Write an essay of 4-5 pages (c. 1200-1500 words) in which present and evaluate two sides of an issue that arises in one of the readings in the module. To choose a topic you will need to identify:

By an “issue,” I mean a point about which there might be disagreement—i.e., something with respect to which there are at least two divergent points of views, two sides. The passage presenting an argument may present it in greater or less detail. It might develop an argument very fully (perhaps so fully that you can only summarize it in the space you have available), or it may merely suggest a reason for taking one side. In the latter sort of case, you will need to develop the argument that you take to be suggested in the passage. Although you must refer to a passage in the reading in your presentation of one side of the issue, you may also refer to things you have read in your description of the issue or in presenting the other side.

Your evaluation of the two sides of the issue should be an assessment from your own point of view of the relative strength of the arguments that you consider. Part of that should be the consideration of replies one side could make to the arguments of the other. Your evaluation should be a substantial part of the paper, at least as long as your presentation of one of the two sides (and thus roughly a third of the paper). However, don’t feel that your evaluation needs to present your final judgment about the issue. You need only address the arguments that you consider in the paper, and you shouldn’t move much beyond them. There might be other arguments you don’t consider that you see as crucial for deciding the issue. It would be fine to note that such arguments exist but you shouldn’t devote much space to developing them. Don’t think of this paper as the last word on the issue: it’s instead a paper that considers an argument found in the material you have read and considers an alternative point of view.

Thus your paper should contain:

There are many ways in which an essay like this might be organized, but one straightforward approach would be to provide these elements in this order—i.e., to begin with a brief description of the issue, then present each of the two sides in turn, and conclude with your evaluation of their relative strength—but I ask only that all of these elements be present, and other ways of organizing them can be effective in particular cases. In particular, it might work better in some cases to consider the argument you find in the reading after you have already presented an argument on the other side of the issue.

Again, be careful to give full references to the works you cite (as well as page references for your specific citations). There is no obvious right way to cite something like the readings book, but that makes citing it a good exercise in thinking about what is essential in a citation. Imagine someone finding your paper laying on the ground in a different part of the country and think what information they’d need in order to track down the book whose pages you are citing.

I prefer that you to turn in the paper electronically, either as an e-mail attachment or in the drop box of the Blackboard site for our section. If you need to hand in a hard copy instead, you can catch me at the lecture or drop it off at my office (Center 200H) or in my box in Center 207. (If you want a specific time for the deadline, you can count it as the very end of the day on the 16^th—i.e., midnight.)