Third response paper
Utilizing the texts we’ve considered this semester, write an essay in response to ONE of the two prompts below. Choose the one you prefer.
- Write an essay in which you put Sartre’s views related to freedom “in conversation” with the views of Hegel and/or associated with the French Revolution and Romantics. Among the things your essay needs to explain are: what each view is, how someone from one of those perspectives would interpret and respond to the other perspectives in question, what you think about it.
- Write an essay in which you put Rawl’s views related to freedom “in conversation” with the views of Kierkegaard and/or Marx and or the views associated with the French Revolution and Romantics. Among the things your essay needs to explain are: what each view is, how someone from one of those perspectives would interpret and respond to the other perspectives in question, what you think about it.
Specifics:
- Write your essay in response to ONE of the two prompts above.
- Your essay should be 1000-1300 words long.
- Longer is okay but not necessarily better; the assignment cannot be done well in fewer words (essays not done well will not earn high grades).
- Your essay should stand alone as an essay—that is, it should have a thesis statement and make sense, even without the prompt or having been part of our class discussion.
- A thesis statement is an original contribution from you, not just a report or restatement of the obvious. This is usually the central observation you have to make in relation to the what you think about part of the prompt.
- The job of the paper is the articulate, explain, and support that thesis statement.
- You must USE and engage the text as you explain and support your thesis.
- You cannot succeed with this paper if you do not use and explain passages from the relevant texts. If you cannot succeed with the paper, you cannot expect a high grade.
- Besides the sources assigned for the course and the two online encyclopedias of Philosophy that are linked to our Blackboard site, you may use SCHOLARLY outside sources (not websites, but published articles or books with page numbers), if you want. Do not use other sources.
- Essays which use non-scholarly sources or which use the thoughts or words of others without citing those sources properly will not receive a passing grade.
- As an essay, both the content and the writing count.
- You will receive a score for content and a score for writing; the paper score will be the average of the two.
Advice:
Write the essay as if you have two different audience members, write with them in mind:
- One of your readers is someone who is smart and interested but who has never heard of the people you are discussing.
- The other reader is someone who knows the material well, who disagrees with you, and who likes to argue.
- The first reader encourages you to explain the points, discuss (rather than just insert) quotations … teach the material to your reader.
- The second reader encourages you to prove your points and use the texts to support your interpretation and show your readers that your interpretation is the right one.
