Philosophy 100
Mr. Cooney
Tips on Writing Papers for Philosophy 100
Each paper you present should show that you have read and absorbed the key ideas of the philosophers and can summarize and explain those ideas in your own words. Your paper should be carefully organized: provide a good introductory paragraph that gives a bit of background on the philosopher(s) and a brief overview of the key points you intend to cover. Present a short summary conclusion.
You should be as specific as possible.
Do not use much space (a few sentences in the intro paragraph is fine) summarizing biographical information on the philosophers. I am interested in your
summary/explanation of the key ideas. I need to evaluate how well you understand the
ideas, not your ability to re-hash the biographical information in the text.
The surest ways to get a grade you will not be happy with are:
1. Zoom off on your own personal reactions to what you have read, agreeing or disagreeing with the philosophers' ideas. I am interested only in your clear, thorough summaries and "explanations" of the ideas in your own words--not in your theories ... however good they may be.
2.Give a stiff paraphrase of what the textbook says, sounding very close to the way the textbook says it except for a few changes in wording here and there. This tells me nothing of your genuine grasp of the material.
3. Insert material from other books, encyclopedias or sources such as the Internet without quotation marks and attribution of the source. Remember, I will be able to judge how and how well you can write based on examining many papers, including the mid-term and final (which must be written in class without books or notes). I can easily detect if you are using material not your own. Even changing a few words here and there is still plagiarism. Just don't do it.
4. Fail to revise and correct your paper for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. In order to qualify for this course, you had to pass the English
Placement Test or English 011, which means that you should be able to do college level writing. Excessive errors in Standard English will cost you up to a full letter grade on any paper. Examples:
"Every student should present their papers on time or they will be penalized." There is a very common grammar error here called a "pronoun-referent agreement" error. You may not use a plural pronoun to refer to a singular referent. In the example, the word "student" is singular; "their" and "they" which refer to it are plural pronouns.
Suitable corrections:
--"Every student must submit his or her paper ... or he or she will be penalized."
--"Every student must submit papers ... or be penalized."
--"Students must submit their papers ... or be penalized."
"Plato says that the State is "Man writ Large". In American usage, periods and commas always go inside quotation marks. The British put them outside. Consider this little quirk to be a lingering symbol of our continuing rebellion against the Mother country.
"Plato's writings were extensive, however, Socrates never wrote a word." The preceding sentence is a comma splice. Just a comma connects two independent clauses. This is a grammar error: such a sentence must have at least a semi-colon before the "however," or a period.
"St. Thomas Aquinas had an enormous impact on later philosophers. Especially in his theories about Natural Law." The second sentence in this example is a fragment. There is no independent subject and verb, no independent clause. A good correction would be to connect the two.
This is not a writing course; I will not spend a lot of time showing you how to correct such errors. But if I indicate in my comment on your paper that you have such errors, you should be sure to figure out what they are and correct them in subsequent papers. You will be penalized for such errors. To be acceptable, college level work must be precise and accurate. This is especially true in Philosophy. If you have difficulty in this area, tutors are available and eager to help you in the Learning Assistance Lab in the Library.
Check for and be sure to avoid these four basic problems on all of your papers.