Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:

Religious Studies 201 Regarding the Major Project Weight: 40% of your final grade. Due: In class, Wednesday, March 18. We are quite happy to accept submissions earlier than this date. Late papers will be penalized unless an extension is arranged in advance. Topic: For this assignment, you are required to select a particular ghost, or demon, or monster, or a category thereof (e.g., werewolves in general, rather than one specific kind of werewolf), and provide a thorough desсrіption and analysis of that being. The entity you choose is up to you — it can be a creature that has been dealt with in class, but we particularly encourage you to select your own beast or demonic entity according to your own interests, and we will be delighted to see analyses of creatures we have not dealt with or even mentioned in class (there are so many possibilities!). Of course, choosing, say, “cats,” is not a great idea because they aren’t monsters, or ghosts, or demons. Length: Since this project is worth a significant portion of your final grade, it is to be substantial in length. We’re asking for a absolute minimum length of eight pages, double spaced. (There is, however, no specified maximum length.) Guidelines/expectations: What we are looking for here is primarily a written submission, but not a straightforward term paper or essay or the like. Instead, we want a broad desсrіption and analysis of your chosen entity, which covers as many of the following points as possible: Desсrіption * a fairly thorough desсrіption of your entity, including its appearances, its substance (is it a physical or “spiritual” entity, etc.), its ordinary behavior, the ways in which it threatens people, who its typical victims are, how it can assist people (if applicable), how it can be controlled, what its weaknesses or vulnerabilities might be; * a history of the creature: is it specific to one culture, or is it a cross-cultural phenomenon? does it have a distinct historical lineage, an origin and development? under what circumstances did the term used for it originate? * a discussion of uses to which it has been put: is it a playful character in fiction? a children’s story? a serious “scientific” explanation of something? a serious moral warning? or a combination of things? Analysis * an analysis of what qualities mark it out as monstrous; is it a category-violator? what issues or problems or questions do its monstrous characteristics flag for us? * an analysis (if applicable) of how the creature is composed of rearranged parts of ordinary creatures; is the creature “good to think with”? how so? and what exactly is being thought about? * does the creature, or the ways in which it is presented, serve any social functions? are these functions general or are they historically specific? * an analysis, if applicable, of any emotional needs served or addressed by the creature. Note the suggested breakdown above of desсrіption followed by analysis — but if you feel that intertwining the two is advantageous, feel free to do so. Note too that your submission can include audio or visual materials if you feel this will assist your desсrіption and analysis. Images can be printed and included with the paper, or as appendices; digital images or video and audio clips can also be included on a flash drive, also as appendices; and you may refer to these appendices in the body of the paper. Sources: It is expected that you will have to consult a wide range of sources to unearth the wide range of details needed to answer the above questions adequately. Hence,research is definitely required for this project, and should be broad in scope. Both of us are leery of internet sources, but in this case, it is to be expected that a lot of primary source information will indeed come from on-line materials. These should be cited accurately and with precision. Scholarly sources, however, should be used and cited as well.