Fundamental or basic orientation of thinking

A world view is a fundamental or

basic orientation of thinking – like a mindset – which guides a culture

and / or a person’s life. Like a point of view, it can be built of

concepts, ideas, values, emotions, and ethics. “Weltanschauung” is the

German word for this idea. Your goal for this course is to understand

the world views of these various religions. In order to prepare you for

your final assignment, you will outline the world views of various

religions in the chart below, adding to it each week.

For this assignment, students will complete the weekly area of the chart, filling in the aspects of each religion as it is presented in the readings and resources. This chart, when complete, will be the starting point for the written assignment, due in Week 10.

For each weekly submission:

Review the weekly lectures and supplemental materials provided, then complete the chart by elaborating on each section related to the weekly content.
Identify key details and examples from the weekly resources to serve as a basis for the content being recorded in your chart.
Write clearly and coherently using correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Analyze what is meant by religion.

Analyze the similarities and differences in the primary beliefs held by

major religious traditions and the cultures in which these religions

evolved.
Describe the varieties of religious experience and practice in a wide range of cultures.
Recognize how daily life within various religions and current affairs are influenced by religion.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in religion.
Write clearly and concisely about world religions using proper writing mechanics.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.