essay
Phil 2230: Philosophy of Religion
Final Essay Assignment
The Assignment: An argumentative essay (defending a thesis) evaluating an argument or view we have discussed in the second portion of the course – from the midterm essay through the end of the course. In using the word “evaluate” I mean to give you a lot of freedom with respect to constructing your thesis. You could argue that C. Stephen Evans’ criteria for identifying revelation suggest that the Qu’ran is in fact more likely to be revelation from God than the Bible is (or the opposite). Or you could argue that Evans’s criteria are not actually good ways to identify revelation. Or you could argue that Freud’s objection to religious belief succeeds – or fails. Or that Manis’s view of Hell is better than the alternatives. Or that no view of hell avoids objections, and so we shouldn’t believe in hell. And so forth – you have a lot of freedom. Just make sure that you are making, and defending, a claim about one of the views or arguments we have discussed.
Grading: I will grade for these factors:
· There must be a clear thesis and well-structured, clear arguments supporting the thesis. (This is by far the most important element of the grade.)
· Your statement of the argument or view which you are evaluating should be clear and fair; you should indicate understanding of the issues involved.
· Grammar and writing should be free of errors.
If you do everything right – you have a good thesis, solid arguments, good composition – you will get an A-. A full A requires that you do something outstanding – most likely an interesting original argument or view, or perhaps a really outstanding and insightful way of stating a problem, or something of that sort. So a full A is a significant achievement. An A+ means that the paper could, with work, be a publishable piece – this is graduate-quality work, and undergraduates almost never receive this grade.
Here is a complete statement of my grading scale:
A+: The idea is an original contribution to the debate and is the sort of paper that may be published in a professional journal or presented at a professional conference. This is graduate-level work, and undergraduates rarely receive this grade.
A: You did everything right, and had something extra special, most likely interesting and original arguments or ideas, or perhaps a particularly insightful way of putting a problem or some especially brilliant writing.
A-: You did everything right – good, clear thesis and organization, good arguments, and good writing – but you are missing the extra originality or creativity to make this an A.
B+: You did what was asked of you (pretty clear thesis, pretty good writing, and decent arguments), but something on that list (thesis, writing, arguments) is quite good, above the B level.
B: You did what was asked of you – you have a pretty clear thesis, pretty good writing, and decent arguments.
B-: You pretty much did what was asked of you, but something important (thesis, writing, arguments) is sub-par.
C+, C, C-: Some important elements of the paper are sub-par, but the paper is passable.
D+, D, D-: The paper barely deserves college credit, but isn’t quite an outright failure.