Please complete the following six steps in a single cohesive letter to the author of your
text
1) This assignment is a letter, in essay format to the author of the text that youve selected. Which is The Book Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God and Native by Kaitlin B. Curtice. The essay
needs an introductory paragraph, body, and conclusion. The audience for your letter is the author of the
text you selected.
2) Begin the body of the essay by explaining that you are learning about the academic study of religion in our
class religious literacy – which is why you read their book. Briefly provide the author with the definition
of religious literacy and then explain what this lens means to you in your own words and why they should
care. Please note that it should sound like you spent an entire semester studying this concept, because you
have, so be meaningful here.
3) Share your worldview autobiography with the author. Be specific about your situatedness, identities, and
worldview.
4) Give a complete summary of the author’s story (that convinces me you read the entire book) and reflect on
their story in light of the values of pluralism:
Convince your reader that you read and understood their entire story, not just a few bits and
pieces. Do so by including range of citations and references from throughout their book. Make a
meaningful connection with them.
Highlight the elements of their story that you most resonated with. Be specific about the ways
that your situatedness and your worldview lead to you connect with these elements of their
story.
Highlight the elements of their story that differed the most from your own. Be specific about
differences in identity, worldview, and context. Identify the themes that challenged you the most
or that you wrestled with the most. Raise any questions you may have for the author or offer any
challenges you may have for the author.
5) How did the authors story ultimately help you to become more religiously literate about their
worldview/faith tradition? Identify any previous religious illiteracies that you held about their
worldview/faith tradition and explain how their book helped you to grow more sophisticated and scholarly
in your thinking about that worldview/faith tradition. Be specific and draw from the PDF and modules on
religious literacy in your answer.
6) Drawing on the work of Eck and Patel, conclude your letter by explaining why public engagement with
American religious diversity in the 21st century matters to you, why it should matter to them, and why,
ultimately, society should care about the type of work you have done in this class and in this essay. Please
be specific about which concepts from Eck and Patel you include in your answer. You can find a refresher
on Eck and Patels frameworks.
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