Your job is to write a relatively short analysis of some aspect of the concept of success that in some way that helps us understand it a little bit better. By ‘some aspect,’ I mean that you can focus your discussion pretty narrowly if you wish. You don’t need to have a whole theory of success – just something that makes the idea somewhat clearer in some way (so, e.g., if we were analyzing the concept of nature, you could focus on something as specific as the economic effects of current USDA regulation of egg sales, if you wanted, as long as doing so allowed you to comment on the concept of nature in some clear way in the end). The concept of success is one that we all grasp, but it is so complex, malleable, and multi-faceted that there is always something to learn by examining the concept (and how people use it) more carefully. Moreover, I would suggest that having clearer ideas about success helps us to understand better when we or others talk about success (because the idea in our minds will be more precise). Success probably is not the kind of thing about which there is ONE CORRECT IDEA that we can have. One reason for this is that there is so much to success that no one person can possibly grasp it all (e.g., there are many wildly different areas of life in which we can succeed; additionally, success is a concept that applies to humans, animals, plants, societies, ecosystems, etc., and nobody is an expert on all these things). Another reason is that we humans, to some extent, seem to determine for ourselves what success is (e.g., we have to determine what metrics to use to assess whether something or someone is successful). Since there is no ONE CORRECT IDEA of success for all people at all times, it’s a concept that needs constant evaluation and re-assessment. That’s why I’m sure that you can find a contribution to make to our understanding of success. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Your analysis should be about 1000-1500 words long, with a readable font (e.g., Garamond), 11-12 size, roughly 1 in. margins, etc. Your analysis should do the following (and will be graded accordingly): (1) THESIS AND REASONS (15%): The paper should provide a clear thesis statement that (A) states the conclusion do you want to establish, and (B) states the main reasons why your reader should accept the conclusion. It might look like this: “I think that bioethics is really cool. I think this because of A, B, and C.” (2) ARGUMENT (50%): The paper should develop three good reasons why the thesis is true. This is your argument for your conclusion. These reasons should be the ones you identify in the thesis statement. It’s a good idea to structure the paper like this: Introduction: Thesis statement (conclusion + main reasons in support) Re-state reason 1. Then, explain and support reason 1. Re-state reason 2. Then, explain and support reason 2. Re-state reason 3. Then, explain and support reason 3. Optional (for this paper): consider a reason (or reasons) why someone might reject your thesis, and defend your thesis against these reasons – you can do this in its own section, or you can do it in the supporting sections above. Conclusion: Re-state your thesis. (3) PARAGRAPHING (15%): The paper should make use of paragraphing to make the structure of the argument clear. The introduction and conclusions should be their own (short) paragraphs. The supporting reasons should also get their own paragraphs. These paragraphs will have clear topic sentences (where you re-state your reason) and grow from there. The basic idea is that the structure of the paper should follow the logic of the argument. (4) PROOFREADING (10%): The paper should be polished and mostly free of grammatical, spelling, and usage errors. (5) WORKS CITED AND USE OF TEXTS (10%): When you make use of somebody else’s ideas (to agree, disagree, or just mention them), you will need a works cited page and citations in your text. If use someone else’s work but fail to provide a works cited page, you may fail the assignment. Here’s a good model for what an in-text citation might look like: (Vaughn 2006, pg. 7). Here’s a good model for what a works cited entry might look like: Vaughn, Lewis (2006), Writing Philosophy: A Student’s Guide to Writing Philosophy Essays, New York: Oxford.
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