PHIL 303 Handouts - Essay Guidelines
There will be 1 typed Response-Essay of 2-3 pages with an Oral Participation-component (= to initiate class-discussion), and 1 typed, Research&Reflection Essay of 6-8 pages due in the latter-half of the semester.
A) So, regarding your short Response-Essay: These will be done alphabetically beginning in WEEK V, and staggered throughout the semester. These will be orally presented to the class in summary-fashion (6-10 minutes+ ...), and then handed-in to me within one week thereafter. So, the Oral component (= to kick off the discussion) in class could simply be based on a draft or outline of what will become your typed 2-3 page Response-Essay @ 40 pts. due one week later.
Thus, every student will address our class by presenting what will become the substance of his/her Response-Essay, thereby contributing to the seminar-nature of our 22 member class. Students will initiate class-discussion based on the assigned chapter-pages for that day. This oral component of class-participation will involve choosing a topic (see below) and explaining the WHAT (= substance of the text-extract) of your choice and WHY you made that choice - which means sharing with us your reflections/insights/questions/analysis. Students will highlight, as they speak to the class, the intellectual contents of what they will develop into the typed Response-Essays.
Regarding your TOPIC: the choice is yours to define = that is, you may speak and then write about ANY philosophical themes/ideas/... as well as persons (= philosophers) of particular interest to you encountered in the assigned chapter-pages for a given class-session. So, BE OBJECTIVE = that is, tell us WHAT interested you in the assignment, giving us a good idea of what the philosopher presents (= ideas in the text-extract), BE SUBJECTIVE = that is, explain WHY you chose what you chose, telling us what you found intriguing, compelling, challenging, fascinating, noteworthy, even personally meaningful.
And so, compose/write/type your Response-Essay in 2 parts = OBJECTIVE = on WHAT the philosophers tell us, and SUBJECTIVE = on your reaction to what you read = WHY it grabbed you in one way or another. As you can see, there really is no right or wrong intellectual content nor single stylistic manner to your Response-Essay. Use of the first-person is certainly AOK, since I am asking for your personal response as well. A balance of objective-voice and subjective-voice conveyed with logical clarity of expression is the goal. Ultimately, what interests you to speak and write about (= your choice) will surely be interesting for me to read and for us all in class to hear. Be inspired with Heraclitean Dragon fire!
As for compositional format, use standard typeface (12pt. font), double-spacing with 1-inch margins, and express yourself in grammatically correct sentences, forming a logical sequence of paragraphs, and making good use of spellchecking. So, PROOFREAD conscientiously before submitting your Response-Essays to me. (If I have to be a proofreader with red ink, then points will be deducted from the total points-potential of 40.) And have a separate title-page, including your name + a thematic title indicating the topic-focus of your essay.
Feel free to come to talk with me for guidance. Your Oral Presentation + Response-Essays should be intellectually rewarding for you to communicate in class as well as to compose, and delightful for me to read, and informative - even inspiring! - for all of us to hear - with excellent grades, no doubt!
B) Regarding your longer Research&Reflection Essay: I propose that you compose a research+reflection writing-piece in 6-8 pages (longer if you wish), and it will be due for everyone NO LATER THAN Tuesday, November 22th - earlier, of course, if you wish. What to write about? Anything you choose derived from our reading-encounters with the ancient Greek and Roman thinkers. Define/circumscribe your topic in terms of the ideas presented in the readings of the philosophers that have particularly grabbed/interested you. That is, reflect upon their interesting/challenging ideas and explain what you found to be intriguing. Thus, like the shorter Response-Essay, present WHAT made you reflect and WHY your reader-response/reflection was stimulated. No right or wrong approach. Regarding the research-aspect of your Essay: beyond our "primary source" text-anthology, I suggest that you consult at least 1 scholarly secondary source, which could be a book (entire or a pertinent chapter) listed by our editor on pp.4-6, or a journal article, or a philosophy web-site. Properly cite your consulted sources whether quoted or paraphrased - which simply means acknowledge the authorship of a passage that you incorporated into your essay. And always keep in mind, needless to say, that logical lucidity and grammatical clarity of expression are to be aimed for.
So, names and dates that are correlated to our class-meetings as given in the Syllabus:
WEEK V - T 9/20: "Euthyphro" - Kristin & Greg
- Th 9/22: "Apology" - Spencer & Meghan D.
WEEK VI - T 9/27: "Crito" - Robert + "Phaedo" I - Travis
- Th 9/29: "Phaedo" II - Jake H. & Jessica
WEEK VII - T 10/4: "Phaedo" III - Zach & Jake J.
WEEK IX - T 10/18: "Republic" Book I - Kate K. & Mike
- Th 10/20: "Republic" Book II - Kaira + Book III - Coty
WEEK X - T 10/25: "Republic" Book IV - Julia & Meghan M.
- Th 10/27: "Republic" Book V - James & Aaron
WEEK XI - T 11/1: "Republic" Book VI - Phil + Book VII - Huanan + "Laws" - Angela & Ritsuko + "Timaeus" - KCz
*** SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!! Henceforth no written/typed Response-Essays. That is, for purposes of class-discussion on Aristotle, groups will initiate our seminar-like endeavor, so everybody will speak again, if briefly but substantially (= 20-pts. potential). These are your FORMAL oral-participation contributions. Here's the schedule of names & dates:
- Th 11/3: "Categories" - Kristin & Greg + "Physics" - Spencer & Meghan
WEEK XII - T 11/8: "Metaphysics" Book I - Robert & Travis & Jake H.
- Th 11/10: "Metaphysics" Book XII - Jessica & Zach + "On the Soul" - Angela & Ritsuko
WEEK XIII - T 11/15: "Nicomachean Ethics" Book I - Jake & Kate K. + Book II - Mike + Book III - Kaira
- Th 11/17: "Nico. Ethics" Book X - Coty & Julia + "Politics" - Meghan M. & Huanan
WEEK XIV - T 11/22: Epicurus's "Letter to Menoeceus" - Aaron + "The Early Stoa"&"Ethics" - James + on Epictetus & Chs. 51-52-53 - Phil
- Th 11/24 - THANKSGIVING
WEEK XV - T 11/29: Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations" & on Pyrrho & on Plotinus the Neo-Platonist - ALL OF US plunge into the seminar-discussion fray!