Devotion, and Part 2: The Outer Senses” Ancrene Wisse

“Part 1: Devotion, and Part 2: The Outer Senses” Ancrene Wisse. Anchoritic Spirituality: Ancrene Wisse and Associated Works. Eds. Anne Savage and Nicholas Watson. New York: Paulist Press, 1991. 53- 92

. You may choose to explore a single text in some depth or you may write a compare/contrast essay of two texts from the syllabus. I would assume that you will continue the work that you started in your presentation. In the last two weeks of the course, you should do more extensive research on your topic, and develop a polished critical essay. Themes related to right living: • balancing the needs of the community against the autonomy of the individual • relationship with the supernatural or depiction of the divine • importance of hope • free will • role of suffering • politics • numerology • patterns as meaningful

• Christian and non-Christian influences At this point in your studies, you should have good research skills and I will expect to see extensive use of secondary sources in the final essay. When you assess the objectivity and reliability of web sources, note that almost any .com will be suspect and you are better off using .edu or .gov sources. It is your responsibility to verify the reliability of your web sources. When you even consider using a source like Wikipedia.com or Answers.com (DO NOT USE THESE SOURCES), scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “disclaimer.” They state flat out that they are unreliable. If you have any doubts, ask me. If you are having trouble finding good sources, ask me. We aim for a 10-12 page essay. This essay should engage in an academic dialogue with other scholars as you respond to their articles and books and, hopefully, when they read your work in the future and respond to it. Once you are finished with this course, you might wish to revise this essay once again (the revision process is endless!) and submit it to an appropriate journal.