Write an essay in which you introduce an issue, consider one argument on each side of it, and assess the relative strength of the two sides. At least one of the arguments should be based on (and make reference to) a passage in one of the texts we have read in the last four weeks of the course (i.e., since Kuhn). (This may be true also for the argument on the other side, but that is not required.)

My intention is that you plan your answer and construct an outline but that you leave the actual writing until the final period. So, during the exam period, I’ll ask you to use only class texts and notes and any notes you have written on a sheet with these instructions. (If you want a copy of this in more easily printable form, use the link above.) It’s very hard to say anything useful about the intended length of this sort of paper, but I tend to think of it as comparable in scale to your third paper.

Since you won’t write a draft, I can’t offer to read one; but I’ll be happy to look over your notes and discuss your planned answer with you both before and during the time you are writing it—remember that this is a paper, not an exam.