Step 3: Final Product

Based on the deep analysis and reflection stimulated by the GRW and its review, the final step of this assignment is to write a letter or narrative, or to create a poster presentation, series of sketches or other creative report that addresses the City Repair staff, as described in the scenario for the Application Exercise addressing your chosen Asian practice (see "Audience"). Written reports should be no more than 5 pages (but up to 7 allowed for a script or narrative that is mostly dialogue). Reports that combine of illustration and writing are usually 2-3 pages of drawing integrated with text OR a single detailed illustration with 1-2 pages commentary).

Your task is to convince the City Repair staff that (i) the assigned Asian practice you describe is a useful model for similar contemporary practice they are considering, and also that (ii) both practices address the GOAL articulated in the relevant scenario, which in each case is related to two of the three elements of culture studied throughout the course. To this end, whether visual or verbal, your final product should ***BEGIN WITH AN INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH*** that

• directly addresses the City Repair project as your audience;
• identifies the contemporary practice that corresponds to your chosen Asian practice; and
• summarizes in 1-2 sentences what it is about the Asian practice that leads you argue that the corresponding practice contemporary practice has the potential to accomplish the goal stated in the corresponding scenario.

The remainder of your product should support this statement--verbally and/or visually, explicitly or through narrative--by including the same three things addressed in the worksheet:

A. vivid description that brings to life a practice featured in an assigned or optional source from the relevant unit;

B. analysis of community & reflection related to the practice as described in assigned sources, based on balanced selection & explication of four terms listed in blue on the relevant page of the reading guide (see also Asian Practices & Terms); and

C. comparison of the way the Asian practice, ideas and social realities resembles and differs from the practice, reflection and social context of your own daily ritual of recitation or artistic creation, again brought to life by vivid description.

These three points should be integrated in a way that NOT ONLY draws on the most important details from the GRW (as suggested by questions 1(g)/(h), 2 (e)/(f), 3(c)/(d)) BUT ALSO addresses the GOAL articulated in the scenario for the Application Exercise addressing your chosen Asian practice (see "Audience") as suggested by your responses on the final "Analysis & Planning" page of the GRW. This final report will be assessed based on (a) thoughtfulness with which initial responses on the worksheet have been revised and integrated and (b) the extent of and insightfulness with which the essay, story, etc. addresses the goal of the relevant scenario.

**View evaluation rubric for this assignments**

Creative Options: I encourage you to consider options other than the 3rd person, declarative prose of a standard academic paper, including but not limited to:

• 1st person personal account or letter
• 1st or 3rd person historical fiction
• writing blended with illustration (drawing, painting, digitial)
• illustration with detailed commentary
• poetry with adequate commentarial clarification.

If you choose one of these alternative genres, make sure to include parenthetical page numbers references within the text--e.g., "The Rg Veda praises the sun" (p.105)--*even if you don't quote your source directly*, and even such references seem out of place in such non-academic writing.

Standard Paper Option: If you choose to write in 3rd person, declarative prose, make sure that you adapt what you have written in your worksheet for a more general audience (see "Intended Audience"). At a minimum this means including

• an introductory papagraph based on some of the ideas expressed in GRW "analysis & planning" section, clearly stating the overall focus of the paper;
• transitions between paragraphs to clarify the logic of the sequence you follow, which need not be the same as that of the GRW;
• a focused recapitulation of your points and what you have achieved by making them.

Cutting and pasting responses from your worksheet may provide a solid foundation for the final report, but note that in most cases such responses will require substantial revision to receive an adequate score.

Overall, make sure to frame your paper in a way that is understandable to someone unfamiliar with the class or the assignment. Such a person would not know what you mean by "my chosen Asian practice," "the term I chose that relates to the unseen/to community," or "my daily practice;" so delete these phrases and talk in more general terms about, for example, what you and Asian people do, what you and they think about what they do, and who you and they relate to as they do it.

Finally, two WRITING TIPS for standard academic prose:

1. If you find yourself using a hyperbolic phrase such as "greatly important," "hugely significant," "incredibly powerful" to describe some detail, issue or theme, delete the phrase and focus more precisely on expressing what is important or significant about the issue or theme you are highlighting, and why.
   
   
2. If you find that you have written any sentence such as

"All cultures have practices that inspire people in various communities to reflect..."
"Throughout this course we have studied many examples of people in Asia doing practices that inspire reflection."
"In considering this practice, it is very important to understand term X."
"There are many similarities but also some differences between my practice and that of culture Y."

delete it and focus more precisely on the details of the practice & terms and what you want to say about them. For example

"The practice of A in culture B vividly demonstrates that reflection and community can...."
"At least some of the people engaged in the practice of X necessarily reflected on the concept of Y, as evidenced by..."
"While A is done in culture B and what I do is part of contemporary American culture, they both have a similar goal..."

**View samples below for**

• newsletter format --> NOTE: this example has images integrated, but you the written part is in itself a good model for an academic paper.
  
• 1st person narrative -->NOTE: this is fiction narrative about a contemporary student, but you could also write a narrative about one of the historical characters in the sources.
• diagram & images --> NOTE: this example is digital but you could just as well do a pencil sketch.
  
  

Really REALLY Major, Important Reminder

As noted in the syllabus, I will generally elect severe penalties for academic dishonesty (which in guided reflections usually involves inclusion of material from uncited sources): a zero score for the assignment, and failing the course for a second offense. You are responsible for reading my comments regarding the importance of academic honesty, and my no-tolerance policy for incidents of dishonesty, in FAQ, #10-13; as well as for requesting clarification if there is anything you do not understand.

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