Western Political Philosophy Assignment
Final Response Paper
Western Political Philosophy
POL-203 Fall 2020 (ONLINE)
Read till the end!
Dear all, each semester you are asked to at least write one response paper or perhaps more. Some of these papers are of no interest to you. Many times, you will simply put together a project by extracting sources and copy pasting them in the document. Let this semester be different! I want you to choose 1 book. Yes, only 1 book. This book can be chosen from the list I provide you or a book which is related to the Philosophers we have discussed in class. Choose one philosopher from these: Plato, Socrates, Nicholas Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau or Karl Marx. After selecting one, read a book discussing strengths and weaknesses of their work and ideas for example Animal Farm by George Orwell.
After choosing a book you will do the following: Word Limit: 3400-4500.Part 1: PART 1: A SUMMARY OF THE WORK
To develop the first part of a report, do the following:
- Identify the author and title of the work and include in parentheses the publisher and publication date. For magazines, give the date of publication.
- Write an informative summary of the material.
- Condense the content of the work by highlighting its main points and key supporting points.
- Use direct quotations from the work to illustrate important ideas.
- Summarize the material so that the reader gets a general sense of all key aspects of the original work.
- Do not discuss in great detail any single aspect of the work, and do not neglect to mention other equally important points.
- Also, keep the summary objective and factual. Do not include in the first part of the paper your personal reaction to the work; your subjective impression will form the basis of the second part of your paper.
PART 2: YOUR REACTION TO THE WORK
To develop the second part of a report, do the following:
- Focus on any or all of the following questions. Check with your instructor to see if s/he wants you to emphasize specific points.
- How is the assigned work related to ideas and concerns discussed in the course for which you are preparing the paper? For example, what points made in the course textbook, class discussions, or lectures are treated more fully in the work?
- How is the work related to problems in our present-day world?
- How is the material related to your life, experiences, feelings and ideas? For instance, what emotions did the work arouse in you?
- Did the work increase your understanding of a particular issue? Did it change your perspective in any way?
- Evaluate the merit of the work: the importance of its points, its accuracy, completeness, organization, and so on.
- You should also indicate here whether or not you would recommend the work to others, and why.
Part 3:
- Summarize the key ideas of the book, your reaction to the work with the discussions and content we’ve discussed in class. You need to form an opinion, whether you agree, disagree or you find XYZ ideas which are problematic and/or exemplary and useful.
Make sure your project is cited and has a works cited page.