EDT303Q/201/1/2012

Tutorial Letter 201/1/2012

Religion Education

EDT303Q

Semester 1

Department of Religious Studies &

Arabic

This tutorial letter contains important

information about your module.

Bar code
Dear Student

In this letter we will give feedback on Assignment 01, 02 and discuss the upcoming examinations
in May 2012

ASSIGNMENT FEEDBACK

Assignment 01

Students generally did well in this assignment

Assignment 2

In terms of the marking of the assignment, each box is marked out of 2. If you excluded
Contemporary Religions for the moment, you will see that there are six religions with eight
categories for each. That works out to 48. Multiply by two and you arrive at an answer of 96. So for
each block we gave two marks. There are three blocks for Contemporary Religion, so technically
the total mark is an improbable 102. For convenience sake we made the assignment out of 100.
Our markers are allowed a little leeway when they can see that a student is trying hard: this
leeway only works to bring marks up, not down. For example, a marker can take a student up from
49% to 50 %.

A few of you did very well in the assignment and therefore attained up to 20 valuable percent on
the year mark. Most of you did not do quite as well, but the results were encouraging. Those who
put in the effort did well.

If each box is worth 2 marks, then it is clear that you were not going to get 2 marks for a single-
word answer. We did want you to write a little bit of a story in each block. On the other hand, it was
not necessary to paste in three or four paragraphs either!

Some of the blocks were pre-filled in. And many of you faithfully rewrote what we had written
there, apparently not understanding that this was a guide to get you started. As for the spaces on
the grid, I am not going to give you the entire set of model answers, for in many cases there is
more than one possible answer. For example, Who founded Judaism? The best answer is No
single individual founded Judaism, but a number of patriarchs, such as Abraham, and later on a
line of prophets, for example Isaiah, can collectively be viewed as the founders. Not too many of
you got to that level, but this what we were looking for. Unfortunately we received too many
answers with only one or two names. Try to provide fuller answers in future with a sentence or two
that shows that you have grasped what is being talked about. The single name such as Abraham
or Isaiah would have earned you just one mark for that block.

We did see some interesting patterns. Many of you are convinced that Islam started out in Saudi
Arabia. It did start on the Arabian Peninsula, in the area that is known as Saudi Arabia today . But
it is important to keep high a level accuracy in your writing. The Sud Dynasty did not rise to
prominence until 1744, more than a thousand years after the Prophet, and the contemporary state
of Saudi Arabia only dates to 1932.

We trust that you found this an interesting exercise, and that it will be a useful resource in your
examination preparation!

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 EDT303Q/201

MAY 2012 EXAMINATION

There will be three questions. Question 1 will be a multiple choice covering the overview of the
religious history of mankind, theory and policy. Questions 2 and 3 will be essay questions. In
question 2 you will have a choice of four topics from which you will have to answer two topics and
in question 3 you will have a choice of 3 topics and you will have to answer one topic question.
Please do not answer more topics than you are requested to do. We will mark the first required
essays only. You will waste time in the exam and not improve your chances of attaining a good
mark if you attempt more topics per question.

Question 1

This question is based on Units 1, 2, 3, 25, 26 and 27 in the prescribed book. The multiple choice
questions will focus on the legislative framework for Religion Studies, Education policies pertaining
to Religion Studies and general questions about study of the religion in the world and South Africa
in particular. This section will be marked out of 60 marks.

Question 2

Question 2 has three topics to choose from,

African Religion
Buddhism
Hinduism
Religion in Contemporary Society

You will be expected to write two short essays of 1-2 pages in length from the above topics. Each
essay will be marked out of a total of 10 marks which will add up to a total of 20 marks for the
question.
In the Buddhist essay be prepared to write about the three marks of existence in the Buddhas
teaching in relation to the Four Noble Truths.
In the African religion topic be absolutely sure that you know the three main characteristics of
African religion, and be prepared to demonstrate how these apply to the San and Zulu religions.
In the Hindu option you should focus on discussing whether the God concept in Hinduism is
monotheistic or not.
In the Religion in Contemporary society you will be asked to write about Sigmund Freuds central
ideas about the purpose of religion.

Question 3

Question 3 focuses on the Jewish, Christian and Islam family of religions. There are three topics to
choose from.

In this question you will be expected to write one essay of 3-4 pages in length. The question has
three topics options and you will have to answer one topic question. Each topic will be marked out
of a total of 20 marks.

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The first topic is concerned with the God concept in these three religions. You will have to write a
comparative essay including discussion on the central beliefs of each faith, the teachings of each
religions founder and how they influenced the ideas of God in each religion.

The second topic is concerned with role of the sacred texts in each of the religions (Judaism,
Christianity and Islam). This essay should also be comparative in nature.

The third topic focuses on the significance of history in each of the religions. You will need to
discuss the role of festival and Holy Days in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

With kind regards,

Mr G Mason
Tel (012)429-8983
E-mail: masongj@unisa.ac.za

EDT303Q_2012_TL_201_1_E
2012-03-09