Philosophical Essay

Each student will write a 5 page essay on an assigned question. You should address the question in a well-argued, philosophical essay with basic Introduction-Body-Conclusion structure. You should utilize the assigned readings as sources in formulating your answer. Outside research is encouraged but not required. Any outside research should include proper academic sources such as books by scholars in relevant fields and peer-reviewed journals. Avoid general knowledge sources like Wikipedia and About.com and possibly biased sources such as advocacy group websites. You should include proper citations and a list of references for your sources according to APA style.

All written assignments should be submitted electronically through Blackboard: Go to the course Blackboard site; click on the Assignments tab on the left; click on the indicated assignment; then you should see a place to upload your essay. Essays should be uploaded as MSWord documents. PDFs are acceptable but less preferred. If you are a Mac user, you should convert your Apple Pages document to MSWord or PDF.

This paper will be graded on

strength and clarity of argument
appropriate and accurate use of philosophical and theoretical concepts
proper citation and reference format
quality of writing:
clarity
essay, paragraph, and sentence structure
grammar
punctuation

Absolute Requirements: If an essay does not meet these requirements, it will be graded a zero until re-submitted with problems rectified.

The essay must be at least 5 full pages of double-spaced text with no more than one inch margins, not including the reference page.
The essay must be your own original work, not work copied from an author found on the internet or somewhere else, or even a mere paraphrasing of another’s work. See below for the possible penalties of plagiarism.
The essay must make substantive reference to at least two of the assigned readings. Research beyond assigned readings is not required but is encouraged, and the sources cited should meet the standards indicated above.
The essay should include in-text citations and a reference page to document all sources utilized in APA format.