Paper

The paper is due December 5 no later than 5pm. I will not accept late submissions. You have a month to write this paper. You will build it out of the other writing assignments we have done for this class, and you will present it to your colleagues in the last week of class (the workshop). Make note of the due date. Take it into consideration when making any travel plans. Again, I will not accept late submissions. Read ALL of the directions. For this paper, you will take your thesis, precis one, and precis two...revise each according to the feedback you have received throughout the semester, and combine them into one longer paper. You will include references to at least 2 sources outside of the one you address in step one. About my expectations for your arguments. You do not need to come up with a groundbreaking argument for or against any of the authors we have read or whomever you choose to address. The idea with these papers is that you should show that you have a grasp of the reading and can engage the positions we have been discussing. Rather than trying to be groundbreaking, focus on being clear and thorough (at least, as thorough as space limitations allow). Clarity in writing is a virtue, and part of the purpose of writing rather short papers is to force us (all of us) to avoid fluff…and to focus on the parts of the arguments that matter for understanding what is going on. Only use minimal quotation, and only in cases where paraphrasing would change the meaning in important ways. DO NOT USE ANY RHETORICAL QUESTIONS. Times New Roman, 12pt font, 1” margins on all sides, and double-spaced. You can only submit doc, docx, or pdf formatted documents. Do not try to submit anything else. Don't send me a message with a pages doc. Don't try to upload a jpeg. Don't try to give me a link to a google doc. You will cite all your sources in either MLA or APA style. For reference help: https://owl(dot)purdue(dot)edu/.Links to an external site. Your citations do NOT count toward the word minimum. If you do not have parenthetical citations (at minimum, author's last name and page number) and a works cited page, you will receive a zero for the paper. I will not be lenient. As with all assignments in this class, ANY use of AI (that includes Grammarly Plus and Chat GPT) for any assignment constitutes plagiarism. In fact, the use of any online study source, e.g. Chegg or Course Hero, constitutes cheating. You are responsible for ensuring that your work is free of any AI. Review the Honor Code and Code of Conduct: https://www(dot)colorado(dot)edu/sccr/students/honor-code-and-student-code-conduct Plagiarism is number one on my hit list. Plagiarism is theft, the presentation of someone else’s ideas as your own (unquoted or uncited). I count as plagiarism copying more than 3-4 words in a row from someone else’s work without proper attribution. This includes paraphrases that are “too close,” i.e., they are exactly like someone else’s sentence(s) but simply replace their words here and there with your synonyms. Plagiarism, for our purposes, also includes drawing from independent (e.g., web) resources to help you with your discussion questions, which are to be done entirely on your own. Let me be clear: in writing any of the assignments for this class, you are supposed to be grappling with the text, and the text alone. If you go on to the web to help you understand or provide insights, then it’s the web that understands, not you, and you will have gained nothing. Philosophical victories in understanding are hard-won, and the only way you learn is if you struggle with the text alone. If I judge that you have plagiarized in any aspect of the course—no matter how small—I will report you to the Honor Board. I take it very seriously—DO NOT DO IT! Structure of your paper Use the following as a guide for structuring your paper. The final paper will use but combine the elements (building blocks) that you have written throughout the semester. For this paper, you will present your thesis (in 40-100 words), present the author's argument, make your own argument, offer an objection to your argument, then reply to the objection. Those are the only things you should have in this paper, and that is the order you will have them in. Do not mix the sections up. Do not try to get creative with the structure. If you do not put the paper in this structure, you will get a bad grade. You should already have each of these sections in some form already from the previous three building block assignments. In this paper, you will expand, clarify, and revise what you wrote there. This paper should allow you to bolster your position and make clear what the author was defending and how they did that. These papers should be no less than 2400 and no more than 2800 words. If you do not meet the minimum length requirement, you will immediately lose 10 points from your paper grade. (Not technically a section, but you have to begin with this) Begin with your thesis statement, no more than 100 words...and NOT a typical introduction paragraph. Follow the description I gave in the thesis statement assignment. (1) Explain the author's argument. [This is where you state the author's position and explain the argument for that position] (2) Take your own position (disagreeing with the author in some way) and defend it with an argument. [This is where you make your argument/addition to the conversation] (3) Offer an objection. [This is the objection to whatever you put in step 2] (4) Reply to the objection. [Here you will reply to the objection that you offer at step 3] DO NOT INCLUDE ANY KIND OF CONCLUSION. If you include a conclusion paragraph you will lose 10 points. The paper will look something like this: your thesis, then the following paragraph(s) are you telling me what the author argued for and what argument or evidence they give in support of that position. (The first section should be approximately one-third of the total paper.) Step 2 has to be YOUR contribution, not just agreement with the author. You have to offer either some disagreement with the author. This is not a discussion piece, an op-ed, or a book report. You have to make your own argument. (This section should also be approximately one-third of the total paper.) The third section of the paper will be an objection to your position, i.e. the position you defend in step 2. The fourth section will be your reply to the objection. Each of the final two sections should take up half of the remaining one-third of the paper. Stick to the structure I set here. Focus on making each step clear. Read and follow the formatting guidelines in this assignment. Your grade will depend on following them. Formatting Requirements (not suggestions...requirements) Times New Roman, 12-pt font, 1in margins on all sides, page numbers at the bottom, and double-spaced. Text should only be left-justified. Do not use some massive header with my name and the course name and all of that. Put your name and maybe a title. Anything else is a waste of space and words. This is a short assignment. Get straight to the point. On a related note, you have to look to sources outside of the course readings for this paper. The minimum number of outside sources is two and the maximum is three. You also need to properly quote, paraphrase, and cite ANY material that is not your own. My general recommendation for citation is that when you aren't sure, it is better to over cite. You should have a header before each new section of the paper. The header should just say which section you are on (e.g. Section One), and the header should be bold. Do not include a header for the thesis part at the beginning. For each section that does not start this way, you will lose 3 points on the paper grade. You should start each section with the thesis of the argument that you will make or explain in that section. Do not say that the author(s) consider a position or that they believe something or that you could argue. Take a stand and make the thesis clear in the first sentence of each section. You will NOT have full page (or longer) paragraphs. You will not have an introduction or conclusion paragraph. Follow the format I outline in the assignment. If you have paragraphs that are even a full page long or you include an introduction (that is not your thesis), you will lose 5 points for each. Brief example: Rawls argues justice involves two key principles: first, everyone has full access to a system of basic freedom; second, whatever inequalities do arise within the system, they must come from opportunities that are open to all equally and be to the advantage of the least well off. Rawls say that the principles of justice ought to be agreed to by people who do not know what their position in society would be. Rawls says that this original position is important for ensuring that the social contract is fair for everyone involved. (I use this example in particular to leave open all of the readings from the course. You, of course, can’t write about Rawls.) Notice that this is not everything you would want to include; it is just a brief illustration of how you might begin the first section of the paper. Do not include vague opening statements like “since the dawn of time, people have pondered ethical issues with technology.” Get to the point. You only have a few pages to do this thing, so jump straight in. No need for an typical introduction over and above your thesis or any kind of conclusion. After you have said what you need to say about your chosen argument, you will turn to your own position. How you present this will depend on how your position compares to the argument you chose to respond to. You might, for example, say, “Contrary to Rawls’ contention that inequality has to benefit the least well off…”, or you might say, “Although Rawls is right to note the relationship between inequality and the least well off, he does not establish how….” After articulating your own position, you need to offer some argument/evidence to support your position. In these papers, you have more space than you did in the short paper to argue for a position. These first two steps are the most important. You want to make sure that you clearly, and fairly, represent the position you are engaging and that you do the same for your own position. I would imagine that these two steps would take up about 2/3rds of the paper. Once you have given your position and offered some argument/evidence for it, you should consider an objection. The objection should be plausible (that is, not obviously false or otherwise ridiculous such that no one would believe it in the first place), but it does not have to be a response that you think the original author would suggest. Considering what the original author might say is probably the easiest choice, but you don’t have to go that way. You might just think of an objection and want to present it neutrally. That is also fine. Finally, you should offer some response to the objection that you present. Your response, like the objection itself, should be plausible and substantial enough that people might believe it. These last two steps will be rather short (given that I suggest the first two steps will probably be around 2/3rds of the paper), so you will need to be judicious about how to use your words. To reiterate my expectations for your arguments...you do not need to come up with a groundbreaking argument against Carr or Carrasco or Osborne...or whatever author you choose. The idea with these papers is that you should show that you have a grasp of the reading and can engage the positions we have been discussing. Rather than trying to be groundbreaking, focus on being clear and thorough (at least, as thorough as space limitations allow). Clarity in writing is a virtue, and part of the purpose of writing rather short papers is to force us (all of us) to avoid fluff…and to focus on the parts of the arguments that matter for understanding and defending what is going on. You can use MINIMAL quotation, and everything, including paraphrased work, must be cited. Submit your papers through the assignment page on Canvas. Submit the paper in doc, docx, or pdf form. Use Times New Roman, 12 pt font, one inch margins on all four sides, and double-space the paper. Please do not waste a bunch of space at the top of the paper with my name and the course number and all of that. Your name and “Longer paper”, for example, (on the same line) will be sufficient. Remember, the length consideration for the paper is a word count not a page count. No need to mess with margins or font size or any of that. Follow the format I have here set out, and you will be able to produce a quality paper. A note about Grammarly…sometimes it can be helpful, but often it only makes things worse. Try to do the editing yourself and not rely on that kind of program. Do not have paragraphs that are even one full page long. Break each of the sections down into manageable paragraph lengths. You should also take advantage of the writing center for help. Do not ask them about content stuff. Just get help editing. https://www(dot)colorado(dot)edu/program/writingcenter