The following topics are suggestions. If you want to write on another topic, feel
free to do so. It might be a good idea, however, in that case, to check with me
first.
Note that the topics tend to have many sub-questions. You need not (and
probably should not) try to answer all of them. (You certainly should not just
answer them one after another in order — that would make a bad paper.) I put
them there to suggest various directions for thinking about the topic, and in
particular to head off superficial or excessively simple ways of thinking about
it.
The main intent of the paper assignment is for you to talk directly about
the texts we read. You can also use other outside material if you think
it helps your paper, though I don’t necessarily recommend that. If you
do so, you must of course make it clear exactly what you are using and
how. Also, it should still be clear that the paper was written for this
course.
All of the topics require you to make substantial use of material from
at least two of our main authors, or from (at least) two different works
by the same author. You can write about more than three if you feel it
improves your paper (but you will not get extra credit just for including more
authors).
The intent of the paper is to discuss the views, attitudes, styles, etc.,
manifested in the reading, not to reach a judgment on whether the authors are
right or wrong, good or bad, etc. If you are upset by something one of our authors
says, or find it ridiculous, you should use that as an excuse to try and understand
better why someone would say such a thing. If you can’t manage that, you
should try to write about a topic which doesn’t touch on the problem
area.
If you’re using the editions I ordered and/or links or PDF’s I provided, you
can refer to the readings just by giving the title and page number. If you use a
different edition and/or some other source, please give at least enough
bibliographical information, in whatever format you find convenient, that I can
find your source if necessary. There’s no need for a separate bibliography or title
page.
You can find answers to some commonly asked questions about my
assignments and grading in my FAQ.