Be sure to use your social security number and NOT your name on your paper.
Please use either Palatino 11 or 12, Times New Roman 12 or Times 12. Please do not use Chicago or a point size larger than 12.
Write your paper so that my parents (who are not philosophers) could understand what you are saying and would be convinced that you are a relatively intelligent person. You may try literally writing your paper for your parents or siblings.
You are allowed 2 spelling errors. Your paper grade drops with each spelling error over 2.
Be sure that you have a well thought out and expressed thesis statement in your introductory paragraph. A thesis statement is a sentence (or group of sentences) which tells the reader what you are going to be doing in the paper, the goals you hope to have accomplished by the time the paper is done. It can be as basic as "In this paper I argue that surrogate motherhood is immoral because it doesnít maximize utility or respect persons." Underline your thesis statement
The standard construction of a paper for this class is (each section is not limited to one paragraph):
Give the strongest possible interpretation for any argument you are considering, the "principle of charity". Remember these are thoughtful authors we are reading. If you are criticizing an author for holding a horribly ridiculous position, make sure that she couldn't be understood to be holding a more plausible view. Shooting down a bad argument doesn't prove very much for your position.
Alternatively, do not assume that I will be acting in accordance with the principle of charity. If something youíve said can be interpreted in a variety of ways, I will likely notice and comment on this and this will not reflect well on your paper grade. If you think there will be any doubt as to what you are saying, clarify.
Give reasons for your disagreement with an author, don't just say you disagree and leave it at that. Give the reader a reason to agree with you and not the author. The fact that the author has reached a conclusion you donít share isnít a reason for rejecting the authorís argument; it may be a reason for you to change your position. Find a flaw in the argument supporting the conclusion.
Donít be dogmatic. Take the other position seriously. If, in fact, you disagree with a point explain why, donít just say that you disagree because it isnít what you believe that will not help the reader understand why you believe your position is better than the other.
Remember, the fact that something may be difficult to achieve does not make it false or unworthy of being an ideal. Saying that an author's position complicates life is not, by itself, an argument against the position. It merely reveals that we have a lot of work to do, but we already knew that.
Don't forget to conclude. Tell the reader what you believe you have done so that the reader can reasonably assess whether you have accomplished your objectives. Your conclusion and introduction should bear a slight resemblance to one another.
Do not start your paper the night before it is due. Ideally, write a draft about 5 days before the deadline so you can set it aside and then reread and rewrite it a few days later.
If you provide citations from the reading in your paper, make certain that you provide the appropriate reference. And also make certain that you explain the significance of the citation. Help the reader as much as you can. And show me that you understand what the citation means and why it is important.
Make sure that each paragraph relates somehow to your thesis statement; i.e., it is getting you closer to your conclusion.
You get graded on what you do say, not on what you meant to say. So, make sure I know what you are saying.
Remember that I have been trained to read texts closely and critically. Do all that you can to make certain that your writing can withstand such scrutiny.
A paragraph should be making only one point and should be short enough that the reader can get all of it at once. I.e., paragraphs should not go on for pages -- they shouldn't even be as long as one double-spaced page.
Use ëit is,í ëthere areí construction only when entirely unavoidable. Usually a sentence can be restructured to avoid this construction and will be more interesting for the restructuring and will avoid using empty words.
People are whoís not thatís. As such, do not use ëthatí to modify a person. For example, do not write ìthe person that grades my papers is obsessive compulsive.î The correct way to write this is ìthe person who grades my paper is obsessive compulsive.î
Don't ask rhetorical questions. I will answer them in the way you least like. If you have a point to make, make it.
"Therefore," "Because," and "Since" all have specific meanings. Use them in accordance with these meanings. Anything following "therefore" is a conclusion which is a direct result of points you have just presented. "Because" and "since" indicate reasons for a conclusion which either has been or will be stated.
One of the most frequent comments students get from me on their papers is ëwhy?í Make sure you have asked this question at least twice for every position you are supporting. Ask it once (and answer) with regard to why the reader should agree with you and again (and answer) with regard to why this reason should convince them. I will ask why; try to answer the question before I ask it.
Do not us "feel" when you mean "believe". We feel emotions, not beliefs. People don't feel oppression is wrong, they believe it is wrong. Beliefs are alleged to have some sort of rational backing and can be true or false. Feelings, on the other hand, are not true or false; they are appropriate or inappropriate. If you can use "believe" instead of "feel" and the sentence loses no meaning, use "believe."
All of those grammatical rules that you learned back in 6th grade are
still true and relevant. I expect that your ability to graduate from
high school is evidence that you are aware of grammatical rules.
I will not look upon large numbers of grammatical errors with fondness.
Donít use words for the purpose of either variety or impressing the reader. Make your paper as clear as possible. Using words an average person is unlikely to know is not going to help the reader to understand. If you do use words you believe an average person is unlikely to know, make certain that you define the words.
Read your paper out loud. Yes, you will feel stupid, but this will quite possibly lead to corrections or rewordings which will lead to a higher grade. Feeling a bit stupid is probably worth it.
I strongly recommend that you also read the following:
http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/~ddb/vade-mecum/sections/section4/4-1.htm
http://www.arts.ubc.ca/~irvine/SYWTP.htm
http://www.uq.oz.au/~pdgdunn/watessay.htm
http://www.cofc.edu/~portmord/tips.htm
http://www.hamilton.edu/ACADEMIC/resource/wc/WritingforPhilosophy.html
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