Assignment: Academic Critical Thinking Essay

Assignment: Academic Critical Thinking Essay

Assignment  Academic Critical Thinking Essay

 

Comparison of Geschiere and Klima’s Arguments

According to Geschiere, the current obsession with witchcraft in the African society should not be construed as a remnant of the traditional practice. The author indicates that the current practice of witchcraft is a modern practice having its foundation on the prevailing custom. He further asserts that the process of linking witchcraft with modernity is a global development. In other areas of the world, this practice has been described differently. The phenomenon is what “the Comaros call the economies of the occult” (Geschiere: 431).

Geschiere bases his book on his understanding of the Cameroonian society and compares it with similar practice in Taiwan. The book highlights the modern forms of witchcraft in Cameroon that is employed to unequivocally pursue wealth. He compares this practice to Weller’s study regarding rise in the spiritual cults in Taiwan. The upsurge of the spiritual worship is directly linked to the rise of the Asian tiger (Geschiere: 517). The author further highlights the effect that such forces have on people towards global orientation and identity. Both spiritual cult and witchcraft possess surprising powers as occult forces both at the global and local levels. The two phenomena have significant impact on the manner in which people attempt to deal with the challenges that are existent in the modern world.

Klima and Geschiere both focus their works on the role of witchcraft and cult spirits on the economic and social wellbeing of the people. The former bases his work on the Thailand society and how the practice of rituals is viewed by the people. He avers that from the year 1997, known as the Thai baht, instances of mass ritual for passion and money have become prevalent in the Buddhist society (Kilman: 319). According to him, the people of Thailand have decided to address the challenges of globalization by using the monetary spirit. The practice has become popular and synonymous to community culture as one way of curing the predicaments of globalization on the ordinary people. For instance, the Buddhist people perform donation ceremonies as one way of strengthening the national currency reserve. Moreover, the Thai people have, in their calendar, the national rites that are meant to help the spirit of their leader. The belief in the spirits forms the foundation of love, money and identity in Thailand. On the other hand, Klima suggests that the study of human emotions ought to shift its focus from the interpretation of the cultural systems. The global interpretation of ritual and spiritual practice ought to shift towards identifying the prevailing beliefs and practices.

In summary, these two books focus on the use of ritual and spiritual forces in the contemporary world. Comparison is made on the way different societies-one in Asia and one in Africa-integrate their spiritual beliefs and practices into their economic lives. The South Western Cameroonian society is treated as a representation of the modern African society. The people in this area believe that witchcraft can be relied upon to obtain and to maintain wealth. Similarly, the Thai people in Asia have practiced the same spiritual worship and rites as a means of boosting their economic growth. The rise of the Asian tigers has been attributed to peculiar rituals founded on the belief that the spirits have supreme authority over the fate of man. Money, power, love and fame are attributed to spiritual forces.

In Africa, as exhibited by the South West Cameroon study, people use love portions to lure the people they love. The witchdoctors are famous for administering portions to individuals who have desire to make others fall in love with them. The same practice has been witnessed in Thailand. The witchdoctors in Asia and in Africa perform the same functions albeit in different environments. This has nothing to do with history or cultural practices. There is a clear difference between the practice of witchcraft in the post-colonial and pre-colonial Africa. The difference emanates from the people’s perception of modernity. “In the 1960s, in the earliest years of Independence, there was rather a tendency certainly among the new elite to oppose witchcraft to modernity” (Geschiere: 820). This was the early period when the elites in Africa viewed witchcraft as backwardness. They associated the same with darkness. Nevertheless, things began to change slowly as modernity continued to gain root. Many Africans who wanted economic and social empowerment began to slowly adopt witchcraft. The same phenomenon was witnessed among the Asian tigers in the 1970s. For instance, in Thailand, the locals turned to spiritual and cult worship which they attributed to the nation’s economic rise.

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Therefore, a clear difference that emerges between these two societies involves the extent to which witchcraft and spirits were relied

upon for the societal welfare. The African governments did not prefer witchcraft or spirits for the nations’ well-being. On the contrary, the Asians like Thailand integrate their spiritual dependence into their national economic well-being. Witchcraft practice in Cameroon is individual while for Thailand it is national. “Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, made sure to be personally in attendance for this mass ritual, to receive the gold bars from Luangta Maha Bua on behalf of the nation” (Kilman: 458). This is an indication that spiritual and cult worship had become a national norm. Unlike the people of Cameroon, the people of Thailand believe that their nation is guided by the spirits.

Prompt: Alan Klima interprets events in Thailand (and certain mass Buddhist rituals) as a response to capital flight. Peter Geschiere reviews scholarship on the accusations of witchcraft, and the work of witch doctors, in different parts of post-colonial West Africa. Both authors are discussing the encounter/interaction between (what Gudeman calls) “high relationship” and “high market” economies. Write an essay comparing and contrasting Klima and Geschiere’s frameworks and arguments about this encounter/interaction, drawing on specific evidence in both readings.

Assignment: Mandatory Requirements

-Response (worth 50 points) should be no shorter than 600 words and no longer than 850 words in length

1. Please read three readings carefully and do not just summarize readings.
2. Use specific examples/evidence drawn from the readings to substantiate your points in each response.
3. Dive into answering the prompt; no need for intro and conclusion paragraphs. Remember this is a short answer response, not an actual essay.
4. When citing the course readings, use this simple in-text format: (Gudeman: 21; or, Mauss: 48). No need to include Works Cited or Bibliography.
5. Be prudent in your use of quotations. Where possible, paraphrase and cite as above. Save quotations for especially stressing a point you are already making yourself in your own prose. In other words, it is best to use quotes to underline your own logic, rather than to take a step for you in the logic of your essay.

For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• Student paper example
• Citing Sources
• The Writing Center is a great resource