Your basic assignment is to write a two-paragraph essay (about 150-300 words) concerning a passage in the reading for one of the two classes in each of the full weeks for which you do not have a paper assigned. (There are 10 such weeks in the semester.)

You should choose a passage from any of the reading assigned for the week and devote a paragraph each to two things. First, given an account of the what is said in the passage. Second, comment on it, giving reasons for your comments. The passage you write about might range from a single sentence to a page, but it should be short enough for you to given an account of what is said in a single paragraph. Indeed, although the length of two paragraphs is designed in part to make this a short assignment, my main reason for choosing this length is to encourage you to look closely at the texts you read and to get used to thinking about specific passages in them.

While I will push you to write about short passages, you should feel free to choose the content of the passages for yourself. My best advice in finding a topic is simply to look for a short passage you have something to say about. The reading guides will sometimes point you to key passages in the reading assignments, but you needn’t limit yourself to these. You may take the assignment instead as a opportunity to speak to a part of the assigned reading that interests you but that might not end up being discussed in class.

What you have to say about a passage can be quite varied: for example, you might agree with it, you might disagree, you might find it puzzling, or you might find it interesting without being sure whether you disagree or not. However, whatever you have to say about it, you should give reasons. Imagine yourself saying, “I agree with this,” “I find this puzzling,” etc. and someone asking you “Why?” In addition to stating your reaction to the passage your second paragraph should provide an answer to that question, explaining why you agree or disagree or what is puzzling or interesting about the passage.

I won’t grade these assignments, but I keep a record of your completion of them as part of my evaluation of your class participation. I encourage you to complete them before the class in which we will be discussing the material you are writing about, but I will accept an assignment until midnight that day. That means that, after midnight on Tuesday, you will need to write on a passage from Thursday’s assignment; and, after midnight Thursday, I will not accept an assignment for that week unless you have made other arrangements in advance.

I prefer to have assignments submitted as e-mail attachments (my address is helmang@wabash.edu), but I will be happy to accept these on paper if that is more convenient for you.