EN11M: Texts & Contexts
I
Second Essay Assignment
A draft of the first essay is due at the beginning of class
on Monday, November 1. The paper should be 4-5 pages long and you should bring
three copies of the draft to class.
In this essay, you should compare and contrast the views of
human nature or society expressed in any two of these texts:
- Plato, "The Speech of Aristophanes"
- Mencius, "Man's Nature Is Good"
- Hsün Tzu, "Man's Nature Is Evil"
- Niccolò Machiavelli, excerpt from The Prince
- Sir Thomas More, Utopia
- Michel de Montaigne, "Of Cannibals"
- Thomas Hobbes, excerpt from Leviathan
- John Locke, "Of Ideas"
Please note that I am not asking you to resolve the
problem of human nature or the ideal organization of society. I am asking you
to develop a precise argument about the similarities and differences between
two texts on these topics.
Note these dates:
- On Thursday, October 28,
come to class with a thesis for your first essay. This thesis should be typed
and should be stated as a single, complete sentence. The thesis of
the essay is the one, central idea that you want to convince the reader of.
A good thesis is one that can be proven (that is, you can cite evidence
to support it) and that needs to be proven (that is, it is not obvious
or self-evident). A thesis does not have to be a single sentence, but it is
a good exercise to write it as a complete sentence since it forces you to
articulate the single, coherent idea that drives the essay as a whole. We
will workshop our theses in this class.
- On Monday, November 1, we will workshop
our drafts in class.
- On Wednesday, November 3 and Thursday,
November 4, instead of our regular class meetings, I will meet with
each student individually in my office to discuss the drafts of the essay.
- On Monday, November 8, the final draft
of the essay is due at the beginning of class.