Pursuit of Wisdom Final Paper Guidelines
The general assignment is to write a persuasive argument of 1500-2000 words in defense of a thesis statement that you have formulated. Your paper should take the form of any essay (Introduction, Main Body, and Conclusion), but with a few specific requirements:
i) The introductory paragraph is a thesis statement in which you specify your topic, your position on that topic, and the reason why you hold that position on that topic. The thesis statement MUST consist of three sentences only (no more, no less!):
- Topic
- Your Position on that topic
- Reason why you hold that position on that topic
Important: the third sentence is usually the most difficult of the three because you must give a philosophical reason for your position, not a personal reason.
ii) The main body of your essay MUST be a persuasive defense of your thesis statement; that is to say, you must demonstrate that the reason why you hold your position on your topic is valid. Do not write a commentary or a book report! You must formulate a coherent argument that best explains your thesis statement and conveys its validity.
iii) In your conclusion, DO NOT summarize your argument, but specify how the reader (me, not you!) benefits from your argument. Why is it good that the reader has been persuaded to your position?
Final Paper Introduction Example (You CANNOT copy this example)
This essay will discuss Descartes’ text, Meditation on First Philosophy and Sartre’s essay, “Existentialism is a Humanism.” I will argue that Sartre’s emphasis on subjectivity is a continuation of Descartes’ cogito. This is the case because Sartre’s claim that existence precedes essence can only be declared if one first realizes that subjectivity is initially formed from the individual’s realization that because they are a thinking thing, they must necessarily exist.
Formal Criteria:
The following set of criteria pertain only to the form of your paper (format, style, font size and the like). Keep in mind that points will be taken off, if you do not adhere to the formal criteria of your paper assignment. In general, the point of the formal criteria is to ensure that you write a COMPLETE paper that maximizes the amount of your own words on each page.
i) Cover Page. This does not count toward the word count of your assignment, but an independent page without a number. The cover page MUST include: title, your name, the date, and the class title.
ii) The paper begins on the top of page one with a 1⁄2 inch indent (every new paragraph must be indented 1⁄2 inch). For every line that you lower the start of your paper, two points will be taken off your final grade.
iii) There is to be no outside sources used for this paper. The sources you can only use for this paper are the readings we have discussed in class.
iv) Font Size:
~12font
~Times New Roman
~Double Spaced
v) Margins: Default MS Word. Do not mess with margins.
vi) Quotations:
a. Short Quotes: two lines and fewer. The quotation will be part of the main text with the same font size etc.
b. Long Quotes: three to no more than six lines. This requires a new format.
- Indent side margins another inch
- Reduce font size to 10
- Single space
Important: when the quotation is complete, return to the main text. For every line quoted beyond the limit of six lines, two points will be taken off final grade.
vii) Beware of Quotation and Paragraph Abuse!!!!
- Quotation abuse is when a student uses an abnormal amount of quotes to fill up space on the page. Points will be taken off for this depending on the level of abuse. For a 1500-2000 word paper, you should have, at most, five small quotes and two (but preferably one) long quote. Use your quotes wisely.
- Do not begin a paragraph with a quote, but use quotes to confirm what you have already written. Use quotes to emphasize the main point of your argument. Thus, quotes should be used wisely and sparingly
II) Citation example
Concerning Aristotle’s notion of virtue as an intermediate, Aristotle writes “…moral virtue is a mean… (Russo, 287).”
All that is needed for the quotation citation is (1) the author’s last name and (2) the page number. Citation in any other way will result in a loss of 1 point per infraction.
