Contemporary Ethics: Critical Response
Paper #2: Critical Response
ENGL 1123
Due: TBA through InSite.
Length and Format: The paper should be at least 1200 words and should not exceed 1,500 words. (One double-spaced page of 12-point Times New Roman font is about 300 words.) It should be formatted according to MLA guidelines.
Assignment Description: Write an in-depth critical response to one of the following articles on contemporary ethics:
§ “Censorship: A Personal View” by Judy Blume (pp. 317-22)
§ “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” by Peter Singer (pp. 323-29)
In a good critical response, you develop an original argument on a topic by working through your agreements and disagreements with someone else’s argument. If you mostly agree with the argument you are responding to, you explain how and why you agree but …show more content…
then take the argument into new territory by expanding on it, reformulating it, applying it within a different context, or exploring its hidden implications. (For an example of a critical response that starts from a point of agreement, see the sample paper that begins on page 381 of your textbook). If you mostly disagree, you explain how and why you disagree and then explore the implications of that disagreement. In either case, you should end up with an original and compelling argument on contemporary ethics.
Sources: The main source for this paper is the article that you are responding to, but you should also reference at least one credible newspaper or news magazine source (not a general reference source) that helps you develop your argument. All sources must be listed on a works cited page formatted according to MLA guidelines.
Rhetorical Situation: You participate in an online academic discussion group that focuses on ethical issues in contemporary society, and the group has recently decided to create web content that will make intelligent conversations on contemporary ethics accessible to a more general reading public. One part of the web page will include original essays that respond critically to important statements on ethics that have appeared within the popular press. You have been asked to contribute one such essay. Your goal is to develop a critical response that will be compelling and enlightening for both your academic peers from the discussion group and intelligent readers who are interested in ethical issues but are not academics.
Paper Structure: The paper should follow a simple-to-complex pattern of development (see “Paper Structure in College Writing,” pp.
48-53). Use the following guidelines to structure your paper:
I. Introduction: Your introductory paragraph should introduce (briefly but accurately) the article that you are responding to and establish the purpose for your critical response. It should conclude with a thesis statement that gives your reader a clear sense of the original argument that you will develop in response to the source article.
II. Body: Your body paragraphs should use the various rhetorical modes to develop a complex and original argument in response to the source article (refer to “Planning and Drafting Essays” on pp. 30-47 of your textbook for discussions of the various rhetorical modes). They should each be internally unified but should also build off of each other to gradually develop the essay’s larger argument.
III. Conclusion: Your concluding paragraph should explain what the fully developed argument of the paper is and reflect on the implications of that argument for the paper’s audience: intelligent readers who are not necessarily experts on contemporary
ethics.
Style and Tone: This paper requires you to work closely with multiple sources, which means that you will need to use signal phrases and in-text citation consistently and properly (according to MLA guidelines) in order to effectively manage your source material without allowing it to overpower your own voice. In describing and responding critically to your source material, you must be sure to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
Remember that you are addressing an audience of intelligent, sophisticated readers who come from a variety of backgrounds and hold a variety of positions on ethical issues. Your tone, therefore, should remain objective and respectful throughout the paper.
ENGL 1123
Due: TBA through InSite.
Length and Format: The paper should be at least 1200 words and should not exceed 1,500 words. (One double-spaced page of 12-point Times New Roman font is about 300 words.) It should be formatted according to MLA guidelines.
Assignment Description: Write an in-depth critical response to one of the following articles on contemporary ethics:
§ “Censorship: A Personal View” by Judy Blume (pp. 317-22)
§ “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” by Peter Singer (pp. 323-29)
In a good critical response, you develop an original argument on a topic by working through your agreements and disagreements with someone else’s argument. If you mostly agree with the argument you are responding to, you explain how and why you agree but …show more content…
then take the argument into new territory by expanding on it, reformulating it, applying it within a different context, or exploring its hidden implications. (For an example of a critical response that starts from a point of agreement, see the sample paper that begins on page 381 of your textbook). If you mostly disagree, you explain how and why you disagree and then explore the implications of that disagreement. In either case, you should end up with an original and compelling argument on contemporary ethics.
Sources: The main source for this paper is the article that you are responding to, but you should also reference at least one credible newspaper or news magazine source (not a general reference source) that helps you develop your argument. All sources must be listed on a works cited page formatted according to MLA guidelines.
Rhetorical Situation: You participate in an online academic discussion group that focuses on ethical issues in contemporary society, and the group has recently decided to create web content that will make intelligent conversations on contemporary ethics accessible to a more general reading public. One part of the web page will include original essays that respond critically to important statements on ethics that have appeared within the popular press. You have been asked to contribute one such essay. Your goal is to develop a critical response that will be compelling and enlightening for both your academic peers from the discussion group and intelligent readers who are interested in ethical issues but are not academics.
Paper Structure: The paper should follow a simple-to-complex pattern of development (see “Paper Structure in College Writing,” pp.
48-53). Use the following guidelines to structure your paper:
I. Introduction: Your introductory paragraph should introduce (briefly but accurately) the article that you are responding to and establish the purpose for your critical response. It should conclude with a thesis statement that gives your reader a clear sense of the original argument that you will develop in response to the source article.
II. Body: Your body paragraphs should use the various rhetorical modes to develop a complex and original argument in response to the source article (refer to “Planning and Drafting Essays” on pp. 30-47 of your textbook for discussions of the various rhetorical modes). They should each be internally unified but should also build off of each other to gradually develop the essay’s larger argument.
III. Conclusion: Your concluding paragraph should explain what the fully developed argument of the paper is and reflect on the implications of that argument for the paper’s audience: intelligent readers who are not necessarily experts on contemporary
ethics.
Style and Tone: This paper requires you to work closely with multiple sources, which means that you will need to use signal phrases and in-text citation consistently and properly (according to MLA guidelines) in order to effectively manage your source material without allowing it to overpower your own voice. In describing and responding critically to your source material, you must be sure to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
Remember that you are addressing an audience of intelligent, sophisticated readers who come from a variety of backgrounds and hold a variety of positions on ethical issues. Your tone, therefore, should remain objective and respectful throughout the paper.