In a three- to four-page essay, answer ONE of the following prompts:
Option 1: D
In a three- to four-page essay, answer ONE of the following prompts:
Option 1: During the era of the early Republic, many religious groups developed as heart-felt responses to America’s changing gender, economic, and religious norms. Take two examples (either 19th century Evangelicals, the Latter-day Saints, the Oneida Community, or First Wave Feminists) and compare their religious attempts to accept or challenge the predominate social, economic, gendered, sexual, and/or religious orders. You should address the context of the early Republic in order to depict why the groups you chose reacted in the ways that they did. You may want to consider the following questions depending which groups you select:
1) What were the market revolution and disestablishment, and how did they catalyze changes to the economic, communal, religious, and/or familial norms of the late 18th and early 19th centuries? What’s evangelicalism relationship to these occurrences?
2) In the case of the Latter-day Saints and the Oneida Community, how did they attempt to “restore” communities and/or families based on their biblical interpretations? Why did they take specific actions like plural marriage and biblical communism in their attempts at restoration?
3) Though First Wave Feminists aren’t technically considered a “new religious movement,” what traditional conceptions of sexual and gendered roles did they challenge and what religious actions did they take to promote more just and equitable sexual and gendered norms?
OR
Option 2: The First Amendment created the concept of American religious freedom. However, nineteenth-century “mainstream American culture” was often identified with American Protestantism, sometimes leading to the exclusion of minority religions within the United States. Choose two groups we’ve discussed in class (e.g., the Latter-day Saints, Catholics, Native Americans, or enslaved people) and describe how their religions clashed with American Protestant norms. You may want to consider these questions:
1) How did the First Amendment define religious freedom? Did nineteenth-century Americans believe it had limits?
2) During the nineteenth-century, why was Protestantism often identified as the “American religion”?
3) What specific attributes did some Protestants use to stereotype other religions as “un-American”? In order to answer either prompt, please use your notes, the lectures, and other course materials. You should include specific examples to critically analyze the assigned prompt. You must include at least 4 key terms and highlight them in your essay. This essay will be due Thursday, March 21, at 11:59PM. I will accept late essays up to two days after the deadline. For each day, 5 points will be deducted from the total grade.
FORMATTING:
Your essay should be between 3 and 4 pages in length. For every 1/2 page missing from the assignment’s minimum page count, 10 points will be subtracted from the essay’s final grade.
Your essay should be double-spaced, 12-point font, preferably Times New Roman. You should NOT include a cover page.
Regarding file submission types, please use .doc, .docx or .pdf. Often, other file types (like Google docs) are troublesome to open on Canvas.
CITATIONS:
Make sure to include the proper in-text citations or footnotes and a works cited page referencing for each source you included in your essay.
The citation style you use in your essay is up to you. You may choose MLA, APA, or Chicago. I would recommend using the style you’re most familiar with or that which your major most often uses. These essays should offer you an opportunity to learn how to use the citation style you’ll need later in your major.
You are NOT allowed to use outside sources, especially not Khan Academy, John Green videos, Wikipedia, etc.), to answer the prompt. You should not need to use outside materials, because you should have all the sources necessary from the lectures, videos, and assigned readings. Often, citing outside materials is like falling down a rabbit hole – it keeps the essay from fully and properly answering the prompt. If you include outside sources, I will not read those sections of your essay.
STRUCTURING/ORGANIZING YOUR PAPER:
You should begin your essay with a clear, succinct introductory paragraph with a clearly identified thesis statement. You should use your introduction to identify how your paper will unfold and clue the reader into what your main argument will be (i.e. the point of your essay). Each following body paragraph should elaborate on your argument and support the main points included in your introduction. You should wrap up your essay with a clear conclusion (i.e. what should have been gotten out of your essay).
You do NOT need to have a 5 paragraph essay. This isn’t high school. You should include as many paragraphs as needed to properly analyze the given prompt (as long as it fits within the page maximum). Whenever you shift ideas in a paragraph, it’s best to begin a new one.