Guidelines for Course Paper
The Course requirements include writing a 3 page research or reflection paper. That is, 3 pages of material plus a cover page and a bibliography. Here are some guidelines for writing your paper.
Please write in Times New Roman 12 with 1-inch margins and double spacing.
I. Structure of the Paper. A paper should have the following sections. Here’s how you might write it with the following topic. How do Buddhism and Christianity view marriage?
1. A one-paragraph introduction that sets out briefly the thesis you are going to argue. The first paragraph should state what you are going to do in the paper. For example, one could do a paper that compares how Christianity and Buddhism view marriage. State The first paragraph could read as follows:
One of the most important parts of human existence is marriage. The short length of this paper only allows time to compare one branch of each religion. So, I will consider how Catholic Christianity and Mahayana Buddhism each view the institution of marriage. We will look at their beliefs about marriage, how marriage is celebrated, and how they view man and woman within marriage. How are their views similar and different? Finally, I will offer a conclusion that summarizes similarities and differences.
2. A 2-page main body that lays out the evidence for your argument. A paper on marriage in Catholic Christianity and Mahayana Buddhism would have a section that develops each religion’s view. In a six-page paper, you want to allow about two pages to discuss each religion’s view. You would briefly describe each religion’s view of marriage, drawing first from course material. Then, one would go to resources such as one-volume books on each religion, articles from official sources for the religion (say the Catechism of the Catholic Church for Catholic Christianity, which is available online), and books on the topic—does Mullen Library have a book on marriage in Buddhism? Articles? You can search articles on the CUA libraries website at libraries.catholic.edu.
3. A half-page section that analyzes your evidence. For a paper that discusses Catholic Christianity and Mahayana Buddhism on marriage, you would note the similarities and differences, and the reasons for those differences.
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4. A two-to-three-paragraph conclusion that summarizes your findings and offers your assessment. The conclusion should sum up your findings from your analysis, and offer your own assessment your findings. What do you think about what you learned, and why? For a paper on marriage on Catholic Christian and Mahayana Buddhist views of marriage, you might offer your thoughts on what seems good about or bad about each religion’s view to you, and why.
II. Style. College papers should have these features:
1. Citations. Any material you cite directly or paraphrase must be cited. In a college paper, you assemble evidence to make an argument. That means you will be relying upon sources, and you must cite those sources for all statements that depend upon them. In Chicago / Turabian style, you would insert a footnote. On the first reference, the footnote would give the full citation for the work, and the page number of the citation. Subsequent references only need the author’s last name and the page number. Please consult CUA’s academic honesty policy for further detail.
2. Bibliography. At the end of your paper, you should list all sources cited, including the author, title, publisher, and date of publication. The bibliography should be in addition to six pages of material.
3. Page numbers. Please include page numbers in your paper. I put page numbers at the top of the page, centered.
4. Use of Wikipedia. Please do not cite Wikipedia as a source, because it is not peer-reviewed: anyone can post to it. Wikipedia can be a good place to start your research, because most Wikipedia articles will have listings of links and sources at the end. But use any links a Wikipedia article includes, to find a peer-reviewed or official source. For information about a given church, for instance, Wikipedia might give you a good overview. But you should use links to go to that church’s official documents online, or articles with a named author, and cite those.
5. Style: You are free to use whatever style your own profession uses, just use it consistently.
You can also get the short Kate Turabian Manual for Writers, Ninth Edition, which is like a digested version of the Chicago Manual of Style, and is much cheaper.
III. Possible Paper Topics.
One possibility is dive deeper into some point discussed in class. If something really interests you and you’d like to go deeper, that’s one kind of topic. Here are some sample topics:
–The relationship of marriage to the marriage of Christ and the Church discussed in Ephesians 5:21-33
–How is the family a “domestic church” in Catholic thought from Vatican II (1962-1965) on.
–How is marriage as a sacrament understood as indissoluble;
–how might a blended family be a domestic church?
–How do husband and wife help each other get to Heaven in the sacrament of marriage?
–Compare the Catholic view of marriage with another Christian church or ecclesial community’s view. Or, compare a Catholic view with another religion’s view.
Another possibility is to examine some life experience of your own in light of the course material.