanation that deal directly with the text you have selected, not your own feelings, experiences or theological beliefs and practices.

Be sure to write in neutral, scholarly language for ALL your assignments.

Bring 2 hard copies of your paper to class for the peer review. Leave one with me as a record of your participation. Use the other for the peer review and then submit it with the final version of your paper.

 

Example of a Thesis:

In Sublimis Deus, Pope Paul III expanded Catholic notions of the church and who could belong within it by declaring American Indians to be fully human.