Archive for category: Literature

Create an argument about a reading, imagine how other people read it and offer your response in which you disagree with their interpretation. Here is an example of how you could develop an argument about the story of Adam and Eve (in the Book of Genesis): 1.Find an important question to discuss about the text. For example, if you read the story of Adam and Eve, you might wonder whether God knew about the serpent’s plan to corrupt people. Did God know about the serpent’s plans?

2. Show two different ways of answering the question: Perhaps some readers of the story will say that God did not know about the serpent’s plans. You, on the other hand, might say that God actually know about the serpent’s plans.

3.State your argument in one sentence.Here is the basic formula: Many readers of [the work’s title] seem to believe that the serpent acted independently of God, but I argue that he acted with God’s tacit approval. It is important that the argument shows the contrast between what you want to a) disprove and b) prove.

4.Compile evidence from the text to support both sides of your argument.

5. Write an introduction. Using the argument you have designed earlier (step 3), write a more detailed introduction that includes your argument:

The opening of the Book of Genesis, which describes Adam’s and Eve’s downfall, raises the question whether God knew about the serpent’s plan to corrupt people. Readers of the story are likely to conclude that God, the force for good, could not possibly be associated with the serpent and therefore he must have not known about serpent’s plans. In this view, the serpent acts alone and independently of God. Such an interpretation, however, ignores the possibility that the serpent probably acted with God’s tacit approval. Thus, it can be argued that God knew about the serpent’s plans but chose not to stop him.

6. The rest of the essay falls roughly into two parts, in which you consider two sides of the argument. a)God didn’t know. .. [explain]. b)God knew. . . [explain].

It often happens that while you read something, you ask yourself a question that has two fairly convincing but conflicting answers. In the case of Genesis, did the serpent act independently of God?

1. Identify the mode/genre of the poem and conduct a close reading that pays attention to the prosody, mode, and genre (the form) of the poem.

Annunciation: Eve to Ave

by Mary Szybist

The wings behind the man I never saw,
But often, afterward, I dreamed his lips,
remembered the slight angle of his hips,
his feet among the tulips and the straw.

I liked the way his voice deepened as he called.
As for the words, I liked the showmanship
with which he spoke them. Behind him, distant ships
went still; the water was smooth as his jaw—

And when I learned that he was not a man—
bullwhip, horsewhip, unzip, I could have crawled
through thorn and bee, the thick of hive, rosehip,
courtship, lordship, gossip and lavender.
(But I was quiet, quiet as
eagerness—that astonished, dutiful fall.)

Section 1: Historical and cultural background of the period.
■ Briefly describe the causes or origins of the chosen literary period,including significant historical and cultural events that led to the period.Essentially, what brought about or sparked the period? How did historical or cultural events at the time influence writers? (SLO 1, SLO 3)
2) Section 2: Summary of period values and characteristics.
■ Briefly describe the chosen period overall, including its key ideas,* core values* (social, moral, political, spiritual, etc.), and aesthetic principles*(including but not limited to: the period’s common themes, subject matter,new writing techniques, and preferred forms or styles). Essentially, what is
this period “all about”? What are the defining characteristics of this period’s writing? How did these defining characteristics develop? Students should connect their description of the period’s characteristics to the historical background above. (SLO 1, 3, 4)
3) Section 3: Argue that two works of literature are valid examples of the period.
■ Select two works from the chosen literary period, ensuring that each work is written by a different author.+ Then provide a clear, well-developed argument demonstrating how both works are representative of the period by analyzing how the literatures’ specific forms or styles match the
values and principles of the chosen period.* This should be the longest section of the paper. (SLO 2) Where possible, the two chosen authors should come from different geographical regions.
■ Example: A student writing about Regionalism might argue that William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is representative of the Regionalist Movement because it uses dialect to convey an authentic Southern voice; depicting regional cultures as realistically as possible was a primary principle of Regionalism.
■ The student should provide and analyze specific examples (direct quotes or paraphrasing) from their chosen works of literature to support their argument.
The goal of the assignment is to demonstrate understanding of the ways literary periods shape literature and act as vehicles for expressing artistic, political, social, or religious values.

The aim in this paper is to develop the first set of skills that are necessary in order to write critically on philosophical topics. Instead of focusing here on criticism, or on advancing your own argument, however, you’re first going to focus on providing a thorough and charitable reading of the text or texts that you’re working with. Providing a charitable reading means casting the argument in the best light possible. You want to depict the argument in a way that the author intends it. Focus on trying to make the argument as strong as it can be. A charitable reading is necessary before you can criticize any argument, because you need to make sure that the argument you’re criticizing is actually the argument that the author supports. It is this first skill, providing a thorough and charitable depiction of the author’s argument in your own words, that we’re focused on here.

Before turning your paper in, make sure that you’ve cited it properly. You may use any type of citation format, so long as you stick to the same format consistently throughout the paper. Failure to properly cite the appropriate sources is plagiarism and will be dealt with accordingly. If you’re unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, or how to properly cite your work, you can come speak to me about this. Alternatively, there are many online sources that you can reference, including this page from MLA (Links to an external site.).

Choose one of the following topics and respond to the prompt in approximately 3-4, double-spaced pages (12 pt. Times New Roman font). Please note that the page length is merely a suggestion – if your paper ends up being a little longer than 3-4 pages, you needn’t shorten it. If it ends up shorter than 3 pages, reconsider whether you’ve fully answered the question, but don’t add fluff or repeat yourself. Before beginning to write, please see the “paper writing headquarters” page on Canvas with advice and guidelines on how to write successful philosophical papers.

Remember to read the attached rubric thoroughly before submitting your paper. I will grade everyone’s paper against this rubric. You will be graded on how accurately and charitably you portray the arguments, how thorough your description is, how well structured your sentences, paragraphs, and the paper as a whole is, the clarity of your language use, as well as basic mechanics of spelling and grammar and citations. All of these elements are important to a strong paper.

Describe Socrates’ argument, which spans the Euthyphro and the Apology, as to why he considers his philosophizing an act of piety. Consider the following questions: How does Socrates understand philosophy? How does Socrates describe piety in each dialogue? In what sense does Socrates see himself as improving his fellow Athenians, and why might he think that the gods want him to do this? Support your description of Socrates view with quotations from the text, properly cited.
Milton Friedman advances a classical defense of the stockholder approach to business ethics. Describe in detail Friedman’s view. Consider the following questions: Why does Friedman think that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits? Why are managers not qualified to use stockholder funds to advance various kinds of social causes? Then describe why Joseph Heath takes this view to be valid but underdeveloped. In what ways does Heath think that Friedman’s view needs to be expanded? What justifies the profit motive according to Heath? What sorts of legislation or regulation must be in place in order for the profit motive to operate how it ought to? For each thinker, support your interpretation with quotations from the text, properly cited.

Identify a larger topic. An umbrella that covers the whole paper. For example, gender issues, class issues (economy – poor vs rich), use of humor, effective use of symbolism, use of nature, use of metaphors, mental illness, independence etc. Write about why this larger topic is important to you and to this world today.1 point

Identify at least 2 works or authors you will write about in your paper. You can write about more but that depends on your topic. If you are addressing topic of female oppression, you may want to identify several charters in the readings assigned to choose from – but limit yourself to 3-4 characters you will write about to discuss your topic.Your paper MUST have examples from readings as evidence proving or strongly supporting your thesis. Again, you will lose points for not providing this.

Section 1about 2 paragraphs (2 points for all required aspects) – about 300- 400 words: Introduce your topic and discuss the importance. Identify the works and the authors and the characters you will write about in this paper. What year was this written? Provide few details about the authors. End of this first paragraph state your thesis. Watch the YouTube. Again, you will lose points for not providing this.