For Professor Anthony

Compose a response paper to the following question. Your response paper should be a minimum of 3 full pages and no longer than 5. It should be double-spaced, use a 12-point font, and have 1-inch margins all around. Read the question carefully; make sure you answer all of the different components that make it up. Go back and carefully re-read the sources in order to answer the question. Strive for clarity and precision. Make sure you cite your sources correctly when you either quote a text, or reference or paraphrase an idea found in the text. Have friends read your response paper after you print it out to see if they can comprehend your argument and catch any glaring spelling and grammatical mistakes, then read it to yourself slowly and out loud. You should only turn it in after you have corrected the conceptual and grammatical mistakes.

Describe the process of legal change in two of the four religions (Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam) by drawing on two specific instances of change in laws (one example per religion). Compare the two processes. Based on your comparison, make an argument for why law changes when it does and what explains the differences in the process of legal change between religious traditions.

Guidelines on Writing Paper

This hand out does not treat good writing in general – which I discuss separately. Instead, it focuses on the expectations that are specific to this assignment.

1. Do not introduce the author (e.g. Friedmann) or the text (e.g. Qur’an). Assume the reader knows them. Do not start out by saying that the author was a famous theologian, etc. Plunge right away into the thesis and the argument. Do not summarize the text. Assume the readers have read it, though they may have forgotten some details.

2. Neither praise or put down the author. Do not say whether you like or dislike the author’s ideas. Simply analyze the text to support your thesis.

3. Constantly cite the text. Do so by putting the page numbers and an identifying word from the title, and nothing else, in parentheses, like this (Islamic Law, 43–4) or (Bahr, 128-9). In the case of the Bible, put book name, chapter:verse number (Deuteronomy, 1:3). In the case of the Qur’an, put chapter:verse (2:1).

4. Do not include a bibliography. I forbid you from using outside sources since it makes students suspend their own thinking and adopt somebody else’s (usually erroneous) ideas.

5. To write a paper that is not superficial, you need to re-read the entire text at least once, and the parts that are especially relevant to your paper several times.

6. Three to five pages provide very little space: use them wisely. Do not undertake anything but a close engagement with the text. Do not be wordy. Do not make general statements about Islam, religion, philosophy, knowledge, life, the human condition, etc. “Narrow and focused” is good. “Broad and general” is bad.

7. Organization: Let the logic and broad structure of your argument determine the paper’s organization, including the order in which topics are treated and the passages in the text cited or analyzed. So, you need not organize your paper to mirror the text’s own organization. You also should not organize your paper around quotations from the text. Do not give me a verse by verse commentary of the surah.

Writing an Analytical Paper for This Course

1) In the Introduction, state a position/thesis. In the rest of the essay, argue for it.

2) In the Introduction, give a sense of how you will argue for your position, and give a sense of the organization of the essay.

3) Do not state a fact or give a quotation without making clear how it supports your point.

4) Do not state a fact or give a quotation without “framing” it. “Framing” means writing something before and after the quotation or fact that (1) makes the transition to the quotation natural by creating anticipation; (2) clarifies how the fact or quotation fits into your argument; (3) creates a smooth transition to what comes next.

5) Ensure the transitions between sentences in a paragraph are smooth.

6) A paragraph usually has a “topic sentence” near the beginning that signals the focus of the paragraph, anticipating what is to come. One often goes back to the main point in the last sentence of the paragraph by way of recapitulation.

7) Make the transitions between paragraphs smooth.

8) Critical Acumen. Write the paper on the theory that shows the most promise for illuminating your problem of interest. Provide supporting evidence, but also cover the potential shortcomings of the theory and possible objections to your thesis. If you can think of several possible objections, choose the most severe one. If you can’t think of a good rebuttal to an objection, admit it frankly.

9) Minimize redundancy. Assume the reader has read the text you’re writing on. Avoid long summaries. Say only things about the text that are directly relevant to your argument.

10) Preferably, the conclusion doesn’t simply repeat what came before, but synthesizes or recapitulates the ideas in a fresh way or from a different angle.

The Most Important Rules of Thumb

• Anticipate Things! • Explain how things fit in your argument. Don’t assume it’s obvious to the reader.

Check List Used for Grading – Checked Items Apply to Your Paper

Thesis

is not Stated / Not stated in the Introduction / Not stated clearly enough is gratuitous, i.e., irrelevant or only marginally relevant to the text you’re writing about could be crisper / more precise

Introduction

Does not give a sense of how you will argue for your position Does not give a sense of the organization of the essay

Argument for Thesis

Reasoning is not very careful Insufficient number of examples given for argument Reasoning is in parts obviously incompatible with the examples you’re writing about Does not limit itself to things in text that are relevant to your argument

Style, Clarity, and Organization

Is redundant (repetitive) Does not avoid long summaries

States a fact or give a quotation without making clear how it supports your point. States a fact or give a quotation without “framing” it. That is, write something before and after the quotation or fact that

does not make the transition to the quotation natural by creating anticipation does not clarify how the fact or quotation fits into your argument does not create a smooth transition to what is to come next

Paragraphs topic sentences (or more clear ones) are lacking. (A “topic sentence,” normally the first or second sentence in a paragraph, signals the point/focus of the paragraph.)

Sentence transitions are lacking: make smooth the transitions between sentences in a paragraph. Paragraph transitions are lacking: make the transitions between paragraphs smooth.

Overall cohesion is lacking: not clear why you switch from one idea to another. Overall unity is lacking: not clear why some ideas are necessary for the larger argument of the essay.

Overall focus is lacking: you discuss too many ideas; make the essay more narrowly focused.