Instructions for response papers.

From time to time throughout the semester I will be assigning short response papers, basically a 300- to 600-word response to one of the assigned texts.

What I will be looking for in these papers is:

1. evidence that you read the text: a brief summary (no longer than a paragraph) of what the text is about, with some attention to who wrote it and why. If it is a secondary source (as in assignment 1—see below), identifying the author’s thesis and argument would be useful.
2. evidence that you thought about the text in relation to the concepts featured in the week’s readings and/or concepts that are raised in readings for another class. This should form the bulk of the paper.
3. good writing.

Within these parameters, you can go in any direction you want with these papers. If the text makes you think about the nature of religious practice, political history, or Asian society, please write about it. I am hoping that these papers will stimulate your thinking about Buddhism and that this will deepen your understanding of related art and architecture. Please note, though, that I am not interested in thoughtless criticism of Buddhist art or culture. If you have a negative reaction to the text, you need to stop to reflect on how the values of Asian societies in a particular period might differ from modern values. If you find the text confusing, it is fine to focus on one part of it.

Please refer to the notes in your syllabus about appropriate formats for written work and about plagiarism. (Yes, plagiarism even matters here: if you quote from the text in your paper, please use a parenthetical reference or footnote.)

If you have further questions about writing response papers, you might visit the HWS Writes website (http://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/hws_writes.aspx).

Assignments.

1. Susan L. Huntington, “Early Buddhist Art and the Theory of Aniconism,” Art Journal 49, no. 4 (Winter 1990): 401-408.; due Wednesday, Jan. 28.
2. Kumarajiva, The Vimalakirti Sutra, trans. Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), 64-74, 104-111 (either a paper OR a list of substantive questions about this reading); due Monday, Mar. 2.
3. “Kūkai and His Master,” in Wm. Theodore de Bary et al., comp., Sources of Japanese Tradition, 2nd ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), 162-65.; due Friday, Apr. 3.