response paper

paper_1_assignment_dupler_03

Write a response to one of three essays that we have assigned in class, by Hawken, McKibben, and Leopold. This should be in the 1000-1,250 word range. Once you’ve selected an essay, review your notes, and then carefully re-read the essay. If there’s something important in it that’s not clear to you, work to resolve that issue. Base your paper on the essay itself, not on your notes or anything we might have said in class. In this paper, your job is to present an argument that agrees or disagrees or agrees somewhat and disagrees somewhat with the argument set out in one of these essays. Assume that your reader has not read the essay you are responding to, so you’ll need to accurately and clearly set out the argument (or one aspect of the argument) for that reader. You do not need to summarize and respond to the entire argument presented in the essay; you can focus on and respond to one part of that argument. Find a particular issue that’s of interest to you. In this paper, your argument is as important as the argument to which you are responding. If you are in agreement with the essay, present more reasons to support the central assertion. If you are in disagreement with the essay, explain why its argument is weak and give reasons to support your position. If you are in agreement with one part of the essay, give additional reasons to support it, and explain the weaknesses of the part of essay with which you disagree and give reasons in support of your view. You may use the first person; write “I think . . . “ or “It’s my view that . . . “ Keep in mind, though, that too much use of the first person can make your essay sound like “I like pepperoni pizza. I think it’s real tasty.” A statement like “Hawken is absolutely right that . . .” is much stronger (and makes your reader take you seriously) than a statement like “I like Hawken’s idea that . . .” On the whole, the paper needs to do the following: 1.Accurately and clearly present the argument you are responding to for a reader who has not read the essay, 2. Clearly state your position in agreement, disagreement, or partial agreement/partial disagreement. 3. Provide a thoughtful response (additional reasons in support, or reasons in disagreement and explanation of the argument’s weaknesses, or all three), 4. Clearly indicate to the reader which assertions come from the author(s) or the essay and which are your assertions (even if you are in agreement with the author or authors). 5. Accurately paraphrase the essay’s assertions in sentences that are your writing and not just modifications of the essay’s sentences (in other words, avoid stealing from or plagiarizing the essay’s sentences) 6. Do all of the above in clear, direct, natural, readable writing. Organization Here’s an idea for your first paragraph: “In (full title of the essay), (full author name or names—first and last) argue that ____________. “ In the rest of the first paragraph, briefly develop and explain the argument for a reader who has not read the essay. (Use the first and last name of the author(s) on the first mention; use just the last name every time after that.) Begin the second paragraph with a clear statement of your position. Use sentences similar to one of these: A.“(Author name) is right that __________________ because _________________________.” Or “I think (author name) is correct that ________________ because ____________________.” B.“(Author name) is wrong that ____________________ because ________________________.” Or “I think (author name) is mistaken that ________________ because ____________________.” C.“While (author name) is correct that ___________________ , he/she is wrong that _______________. (Author name’s) assertion that ______________ is right because ____________________. Her/her claim that ______________, however, is wrong because ___________________.” In the rest of the second paragraph, briefly explain and develop your position. Organize the body of the paper in some simple, logical way that makes sense to you and will be clear to the reader. You may want to spend a page or so presenting a more detailed summary of the essay’s argument and then move to your argument in agreement or disagreement (or both). Or you may want to move point-by-point, paraphrasing the essay’s argument on one specific assertion and giving your response (agreement, disagreement, or both), and then moving on to the next specific assertion. The important thing is that your reader knows exactly which ideas come from the essay through your paraphrases and which ideas are yours. The final paragraph is your last chance to persuade the reader. Restate your position in the strongest possible terms. Suggest to the reader why this matters, why your position of the issue, if adopted, would have the best results. Quotes Normally, both quotes and paraphrases have to be documented. The reader has to be able to tell which page in which essay the quote comes from or the paraphrase is drawn from. For this paper, however, document only the direct quotes. You’ll need to have at least two direct quotes. Author Tags and Punctuation Always introduce a quote with an author tag like “Anderson and Leal claim . . . “ or, “According to Anderson and Leal . . . “ There are differences in punctuation depending on how you use the author tag: Anderson and Leal write, “The ‘free’ in free market refers to the individual liberty only markets can provide” [1, p. 417]. There is a comma after “write” and the quote begins at the start of the sentence with a capital letter. Anderson and Leal claim that “without that human freedom, environmental quality will be of little consequence” [1, p. 417]. There is no comma after “that . . .” and the quote starts in the middle of the sentence without a capital letter. When an introductory tag is already an independent clause and could stand alone, use a colon after it before you begin the quotation: Partridge rejects libertarianism because it favors the rich: “Thus it would appear that libertarian morality embrace’s the cynic’s version of the ‘golden rule’: ‘Those with the gold, get to rule’” [1, p. 437]. Skills to be practiced and/or demonstrated in this assignment: Identifying and accurately articulating the thesis and supporting points of an article Maintaining a neutral, objective, academic tone while summarizing another writer’s argument Entering the academic conversation; expressing your ideas as a response to claims of others Paraphrasing difficult or complex material in a clear and succinct manner Using author tags to indication authorship and to organize information Synthesizing information from a variety of sources Avoiding plagiarism and inadvertent“borrowing” of another’s ideas ETC. Summarize the material in your own words. Given the length of the summary section (200-400 words), you should avoid using any direct quotes from the article in that section. If you find an idea or passage impossible to paraphrase, reread the section and/or seek help from me or a peer. The toughest ideas to paraphrase are often those that are hardest to understand. Introduce the full name of the author (or organization), the title of the article, and main idea in the first one-two sentences. After giving the author’s full name, you can refer to him or her thereafter by last name only. Use author tags throughout the text to remind the reader of the author of the ideas. Use present tense verbs, varying the diction throughout: McNamara ARGUES, Joy SUGGESTS, etc. Do not rely on “SAYS” or “TALKS ABOUT,” or “BRINGS UP” as these are bland and contribute nothing to the organization or phrasing of the piece. See the helpful verbs handout online for synonyms. Write for someone who has not read the subject article. Your paper has to make sense and be interesting to someone who hasn’t read the article or is unfamiliar with the events it describes. Therefore, grammar, spelling, and “flow” DO count. Problems in these areas get in the way of the understanding and engagement of the audience. Maintain an objective, distant tone in the summary. Avoid commentary whenever you are paraphrasing or summarizing by using frequent author tags, which help you retain distance and give credit to the author. This is a tool you will incorporate frequently in academic writing, which asks that you report the ideas of others in an objective manner. Use descriptive conversation verbs to accurately convey the author’s tone. Use quotations & paraphrasing frequently, clearly, and effectively. Limit quotations in the summary section of your paper to those you cannot clearly paraphrase. Do not use quotations longer than 5 lines and only use the parts of the quotation that you need. Introduce and give credit for all quotations and paraphrasing. Then INTERPRET the author’s ideas—explain what the author means or the implications his/her arguments. Do NOT just plop a quote into a paragraph and move on without discussing it. Limit the number of claims that you make. Do not argue or agree with everything (or even most of) what the author has written. Be selective about the points that you decide to discuss. Try to make only one claim per paragraph and then use the rest of the paragraph to provide evidence or analysis to support your claim. Avoid wordiness. Be concise and accurate. Do not use statements like “Since the beginning of the dawn of time there have been ethical dilemmas.” You should be thinking about the broader implications of the cases we discuss, but huge generalizations like these are neither helpful nor persuasive.

Doug Dupler

Nature and Human Values

Paper 1 Assignment

Response to a Single Argument

Write a response to one of three essays that we have assigned in class, by Hawken, McKibben, and Leopold. This should be in the 1000-1,250 word range.

Once you’ve selected an essay, review your notes, and then carefully re-read the essay. If there’s something important in it that’s not clear to you, work to resolve that issue. Base your paper on the essay itself, not on your notes or anything we might have said in class.

In this paper, your job is to present an argument that agrees or disagrees or agrees somewhat and disagrees somewhat with the argument set out in one of these essays. Assume that your reader has not read the essay you are responding to, so you’ll need to accurately and clearly set out the argument (or one aspect of the argument) for that reader. You do not need to summarize and respond to the entire argument presented in the essay; you can focus on and respond to one part of that argument. Find a particular issue that’s of interest to you.

In this paper, your argument is as important as the argument to which you are responding. If you are in agreement with the essay, present more reasons to support the central assertion. If you are in disagreement with the essay, explain why its argument is weak and give reasons to support your position. If you are in agreement with one part of the essay, give additional reasons to support it, and explain the weaknesses of the part of essay with which you disagree and give reasons in support of your view.

You may use the first person; write “I think . . . “ or “It’s my view that . . . “ Keep in mind, though, that too much use of the first person can make your essay sound like “I like pepperoni pizza. I think it’s real tasty.” A statement like “Hawken is absolutely right that . . .” is much stronger (and makes your reader take you seriously) than a statement like “I like Hawken’s idea that . . .”

On the whole, the paper needs to do the following:

1.Accurately and clearly present the argument you are responding to for a reader who has not read the essay,

2. Clearly state your position in agreement, disagreement, or partial agreement/partial disagreement.

3. Provide a thoughtful response (additional reasons in support, or reasons in disagreement and explanation of the argument’s weaknesses, or all three),

4. Clearly indicate to the reader which assertions come from the author(s) or the essay and which are your assertions (even if you are in agreement with the author or authors).

5. Accurately paraphrase the essay’s assertions in sentences that are your writing and not just modifications of the essay’s sentences (in other words, avoid stealing from or plagiarizing the essay’s sentences)

6. Do all of the above in clear, direct, natural, readable writing.

Organization

Here’s an idea for your first paragraph: “In (full title of the essay), (full author name or names—first and last) argue that ____________. “ In the rest of the first paragraph, briefly develop and explain the argument for a reader who has not read the essay. (Use the first and last name of the author(s) on the first mention; use just the last name every time after that.)

Begin the second paragraph with a clear statement of your position. Use sentences similar to one of these:

A. “(Author name) is right that __________________ because _________________________.”

Or

“I think (author name) is correct that ________________ because ____________________.”

B. “(Author name) is wrong that ____________________ because ________________________.”

Or

“I think (author name) is mistaken that ________________ because ____________________.”

C. “While (author name) is correct that ___________________ , he/she is wrong that _______________. (Author name’s) assertion that ______________ is right because ____________________. Her/her claim that ______________, however, is wrong because ___________________.”

In the rest of the second paragraph, briefly explain and develop your position.

Organize the body of the paper in some simple, logical way that makes sense to you and will be clear to the reader. You may want to spend a page or so presenting a more detailed summary of the essay’s argument and then move to your argument in agreement or disagreement (or both). Or you may want to move point-by-point, paraphrasing the essay’s argument on one specific assertion and giving your response (agreement, disagreement, or both), and then moving on to the next specific assertion. The important thing is that your reader knows exactly which ideas come from the essay through your paraphrases and which ideas are yours.

The final paragraph is your last chance to persuade the reader. Restate your position in the strongest possible terms. Suggest to the reader why this matters, why your position of the issue, if adopted, would have the best results.

Quotes

Normally, both quotes and paraphrases have to be documented. The reader has to be able to tell which page in which essay the quote comes from or the paraphrase is drawn from. For this paper, however, document only the direct quotes. You’ll need to have at least two direct quotes.

Author Tags and Punctuation

Always introduce a quote with an author tag like “Anderson and Leal claim . . . “ or, “According to Anderson and Leal . . . “ There are differences in punctuation depending on how you use the author tag:

Anderson and Leal write, “The ‘free’ in free market refers to the individual liberty only markets can provide” [1, p. 417]. There is a comma after “write” and the quote begins at the start of the sentence with a capital letter.

Anderson and Leal claim that “without that human freedom, environmental quality will be of little consequence” [1, p. 417]. There is no comma after “that . . .” and the quote starts in the middle of the sentence without a capital letter.

When an introductory tag is already an independent clause and could stand alone, use a colon after it before you begin the quotation:

Partridge rejects libertarianism because it favors the rich: “Thus it would appear that libertarian morality embrace’s the cynic’s version of the ‘golden rule’: ‘Those with the gold, get to rule’” [1, p. 437].

Skills to be practiced and/or demonstrated in this assignment:

Identifying and accurately articulating the thesis and supporting points of an article

Maintaining a neutral, objective, academic tone while summarizing another writer’s argument

Entering the academic conversation; expressing your ideas as a response to claims of others

Paraphrasing difficult or complex material in a clear and succinct manner

Using author tags to indication authorship and to organize information

Synthesizing information from a variety of sources

Avoiding plagiarism and inadvertent“borrowing” of another’s ideas

ETC.

Summarize the material in your own words. Given the length of the summary section (200-400 words), you should avoid using any direct quotes from the article in that section. If you find an idea or passage impossible to paraphrase, reread the section and/or seek help from me or a peer. The toughest ideas to paraphrase are often those that are hardest to understand.

Introduce the full name of the author (or organization), the title of the article, and main idea in the first one-two sentences. After giving the author’s full name, you can refer to him or her thereafter by last name only. Use author tags throughout the text to remind the reader of the author of the ideas.

Use present tense verbs, varying the diction throughout: McNamara ARGUES, Joy SUGGESTS, etc. Do not rely on “SAYS” or “TALKS ABOUT,” or “BRINGS UP” as these are bland and contribute nothing to the organization or phrasing of the piece. See the helpful verbs handout online for synonyms.

Write for someone who has not read the subject article. Your paper has to make sense and be interesting to someone who hasn’t read the article or is unfamiliar with the events it describes. Therefore, grammar, spelling, and “flow” DO count. Problems in these areas get in the way of the understanding and engagement of the audience.

Maintain an objective, distant tone in the summary. Avoid commentary whenever you are paraphrasing or summarizing by using frequent author tags, which help you retain distance and give credit to the author. This is a tool you will incorporate frequently in academic writing, which asks that you report the ideas of others in an objective manner. Use descriptive conversation verbs to accurately convey the author’s tone.

Use quotations & paraphrasing frequently, clearly, and effectively. Limit quotations in the summary section of your paper to those you cannot clearly paraphrase. Do not use quotations longer than 5 lines and only use the parts of the quotation that you need. Introduce and give credit for all quotations and paraphrasing. Then INTERPRET the author’s ideas—explain what the author means or the implications his/her arguments. Do NOT just plop a quote into a paragraph and move on without discussing it.

Limit the number of claims that you make. Do not argue or agree with everything (or even most of) what the author has written. Be selective about the points that you decide to discuss. Try to make only one claim per paragraph and then use the rest of the paragraph to provide evidence or analysis to support your claim.

Avoid wordiness. Be concise and accurate. Do not use statements like “Since the beginning of the dawn of time there have been ethical dilemmas.” You should be thinking about the broader implications of the cases we discuss, but huge generalizations like these are neither helpful nor persuasive.