XAVIER SCHOOL CHRISTIAN LIFE EDUCATION 4 A.Y.

2013-2014 First Quarter

ASSESSMENT 3: ACADEMIC ESSAY

A METAPHOR FOR THE CHURCH

THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD

GENERAL GUIDELINES
1. In 1,000 1,500 words, write a carefully thought out, well-organized and well-written ACADEMIC ESSAY. In other words, think rst and plan even outline what you have to say before writing. I dont want to see lengthy stream-of-consciousness paragraphs. Use as many concepts discussed in class as you can in answering the guide questions. 2. Think of an appropriate title for your essay. Do not use the title of this assessment as your title. Be creative. 3. To help you organize your essay more appropriately, you may employ a three-part-theme essay i.e. Intro Body Conclusion. This, however, does not mean that you are limited to three paragraphs only. Avoid lengthy paragraphs, unless necessary. Make sure your paper is written properly, and cohesively connects all points.

CONTEXT
There seems to be a confusion on the nature and purpose of the Church in this modern day and age. On the one hand, quite a number of people say that the Church should not interfere with matters of the State. The Church should focus on the spiritual matters instead i.e. strengthening the faith of the people. On the other hand, another handful of people say that faith without action is not an authentic one. Thus, people of faith must speak out their minds on things, whether these are spiritual or otherwise. Because of these opposing perspectives, peoples understanding of the Church, specically regarding here nature and purpose, (and consequently, their faith) is not clear and quite confused. In this light, there is a need to clarify our understanding of the nature and purpose of the Church in the modern world.

TASK
Device a tool for evaluation by coming up with at least three (3) criteria through which we can gauge whether the Church is living up to its purpose and nature. In doing this, consider the following: the origins of the Church i.e. the Apostles and disciples spreading the Good News as a response to Christs call to go out and proclaim the Good News throughout the whole world. the best features and practices of the Church as seen in Her history throughout the centuries the current signs of the times in the Philippines and around the world Explain each criteria in detail. Anchor your explanations on the lessons discussed in class. Remember to use an evaluativist perspective. After explaining, illustrate the ideal Church (one that passes your tool for evaluation with ying colors) by coming up with a metaphor that will capture the essence of Her true nature and purpose. Be original and creative. Elaborate how your metaphor will help people understand what the true nature and purpose of the Church is in this modern day and age.

TECHNICAL GUIDELINES
1. Use Pages or Microsoft Word Application for your essay. No PDFs. 2. Name your le using the following format: Format: A3_H4Section_ClassNumber_Nickname_Surname (but replace underscores with spaces) Example: A3 H4A 01 Enzo Arceo 3. Send your essay to: markpbuemio@xs.edu.ph. Subject of email should be the same as the le name.

STANDARD FOR GRADING

CRITERIA The criteria excellently capture the true nature and purpose of the Church. They can easily help one gauge whether the Church is living up to the teachings of Jesus and continuing His compassion in the world today. METAPHOR The metaphor excellently captures the ideal Church in the modern world. Through an excellent explanation, it conveys what nature and purpose of the Church are in different perspectives without losing Her true essence. The limitations of the metaphor and what can make up for them are also taken into account. Their explanation enriches the meaning of the metaphor, and consequently, the nature and purpose of the Church. The metaphor captures the ideal Church in the modern world very well. Through a very good explanation, it conveys what the nature and purpose of the Church are and helps people understand these easily. The limitations of the metaphor are also taken into account, and are explained very well. The metaphor captures the ideal Church in the modern world well. Through a good explanation, it conveys what the nature and the purpose of the Church are and helps people understand these easily. There are few minor lapses but these do not affect big ideas of the metaphor. The limitations of the metaphor are also taken into account, and are explained sufciently. The metaphor somehow captures the ideal Church in the modern world. It conveys what the nature and purpose of the Church are; however, more explanation is need to make it more understandable in general. There are more than two minor lapses or one major mistake in the explanation. The limitations of the metaphor are taken into account but are not explained sufciently. The metaphor can capture the ideal Church but more and better explanations are need to convey Her nature and purpose. There are two or more major ideas that need further explanation. The limitations of the metaphor are hardly taken into account

A+

The criteria greatly consider the signs of the times and the best features of the Church throughout history. Through their explanation, the criteria give new meaning to the nature and purpose of the Church and they in turn shed new light on how things are and should be in the world. The criteria capture the true nature and purpose of the Church very well. They can help one gauge whether the Church is living up to the teachings of Jesus and continuing His compassion in the world today. The criteria greatly consider the signs of the times and the best features of the Church throughout history. These are explained very well. The criteria capture the true nature and purpose of the Church well. They can help one gauge whether the Church is living up to the teachings of Jesus and continuing His compassion in the world today. There are 1-2 minor lapses but these do not affect the wholeness of the essay. The criteria consider the signs of the times and the best features of the Church throughout history. One of them needs a little more explanation, but in general, they are sufciently good. The criteria capture the true nature and purpose of the Church adequately. Most of them can help one gauge whether the Church is living up to the teachings of Jesus and continuing His compassion in the world today. There are more than two minor lapses or one major mistake that affect/s the wholeness of the essay. The criteria consider the signs of the times and the best features of the Church throughout history. One of them needs further explanation to make the big ideas much understandable. The criteria somehow capture the nature and purpose of the Church. Some of them can help one gauge whether the Church is living up to the teachings of Jesus and continuing His compassion in the world today. Two major ideas are missing and/or not explained very well. The criteria considers one of the two: the signs of the times or the best features of the Church throughout history. However, it needs a little more explanation to make it more understandable. The criteria hardly capture the nature and purpose of the Church. More than two major ideas are missing and/or not explained. The criteria hardly considers any of the two: the signs of the times or the best features of the Church throughout history.

B+

D F

There is an attempt to explain the metaphor but it hardly captures the ideal nature and purpose of the Church. The limitations of the metaphor are not taken into account. The metaphor fails to capture what the ideal Church is.

The criteria fails to capture the nature nature and purpose of the Church. They do not consider the signs of the times and the best features of the the Church throughout history.