East meets West

For this paper, choose one activity, behavior or art form performed in both the East and the West. Discuss how the performance of the activity differs between the two cultures and how these differences reflect differing value(s). (Note that you need not explicitly use the word values in your paper.) Your audience is other students in our class; in other words, you can assume the reader has had the discussions and the background knowledge of a typical classmate.

You can (and, for most topics, should) restrict East to some region or country in East Asia, and restrict West to a region or country in Europe or the Americas.

This paper should be based on solid facts drawn from your own research, so be sure to read Lunsford's discussion of a research paper in chapters 10-13, including 12g and 13c on citing sources. Choose the quantity and quality of your sources carefully. If you include too few good sources, you'll be uninformed; if you choose too many, you risk writing a paper consisting mostly of other people's ideas rather than your own ideas.

You should formulate your paper around a single, interesting, focused thesis, which you will support using hard evidence. Your paper should be about 1200-2100 words (4-7 pages).

Citations and bibligraphy

Any statement you make which isn't common knowledge or which isn't argued within your paper should include a citation (see Lunsford). Common knowledge is any knowledge which you might expect a typical member of your audience (in this case, a classmate) to have.

In your bibliography, in addition to Lunsford's guidelines, add one sentence to each reference which explains to the reader why the source is (or isn't) reputable.

Be sure to document (i.e., provide citations for) both Western and Eastern views in your research. Beware of making assertions based on hearsay rather than research. In addition, be sure to document differences in values as well as information on your specific activity.

Grading guidelines

You will be assessed primarily on your ability to argue a clear and appropriate thesis that focuses on the differences and/or similarities in value(s) of the two cultures and your effective use of sources. For this particular paper, I will use the following grading guidelines. (These guidelines are taken nearly verbatim from Lewis Hyde.)

The F paper is rare. This grade is usually reserved for cases of plagiarism and excessive lateness. However, exceptional failure to comply with the terms of an assignment may also result in an F.
The D paper, in some significant way, doesn't answer the question that was asked. It lacks a thesis or an argument, or it has a thesis which is inappropriate to the assignment. A D paper which does answer the question is filled with mechanical faults (errors in grammar and/or spelling). Paragraphs do not hold together; ideas do not develop from sentence to sentence. This paper usually repeats the same thoughts over and over, perhaps in slightly different language but often in the same words. It is usually rambling and directionless.
The C paper has a thesis which is vague and broad, or which answers only part of the question(s) asked; or it may make a good argument without first offering a thesis statement (usually in the introduction). The C paper rarely uses evidence well; sometimes it uses no evidence at all and relies entirely on unsupported personal opinion. Even with a clear and interesting thesis, a paper with insufficient supporting evidence is a C paper. Sometimes a C paper has a good deal of evidence, but it is not part of a coherent argument and the reader can only make sense of it with great difficulty (if at all); thus, the evidence is ineffective. This paper may not effectively address cultural values.
The B paper makes sense throughout. It has a thesis that is appropriate, complete and worth arguing. It does not digress, and it ends by keeping the promise it made to the reader in the beginning. The reader always knows where the paper is going and what the author wants to say. The paper presents interesting ideas, supported with sound evidence which is both to the point and well documented. This paper effectively addresses cultural values related to the particular topic.
The paper is well organized and although some sentences may not be elegant, the ideas in them flow well and thought naturally follows on thought. The paragraphs may be unwieldy now and then, but they are organized around one main idea. The reader does not have to read a paragraph two or three times to figure out what the writer is trying to convey.
The B paper is, for the most part, mechanically correct. There will be occasional spelling and grammar errors, but these are few in number and do not prevent the reader from following the ideas in the paper.
The A paper is rare. It has all the qualities of a B paper, but in addition it is lively, well paced, interesting, even exciting. Everything in it seems to fit the thesis exactly. The paper has style. Reading this paper, the reader feels a mind at work. The sure mark of an A paper is that the reader continues to think about it after reading it, even wanting to tell others about it. In the A paper, the connections to cultural values are particularly clear and deep.
This paper may have a proofreading error or two, even occasional misspelled words or a minor error in grammar, but these errors are the consequence of the normal accidents all good writers encounter.