PHI 280: Comparative Worldviews

Term Paper
Write a 2000-word persuasive/argumentative essay that focuses on one of the major figures or views discussed
in the course. As a persuasive/argumentative essay, it must articulate a position and defend it. You can argue
against the figure or view, or you can choose to defend the figure or view from the objections others may have
raised against. Either way, your position must be clearly stated and defended. You are permitted and
encouraged to make your own critical and exegetical contributions, but these must not come at the expense of
engaging with and incorporating the views of others (i.e., you are expected to do some independent research).
Your essay must be formatted, and your sources cited, in accordance with an established academic publication
style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). Finally, expected care should be taken with respect to spelling, grammar,
composition, and style to meet the standards of academic professionalism for course work at this level.
You must submit for review an outline of your project at least two weeks before the final submission deadline.
Your outline must indicate i) what your working thesis is. ii) It must contain a working/tentative bibliography of
the sources you intend to use and iii) it must contain a description at least one page in length (written in prose
not bullet-points) of your project.
Here are some things I will consider as I grade your essay.
i. Content (75%)
◦ Essay structure: Is there a defined structure to the essay that demonstrates care has been taken to
present the information and arguments in a logical and cohesive manner? Does the introduction
clearly present the essay’s thesis and direction?
◦ Engagement: Does the essay engage course material in a substantive way?
◦ Argument: How well does the essay defend its thesis?
◦ Research: How much research does the essay engage with and what is the quality of the research?
ii. Professionalism (25%)
◦ Composition, spelling, grammar, and punctuation: Does the author write and communicate clearly?
Has the author taken care to eliminate spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors?
◦ Appearance, formatting, and citation: How does the document present itself visually? Has the
author taken care to be consistent with spacing, margins, fonts, text size, etc.? Have references to
sources been cited correctly? Are the title and bibliography pages properly formatted?
◦ General instructions: Have general instructions regarding submission been followed (e.g., word
count, pdf submission, inclusion of a declarations page)?