IDS 254: Final Exam, Fall 2008

Instructions

Write well-developed, clearly organized answers to all the questions. 

This is an exam that you complete outside of class. In completing the exam, you are free to refer to the readings and your notes, or to talk with other students about your answers. In fact, you are encouraged to work together with other students on this exam. But whatever you finally turn in MUST be your OWN writing, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, expressing YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING at the time you wrote it.

Please limit yourself to 2500 words all together (about 8 pages if double-spaced).  Each question counts for four points.  Submit answers printed on paper -- not electronically, and not hand-written.  No fancy stuff like plastic covers, binders, elaborate cover sheets, money stuffed between pages, etc.

bulletDO NOT QUOTE OR CLOSELY PARAPHRASE ANYTHING WITHOUT CITING YOUR SOURCE. (Not even the textbook, or course materials.)
bulletDO NOT INCLUDE MORE THAN A FEW very BRIEF QUOTATIONS OF ANYTHING IN YOUR ENTIRE SET OF ANSWERS.
bulletTHE ONLY ALLOWABLE REASON FOR QUOTING ANYTHING IS TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT A POINT YOU HAVE STATED IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Do not construct answers by stringing together quotations or paraphrases of things written by others. THE PENALTY FOR ILLEGITIMATE QUOTING IS "DEATH".

If you work with another student in preparing your answers, don't draft your actual answers together, and don't agree on exactly what examples you will use, or how you will express a particular point.  When you work with someone, talk over the issues and share ideas, but don't do any writing together.  Don't show your completed answer to someone else in order to help them; there have been some cases in which the helper ends up helping too much and then we have serious troubles.

Advice

1.  The biggest problem with this kind of exam has been that students write answers that are too incomplete or sketchy.  Don't assume that the reader will "just know" what you're getting at; instead, assume the reader is relatively ignorant about this particular subject matter. Do not assume that the reader has been in the class!  Instead, think of your audience as generally intelligent, unbiased people who know nothing specific about this subject. Maybe it will help if you think of yourself as writing to inform one of your friends, or a relative -- perhaps your mother or father.

2.  These questions can all be answered quite well simply by drawing ideas from our class discussions and the assigned readings.  You are not expected to go out and find more sources.  You are not prohibited from finding more sources, but if you decide to use more sources, don't get sucked into just paraphrasing something someone else wrote that you don't really understand.  The latter can be a cause of real trouble; your answer will sound as though you don't understand what you are talking about, because you don't.  You are much better off saying what you really think and understand than trying to sound profound by half-copying from something you don't really "get".

3.  Your answers are graded on how well they answer the question that is asked.  Don't shoot yourself in the foot by going off on a tangent.  Instead, focus on giving an accurate and complete answer to the question.  Your space and time is limited.  So, be direct, precise, clear.  You have a lot of information to squeeze into these answers.

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Questions

  1. How does the Hindutva movement justify attacks on Muslims and on the Babri mosque at Ayodhya while claiming to define Hinduism so broadly that Islam and Christianity count as Hindu? To what extent does the Hindutva movement fit Marty and Appleby's definition of religious fundamentalism?
  2. In what ways are liberal reform ideas in Hinduism and Islam similar to and different from liberal reform ideas in Christianity and Judaism?  (Describe general patterns of similarity and difference, illustrating with specific examples.)
  3. Marty and Appleby claim that religious fundamentalism can only exist as a response to modernity. Yet when we look at Islamic fundamentalist movements, we see that they are most strongly present in societies that in many ways do not fit the modern ideal -- Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Somalia. Explain how the Marty and Appleby claim could nevertheless be considered correct with respect to Islamic fundamentalism.
  4. Scriptural literalism is a prominent feature of some fundamentalist movements in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (although in Islam especially, the traditionalists are also literalists). Explain what scriptural literalism is, and explain why literalism in often associated with fundamentalism in these three traditions. Discuss why scriptural literalism is not a prominent feature of the Hindutva ideology. Can a religious worldview count as fundamentalist even without embracing scriptural literalism?
  5.  For each of the four religious traditions we have dealt with, describe what modern pressures appear to be attracting the most attention or causing the most trouble.  (This can vary from one tradition to the next.)  Defend your answer by illustrating how these pressures show up prominently in the life of the religious community.