Explorations in Religious Identity (RE 300 WR)

After reading the introduction and translator's note to Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa, please write about three things that you found interesting and two questions/things that confused you. In addition to this, respond to two classmates' post in substantive ways-- either building on or elaborating on their ...

This forum will be repeated weekly. If you have any burning questions about the material, ask them here! I may choose to answer them via one of our Weekly Teams meetings.

Dharma is an important concept in Hinduism and especially in the Rāmāyaṇa. After reading the chapter on Hinduism, how do you understand dharma? Can you explain it in terms of your own life? Why do you think it is so important in Hinduism? Why do you think it is focused on so much in the Rāmāyaṇa?...

This forum will be repeated weekly. If you have any burning questions about the material, ask them here! I may choose to answer them via one of our Weekly Teams meetings.

This forum will be repeated weekly. If you have any burning questions about the material, ask them here! I may choose to answer them via one of our Weekly Teams meetings.

What big thematic or character-driven questions do you have about the story? To clarify, I do not mean questions about small details or sub-stories within the epic, but rather larger issues about such things as consistent behavioral patterns of particular characters, how certain characters are ...

This forum will be repeated weekly. If you have any burning questions about the material, ask them here! I may choose to answer them via one of our Weekly Teams meetings.

You have now completed a fairly detailed translation of Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa. Congratulations! This is a very important and visible textual tradition in south and southeast Asia. You should be proud of yourself for engaging thoughtfully with a difficult and unfamiliar text.

This week, let's take a ...

This forum will be repeated weekly. If you have any burning questions about the material, ask them here! I may choose to answer them via one of our Weekly Teams meetings.

Reflect on the "patterns of difference" that Ramanujan writes about in "Three Hundred Ramayanas." What overlaps do you see with his observations of regional Ramayanas and Sita Sings the Blues? Please give specific details, including references to page numbers and particular parts of the film.

This forum will be repeated weekly. If you have any burning questions about the material, ask them here! I may choose to answer them via one of our Weekly Teams meetings.

A very simple question this week: how does/could caste affect how one might interpret the Rāmāyaṇa? Use specific examples from the Many Rāmāyaṇa chapters that you read for this week.

Remember to respond to 2 of your classmates' posts.

1. Using multiple examples from both of Tuesday's readings, discuss how the Rāmāyaṇa story has been and is used for political ends. Why has the epic (and especially the figure of Ram (Rāma)) been so successful for this end? Why is this problematic?

2. From Thursday's reading, what is the ...

Rewatch critically the Crash Course video on the Ramayana and give a brief analyzation of it. What does it get right, gloss over, get wrong, or misunderstand? Why do you think it is placed under the subheading of "mythology?"

You can reply to one classmate here, and one on the other discussion ...

Reflect on the readings that we have done on the Rāmāyaṇa, specifically on the articles that have discussed retellings, questionings, subversions, or otherwise investigated the story in critical ways. (By the way, the body of literature that consists of these retellings or alterations are ...

Give a before/after example from your research paper (a few sentences to a short paragraph) where you change the voice you use in your paper (using suggestions from chapter 4). Does it improve your work in any way? Why or why not?

Please reply to at least one classmate.

Give a before/after example from your research paper (a few sentences to a short paragraph) where you apply some of the suggestions from chapter 5, such as replacing "be" verbs with more vivid ones, rewriting passive constructions, reducing distance between subjects and verbs, or getting rid of ...

Give a before/after example of possible alternate titles for your research paper, using suggestions from chapter 6. Do you prefer any of these alternatives? You may also try to rewrite your subheading titles, if you are using them.

Please reply to at least one classmate.

Rewrite your opening paragraph(s) using some of the techniques discussed in chapter 7 (give before/after). Remember that catchy openers must directly relate to the content and purpose of your paper; avoid using "hooks" that are provocative but too broad/vague or do not directly relate to the rest...

Try one of the exercises from the list of things to try on pp. 96-98 and show us the before and after. 

Please reply to at least one classmate.

Add extra examples to your essay using some of the techniques on the things to try list on pp. 109-111. Make sure that they are relevant and come from your research. Post the before and after here.

Please reply to at least one classmate.

Find and replace unnecessary jargon somewhere in your essay or "make sure you give your readers a secure handhold" if you decide that it is necessary (121). Remember, jargon is defined as "special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others ...

Make an outline of your essay as it is written, place it here, and then comment in two or three sentences on whether the argument or flow of your paper might be improved by adding information, rearranging parts of your essay, or deleting unnecessary information.

Please reply to at least one ...

Check your citations, making sure that you are using Chicago style consistently and correctly. Give an example of an error in your essay and the correction. 

Please reply to at least one classmate (double check their citation form).

Write an abstract for your paper, using the tips that Sword gives in Chapter 13.

Please reply to at least one classmate.