Humanities 9: Mr. Baetz, Mr. Daily, Ms. Jansen

©Getty Images. "circa 1935: A signed portrait of Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 1869 - 1948), leader of the Indian National Congress. He campaigned for tolerance and social reform and an end to discrimination against the so-called untouchable caste. He was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist in the violence that followed the partition of British India into India and Pakistan. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)"
EbscoHost Student Research CenterTM,http://search.ebscohost.com/
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Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Sudras and chandalas.

You are a young adult member of one of these castes in Indian society. Your teacher will assign you to a caste. For the assignment you will write about seven days of your life as a member of your designated caste.

That does not mean that you will take seven days to complete the assignment. (Even though the chandalas most likely do not know how to write, for the sake of the assignment, you will write your journal entries.)

What will you write in your journal? What do you do all day for each of 7 days? How is Monday different from Wednesday? What is your family like, your hobbies, what are the heartaches and dreams of your life? What is the best time of day? How do you interact with members from other castes? How will this look in a journal entry? Be creative. Weave the facts you find in the research into the journal entries so that you sound authentic.

In groups during class you will brainstorm a list of questions you will need to research, as well as a list of ideas to include in your journal. In whole group discussion, you will add to your list.

The more you read about Hinduism and your caste, the more rich and detailed your journal entries.

Results:

1. One introductory paragraph explaining and defining your caste as it relates to Hinduism, the other castes, and the larger society.
2. The journal should have one entry for each day of the week. (7 total). Each entry should be 6 to 10 sentences. Remember, this is where you should be creative. You should constantly connect your Hindu life with your daily life.
3. You will turn in a total of 8 paragraphs.
4. Your Works Cited page should be attached as a separate document to the end of your journal.
5. Your journal will be word processed (so your teachers can read it!) and include your name, teacher's name, and section at the top. Staple pages together.
6. Due date: October 9, 2007 at beginning of class. Make sure you have a printer added before Tuesday!!
7. After submitting your final journal to your teacher, you will respond thoughtfully to the following questions: In what ways do we have a caste or class system in America? How would you label the classes? In what settings and ways do you interact with people who are not of the same class as yourself? And finally, how can we as individuals help to address some of the problems that arise in a class-based society? This response is due ___.

Resources from St. Andrew's subscription databases

(You may NOT use Wikipedia for this assignment, since one of the focuses is to introduce you to the databases to which we subscribe.

All of these reference databases are available on our Subscription Database page: (right click and Open in a New Window)

1. Gale Encyclopedia of Modern Asia (click on Gale, click on Virtual Reference Library, click View publications for History, click Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, and Find within this publication) You can copy and import into Citation Builder.
2. Encyclopædia Britannica: use the version "for high school students and up" (be patient--the information you seek is there!) You can copy and import into Citation Builder.
3. EbscoHost: Student Reseach Center (click Reference Works and Encyclopedias). To see summaries of the articles in the results list, do this: Click Preferences at the top of the page then click details and apply. You will build a citation in Citation Builder using Internet Database format. Look at the email I sent for identifying the sections and filling in the fields.
4. ABC-CLIO World History: The Modern Era (search for caste and look at the essays that return on caste syterm and Hinduism. If the citation (little cite box) is cut off, you'll need to build from scratch in Citation Builder.
5. netTrekker (categorizes sites on the free Web and evaluates for accuracy and authority) Use Website format in Citation Builder.
6. CitationBuilder for your bibliography account (we will create these together in class)
   

• Don't neglect to look at the related links and various other links that come up for each search.
• Printing: Always use the Print option on the page when you are printing from these databases. You get a cleaner copy that is easier to read and make notations. Highlight main ideas and important details.
• Be patient! Try several different searches. Don't give up!
• See Ms. Jansen for passwords for home use or pick up a flyer in the library or if you need help using the databases.

Virtual office hours:

Ms. Jansen will email you the times for the virtual office hours so you can get help before the project is due. Use the IM form on the contact us page, or use email to contact her.