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The only source is the book of A World of Ideas.Eighth Edition.
* cite works from the book by page number, as in (Plato 85) and it should be after any information that you will take from the book not at the end of the paragraph.
Directions
Write an essay (equivalent of 3-5 double-spaced pages) that applies a theme in our readings from World of Ideas to a current public issue or event.
Documentation: cite works from our textbook by page number, as in (Plato 85). Cite other sources (articles, movies, TV shows, web sites, or books) in MLA style and include a Works Cited page. Use the St. Martin’s Handbook as your guide to MLA style. You can also consult Purdue’s Online Writing Lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ (click on “MLA style guide”) .
Step One: Find an interesting story
Using either the web or print sources, find an article on something of interest to you. If it is a web source, it must be print-equivalent — that is, it must be a published article from a magazine, research journal, newspaper, or online equivalent, though you may actually read it on screen rather than on paper.
Write a post on our Blackboard blog describing your article. Write a paragraph that includes the following:
• A link to the source, if it is online
• A description and MLA citation of the source, if it is not online
• An answer to this question: how does the article bring up issues or themes that any of our course readings deal with?
The article you choose can come from current events or from history, from the arts, or local politics, or regional/national politics, or international relations, or from science, or from business, or the law, or professional fields, or really any other area where people find issues to debate. It can be about student government or national government, about a current TV show or a play by Shakespeare. The crucial ingredient is that there should be room for different opinions about it, and a way to relate our readings to it.
The best topics are often disputes over local or specialized issues. Debates over large national and global issues generate more heat than light; of course you should form your own opinions about them, but arguing them concisely and logically in a short paper is difficult. In contrast, specialized topics can be handled in a short paper. Here is a very small sampling of some of the kinds of specific ideas that might work:
• Deciding whether your favorite coach acted as a good leader in a recent game or decision
• Interpreting what ideas about truth, love, or life we might take from the film WALL-E
• Discussing the concept of civil disobedience in the context of protests in Iran, Thailand, Syria, Wisconsin, or anywhere else
• Deciding which philosopher is closest to the leadership style of a teacher, coach, religious leader, civic leader, politician, etc., based on an article or biography
• Etc., etc., etc.
• Please do not just take one of my ideas – find something pubished that interests you, and write what you think about it.
Each of these examples involved big questions (What is a good leader? What is justice? What is human nature? How should citizens behave?) but takes off from one recent news story. You will tie your paper into one specific article. This limits your paper and makes it manageable.
For finding an article, I suggest browsing widely in sources you don’t always read. Here are a few suggested places to start looking:
• Here is a map of more than 10,000 newspapers around the world, with links to their online editions.
• Arts & Letters Daily provides links to interesting articles from magazines, newspapers, and blogs around the world, and the column on the far left side of the page links to the homepages of all those publications.
Step Two: Choose a theme and a thesis
The themes in our readings for the first half of the course are justice, citizenship, leadership, government, and human nature, but you can also deal with such questions as “What is happiness?” or “What should our goals in life be?” Our readings implicitly address these questions too.
The goal is to apply the kinds of reasoning we find in our readings to contemporary issues.
• Find something, large or small, that you care about and know something about (or are willing to read about in detail).
• Imagine what some of our authors would say about it.
• Consider your own opinion, and compare and contrast it to the messages in our readings.
Your thesis should state:
• What your current issue is
• Your opinion
• How your opinion compares and/or contrasts with the reasoning you find in some of our readings (name the specific authors you choose to respond to)
Step Three: Write
You should go through a writing process that accounts for all the areas of writing:
1. “Bones” and “meat” come first. Have something to say, organize it, include enough information, and discuss your own thoughts. Write a first draft which explores and clarifies your ideas. Be creative, and don’t worry about correctness yet.
2. “Skin” comes next. Work on clarity, style, voice, and sentence variety.
3. Proofread last.
Studies show (I can xerox them for you if you like) that advanced writers account for all the priorities listed above, and novice writers worry mainly about proofreading. Be advanced – work on the substance first and correct errors later.
Rubric
An excellent final draft will follow these guidelines:
• Responds to a specific published article, and cites that article in MLA style
• Has an introduction that:
•
o Creates context by mentioning the article and the theme
o Includes enough background information
o Ends with a thesis that relates your opinion on the issue to readings from our textbook
• Has body paragraphs that:
•
o Follow in a clear order
o Relate the article to readings from our textbook
o Include your opinions and reactions to these texts
• Is reflective and fair in comparing your opinion to others’
• Is written in a personal voice (” I think”) but avoids too much informality or empty argument (” That’s just stupid” or “This author must be evil”). Gives your opinion with reasons. Responds to others in civil conversation.
Themes are:
• What is human nature?
• What is justice?
• How do we act justly?
• What is the best form of government? And/or: What justifies power (gives rulers the right to govern)?
• Who should rule, and/or how should a ruler behave?
• What is the relationship between the individual and government, and/or how should a citizen or subject behave?
• What is the best kind of leader? What is the relationship between leaders and followers?
Readings are :
• Plato, from The Republic From page( 447- 459)
• Lao-Tzu, from the ¬ Tao-te Ching From page (21- 35)
• Machiavelli, from The Qualities of the Prince From page (37-53)
• Rousseau, from The Origin of Civil Society From page( 55-75)
• King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” From page (211- 231)
• Jefferson, “The Declaration of Independence” From page (77-85)
• Stanton , “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” From page(201-209)
• Douglass, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass From page (157-171)
The only source is the book of A world of ideas.
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