| FrC 14I Spring 2014 |
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Write an essay (of roughly 4-5 pp. or 1200-1500 words) in which you tie two sides of some issue to works we have discussed.
The issue and works are your choice except that (i) the works should be from two different discussions and (ii) at least one should be from the discussions since Gilgamesh. Your essay concerning them should include the following elements:
• A presentation of the issue. The issue should be the truth of some claim people might disagree about (e.g., “Everyone lies” or “There are non-human persons”), and you should explain what you take to be “at issue”—i.e., what the difference between the two sides is and why it is important.
• Ties to each of two works. You should note a detail—e.g., a passage, an event, a character—in each of two works, with the two details tied to arguments for different sides of the issue. A passage you note might actually be an argument for one of the two sides, but a passage or one of the other sorts of details might simply be an example that could be cited as part of such an argument. In either case, you should explain the argument you have in mind (either to interpret the passage which offers it or to show how the example might used in an argument).
• A discussion of what these ties tell us about the issue. There are a number of forms this can take. You might evaluate the relative strengths of the two arguments, perhaps concluding on that basis that one of the two sides is correct or simply noting the different strengths and weaknesses you find on each side. Alternatively, you might conclude that the two examples (or two arguments) show that the issue isn’t as simple as it first appeared: perhaps a distinction needs to be made (e.g., between kinds of lying or senses of ‘person’).
As with the last assignment, I’ve tried to state these elements in a way that could serve as an outline for the paper in case you find that helpful, but it’s not necessary that you address them in the order I’ve used to describe them. In any case, each of the four—i.e. the presentation of the issue, the individual discussions of the two works, and your discussion of what we learn from them—should get a roughly equal attention in your essay (i.e., something on the order of a page).
Also, as with the last assignment, I will expect you to give a full references to the details you cite (i.e., you will not be allowed to assume that your reader knows what you are speaking of). In the case of a written work, a full reference typically includes, in addition to a page reference, information about the title, author (or editor), publisher, and date of publication. In other cases, the needed information is less obvious, but in all cases you aim should be to provide enough information that someone who had no connection with this class could find the specific work you are referring to while using only the information you include in the paper. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions about what information is enough, but I place no restrictions on the form in which you present it.
Although I’ll be willing to accept your essay on paper, I’d prefer that you send a copy by e-mail (either as an attachment or in the body of a message) or upload it to your individual “group” on Canvas. (If you do the latter, I’d appreciate a message telling me you’ve done that.) My address is helmang@wabash.edu.