on Project Representations of Latin American Religions
THIS PROJECT IS DUE TO YOUR TA's Monday April 28th, 2008
**Page margins should be 1" , the font should be 12pt- Times New Roman! Double Spaced. ( TAs and the professor are black belts in font stretching, so don't think you can sneak one past us!)
1. Literary and Cinematic Representations of Religion and Violence in Latin America Consider the representation of religious responses to violence and social crisis depicted in "the Mission" and "Romero." Compose a six page paper that engages all of the following issues: a.) How do Rodrigo Mendoza (deNiro) and Bishop Romero both perceive the world in religious terms, albeit in very different terms. What sort of spiritual issues are these main characters grappling with? How about supporting the characters? b.) What is the relationship between religion and the presence of terrible violence in both of these narratives? How is this relationship represented? c.) What seems uniquely Latin American about both stories (apart from location obviously). How do the religious cultures and themes you have studied appear in or inform the films?
In composing your essay use this standard essay format:
A. Introduction B. Body C. Conclusion The Introduction to your essay should be bold, direct, and assertive - it should present in general (or specific) terms the point that you intend to prove in your essay. The Body of your essay is expository it is where you develop your interpretation of the readings to prove the validity of your opening position that is, your thesis. The Conclusion combines the evidence of the body together with argument of your thesis. This section should be brief (1-2 paragraphs) will but be difficult to write if you do not know what you are trying to say in your essay from the outset. **Other Instructions:
The purpose of the assignment is not for you to engage in outside research of secondary materials you may access other material for your own background knowledge but stick to the materials at hand as support for your essay. Avoid overlong quotations they distract from your arguments and tend to make your writing awkward and obviously "padded." Do not quote from the readings without noting source (footnotes or endnotes are fine). Quotes over three lines long should be indented one tab space from the margin and single spaced. For example: This is the main text of the essay that is double spaced. The following text in the quote will be single spaced because it is over 3 lines Here, I am quoting myself. Nothing is worse than quotes with screwed up formatting! They can make the whole paper look wacky, padded or just plain sloppy. Please make sure that your quotes are properly indented so that your reader will not be distracted. Also note that you don't have to use quotation marks on a block quote like this one. But, you should footnote your source. Furthermore, you don't need to make the font in a block quote different, bigger or smaller. 1 Do not plagiarize, if you are not sure if you are plagiarizing, err on the side of caution. Page margins should be 1," and the font should be no larger than 12pt. (esp not courier!) TAs and the professor are black belts in font stretching, so don't think you can sneak one past us! With the exception of long quotes as explained above, the essay should be doublespaced. Not triple, not custom, but just plain old double spaced.