This feedback provides guidance on a paper assignment for a religious studies class. It outlines the grading scale, emphasizes that viewpoints must be clearly argued and supported by evidence from assigned readings. Direct quotes should be avoided and the student's analysis should engage with key issues from course texts. Creativity and unique interpretations are encouraged, as long as positions are well-reasoned and supported. The student is asked to write a 3-4 page paper addressing the questions "What is religion?", "What are Native American religions?" and "How do we come to know or study them?", drawing on assigned readings.

1. Paper 1 Feedback

2. Grading Scale from Syllabus
• A is 12-15 points
• B is 8-11 points
• C is 4-7 points
• D is 1-3 points
• F is 0

3. Syllabus on Clarity
• The viewpoints you present in your writing
must be clearly conceived and well argued.
Your writing style should be straight-
forward, easy to read and should be clearly
related to the issues you wish to address.
Topic sentences at the beginning of each
paragraph are helpful in establishing the issue
and argument for the reader at the outset.

4. Engagement with the material.
• Entries are to be related to the reading
material. They are not reviews of what has
been stated in the book but are your critical
analysis of the reading. Avoid direct quotes.
Instead seriously take-up what you consider to
be the ‘key’ issues for the study of religion in
the reading. An analysis of the issues
discussed in the course become clearer the
closer your writing is to the texts used in class.

5. Creativity
• The ‘work’ of Religious Studies, and perhaps the
Humanities in general, is essentially creative.
Interpretation of religious phenomena requires
that you come to some meaningful relationship
with your object of study. This is one of the
defining characteristics of creativity. You have a
unique and important contribution to make to
our collective understandings. There are no
predetermined experts in the area of
interpretation, only well refined and well argued
positions. Your interpretations will be dealt with
as importantly as you regard them yourself.

6. Writing Prompt
You will write a 3-4 page paper (750-1000 words) address three
questions; What is religion? What are Native American
religions? How do we come to know or study them? I will be
addressing these questions in class lecture over the next
week. Also, read the Preface and Introduction of "Indigenous
Religions" to get more ideas on how to address this paper.
It is to follow the standard essay format of introductory
paragraph, followed by examples and discussion and then finally
a concluding paragraph. You should cite page numbers in the
text and if you bring in outside information that should be
properly cited.