How do the rāmāyana and the mahabharata use narrative to explore questions of dharma?

Posted: October 21st, 2022

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Answer ONE of the following prompts:
1. Using the example of the horse sacrifice, explain the development of ideas of ritual from the Vedas, Brahmanas, and Upaniṣads. Use examples from the texts to support your claims.
2. Reading Valmiki’s account of Shambuka, and Kuvempu’s play ‘Shudra Tapasvi,’ do you think that Kuvempu is making an argument about dharma? What do you think his argument is?
3. A.K Ramanujan says, in ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas,’ that he prefers the term ‘tellings’ to ‘versions’ or ‘variants.’ Why do you think that is? Do you agree? Support your claims with examples from the essay, or from the adaptations we’ve discussed in class.
4. How do the Rāmāyana and the Mahabharata use narrative to explore questions of dharma? Are there differences in how they do so? Support your claims with examples from both texts.
CriteriaExcellent
5 points
Good
4 points
Needs Improvement
3 points
Poor
2 points
Fail
0 points
Criterion Score
Overall Impression
Author directly addresses main question or issue, and adds new insight to the subject not provided in lectures, readings, or class discussions. The author has retained nearly all of the knowledge presented in class. They are able to synthesize this knowledge in new ways and relate to material not covered in the course.
Author competently addresses main question or issue, but does not add much new insight into the subject. That said, it is clear that the author has learned a great deal in class and is able to communicate this knowledge to others.
Author attempts to address main question or issue, but fails. The author has retained some information from the course, but does not fully understand its meaning or context and cannot clearly convey it to others.
Essay does NOT address main question or issue, and it is obvious that author has not retained any information from the course.
Plagiarism
Score of Overall Impression,
/ 5
Argument
Essay contains a clear argument—i.e., lets the reader know exactly what the author is trying to communicate.
An argument is present, but reader must reconstruct it from the text.
Author attempts, but fails, to make an argument (e.g., starts with a rhetorical question/statement or anecdote that is never put into context).
No attempt is made to articulate an argument.
Plagiarism
Score of Argument,
/ 5
Evidence
Provides compelling and accurate evidence that convinces reader to accept main argument. The importance/relevance of all pieces of evidence is clearly stated. There are no gaps in reasoning—i.e., the reader does not need to assume anything or do additional research to accept main argument.
Provides necessary evidence to convince reader of most aspects of the main argument but not all. The importance/ relevance of some evidence presented may not be totally clear. Reader must make a few mental leaps or do some additional research to fully accept all aspects of main argument.
Not enough evidence is provided to support author’s argument, or evidence is incomplete, incorrect, or oversimplified. Information from lectures and readings is not effectively used.
Either no evidence is provided, or there are numerous factual mistakes, omissions or oversimplifications. There is little or no mention of information from lectures and readings
Plagiarism
Score of Evidence,
/ 5
Organization
Essay contains an intro, main body, and conclusion. Introduction lays out main argument and gives an outline of what the reader can expect in the essay. The conclusion brings everything together, acknowledges potential shortcomings of the paper, and gives the reader a sense of what further work might be done to advance the subject matter described in the paper.
Essay contains an intro, main body, and conclusion. The introduction lays out the main argument but gives the reader little idea of what to expect in the essay. The conclusion nicely summarizes the main argument and evidence, but does not move beyond what has already been presented in the paper.
Essay contains an intro, main body, and conclusion. The introduction gives the reader an idea of what to expect in the paper, but does not effectively lay out the main argument. It may begin with a set of rhetorical questions, or an anecdote that is never fully explained. The conclusion does little more than restate the problematic introduction. Intro and/or conclusion may be too wordy or short.
Essay has a minimal organizational pattern.
Essay has no clear organizational pattern.
Score of Organization,
/ 5
Sentence-level clarity and style
All sentences are grammatically correct and clearly written. No words are misused or unnecessarily fancy. Technical terms, words from other languages, and words from other historical periods are always explained. All information is accurate and up-to-date. Paper has been spell-checked AND proofread and contains no errors.
All sentences are grammatically correct and clearly written. An occasional word is misused or unnecessarily fancy. Technical terms, words from other languages, and words from other historical periods are usually, but not always, explained. All information is accurate and up-to-date. Paper has been spell-checked AND proofread, and contains no more than a few minor errors, which do not adversely affect the reader’s ability to understand the essay
A few sentences are grammatically incorrect or not clearly written. Several words are misused. Technical terms, words from other languages, and words from other historical periods are rarely explained. Not all information is accurate and up-to-date. Paper has been spell-checked AND proofread, but still contains several errors. Reader’s ability to understand essay may be compromised by these errors.
The majority of the sentences are grammatically incorrect or not clearly written. Most of the words are misused. Technical terms, words from other languages, and words from other historical periods are rarely explained. Not all information is accurate and up-to-date. Paper has been spell-checked AND proofread, but still contains several errors. Reader’s ability to understand essay may be compromised by these errors.
Paper is full of grammatical errors and bad writing. Several words are misused. Technical terms, words from other languages, and words from other historical periods are rarely explained. Not all information is accurate and up-to-date. Paper has not been spell-checked or proofread, and contains numerous errors. Reader has a difficult time understanding essay because of errors.
Score of Sentence-level clarity and style,
/ 5
Total

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