We want you to make an
arguable connection
between at least three
of these works (a thesis) which you will be able to prove in supporting
paragraphs and tie together in a conclusion. These connections may be
similarities, differences, discussions of how characters (Oedipus, Galileo
or others) exemplify theories espoused by any other authors, or any other
connections you see.
You will have no other assignments for the
week - only the writing assignment.
Let's work on these in steps so that you
have a manageable task. The first
step -
due on Sunday by 6PM, April 29th ,
is the posting of
your thesis paragraph. You will
post into a folder which belongs to a group to which you have been assigned.
Groups are identified by numbers. You will find your group listed below
(to be posted) In that paragraph, you will state
your argument (the conclusion youhope to prove) and the works
which will be used to prove it. For the following Monday, April 30th , you will have posted responses to your groups
postings, helping your group members evaluate the quality and provability
of their theses.
These will be read by you and you will post your full first draft of
the two page paper by Wednesday evening, May
2nd.
Again, feedback to your group is to be given no later than
Friday, May4th, by midnight and the final draft of your paper,
including revisions, should be posted to your folder by Tuesday
May 8th.
There are no other reading assignments or study or discussion questions
for the week. You may however, wish to start reading the Epistemology
lectures if you like. The discussion of them will start on Friday May
4th and will be due to be completed on the same Tuesday as your final
draft.
The Groups:
You have been randomly assigned to groups of three and four.
You are all expected to read the papers in your own group folder and comment.
Please make sure you do this as expeditiously as possible so that your
group members can read your comments and decide what to accept and rewrite
based on your suggestions. Please do not wait for the last minute. You
are, of course, free to read anyone else's paper in any other group.
Click here for group assignment.
Feel free to solicit
help from your seminar group or the
entire class. You should be looking for the same structure in the two
page paper, as you have in a successful single thesis paragraph. You will
need a well explained argument in paragraph one. Some papers will need
to define certain terms or portions of the argument more fully in a second
paragraph. There should be at least one paragraph of support for each
author you are citing, and each of those paragraphs should include quotes
(with citation form) and your explication (explanation in your own words
of exactly what those quotes mean) as well as a statement or reference
to show how that quotation supports your thesis statement (from paragraph
one).
Remember that your reader will have read
the same works you've read so you need not explain the totality of what
each piece is. But your reader cannot read your mind and needs to be taken
carefully and clearly down the road of your argument. Don't assume that
your reader agrees with you about your thesis, about the meaning of what
your quoted evidence are saying, or that s/he knows what you mean. Explain.
Have others read and
comment on the clarity of your argument as well as its validity. That
is not cheating - that's working.