Paper #1
PS 362 – Renaissance and Modern
Political Theory
Professor Hsueh
Paper #1 Format
Must
be 5-7 pages, typed, 12 point font, double-spaced, proofread, and properly
footnoted and cited.
Be
sure to indicate which essay question you have decided to answer.
**PAPER #1 DUE on FRIDAY, 2/7, by 5pm in Arntzen Hall 405**
Paper Structure: Essays must be typed, double-spaced,
formatted in 12 point font, properly footnoted and cited, and submitted in
hardcopy—late papers will be lowered one letter grade without exception except
for emergency circumstances. No emailed copies. Papers can be dropped off at my
office, Arntzen Hall 405, or in my mailbox in AH 415.
In
comparing and contrasting the different writings, your paper should always
restate the author’s basic argument before proceeding with the analysis. Your
summary and analysis of the arguments should be clearly structured and
organized. You should focus on analyzing the strengths and weaknesses in
the works under discussion. You can also address limitations, strengths, flaws,
merits, contradictions, or hypocrisies in the readings.
At the
end of your paper, you should offer some concluding thoughts. This could
take a variety of forms: you might mention the political relevance of your
previous discussion; offer a suggestion; or pose another question or issue that
has been raised by your analysis.
Paper Topics – Choose one
1) Both
Machiavelli and Hobbes have been described as political scientists. Can you see
the beginnings of a "science of politics" in their works (The
Prince, Discourses, and Leviathan)? Which seems most
"scientific"? Why? What kinds of general rules govern political
actions, and what kind of evidence do they use to demonstrate the workings of
these rules?
The
essay should compare and contrast the arguments of the selected theorists in
detail. Your essay should provide a reasonably substantive account of each
theorist’s position with reference to relevant sections of the text and
illustrative quotes. You can also make reference to some of the political examples
and films that we’ve addressed in class (i.e., Occupy Wall Street, Syria, Children of Men).
2) Is
freedom necessary for good politics? Why? If so, what kind of liberty? If not,
why not? Choose 2 of the theorists that we’ve discussed thus far in the quarter
(i.e., Machiavelli and Hobbes) to discuss and answer these questions. Your
essay should compare and contrast the arguments of each of the selected
theorists in detail. While your essay does not have to summarize the entirety of
the work in question, it should nonetheless provide a reasonably substantial
account of each theorist’s position with reference to relevant sections of the
text and illustrative quotes. You can also make reference to some of the
political examples and films that we’ve addressed in class (i.e., Occupy Wall
Street, Syria, Children of
Men).
3) Is
violence necessary for good politics? Why? If so, what kind of violence? If
not, why not? Choose 2 of the theorists that we’ve discussed thus far in the
quarter (i.e., Machiavelli and Hobbes) to discuss and answer these questions. Your
essay should compare and contrast the arguments of each of the selected
theorists in detail. While your essay does not have to summarize the entirety
of the work in question, it should nonetheless provide a reasonably substantial
account of each theorist’s position with reference to relevant sections of the
text and illustrative quotes. You can also make reference to some of the
political examples and films that we’ve addressed in class (i.e., Occupy Wall
Street, Syria, Children of
Men).
4)
Does good government require the management of public opinion? Why? Why not?
Choose 2 of the theorists that we’ve discussed thus far in the quarter (i.e.,
Machiavelli and Hobbes) to discuss and answer this question. Your essay should
compare and contrast the arguments of the two selected theorists in detail.
While your essay does not have to summarize the entirety of the works in
question, it should nonetheless provide a reasonably substantive account of
each theorist’s position. This will require reference to relevant sections of
the text and illustrative quotes. You can also make reference to some of
the political examples and films that we’ve addressed in class (i.e., Occupy
Wall Street, Syria, Children
of Men).
Grading
Criteria and Suggestions
A
and/or A-
Essay
offers a detailed summary and well-reasoned analysis. Interpretations of
theories are sophisticated and fully supported with textual evidence. All
requirements of the paper are completed. Writing is articulate and expressive:
prose, punctuation, and grammar are all properly executed. The
organization of paper is clear with evident demarcations between summary and
analysis. Relevant quotes and materials from the readings are appropriately
incorporated, selected, and cited in the text.
B
and/or B+
Essay
offers a clear summary supported with good arguments. The paper stays on topic
and considers relevant aspects of the reading. Writing is basically solid but
sometimes employs confusing or improper punctuation and/or grammar. Writing at
times requires additional editing for structure and organization. Essay
also would benefit from basic proofreading for typographical errors.
Interpretations and assessments of materials are plausible and generally
supported with textual evidence. At times, citations are not properly executed.
In other cases, quotes are not fully explained and/or situated in the body of
the response paper.
B-
Paper
offers an adequate summary and analysis. The analysis, although often
interesting, is not fully lucid or effective for a number of reasons. In some
cases, the writing lacks clarity and focus: errors in punctuation and grammar
create confusing passages and sentences. In other cases, textual evidence, if
cited, is not clearly explained: interpretations can be weak or problematic,
often textual evidence is minimal or lacking altogether. Other issues: paper
fails to address all the component parts of the essay question; citation of
material is done incorrectly; paper has organizational problems that affect
readability.
C
and/or C+
Essay
offers a minimal summary and analysis of material. Prose is hampered by
frequent grammatical errors, constant mistakes in punctuation, and repeated
typographical errors. Essay often is not clearly structured and analysis is
scattered or incomplete. Texts in question are not cited and/or discussed
effectively. Essay repeatedly fails to cite and reference textual materials. Textual
interpretations can be faulty and/or unsupported with any evidence.
D+
and/or C-
Organization
of essay is very sloppy and/or generally incoherent. Writing is extremely awkward
and/or unintelligible. Paper displays few of the standard elements of academic
prose. Citations are inaccurately done and standard grammar and punctuation are
highly flawed.
D
and/or F
No
thesis, no arguments, no evidence. Writer employs few, if any, aspects of
expository writing (paragraphs, outline, and/or punctuation). The paper
displays a fundamental lack of understanding of the principles that guide
scholarly endeavors. Examples include but aren’t limited to gross mistakes in
citing source materials as well as significant errors in framing the paper
within the terms of the assignment (e.g., writing a short story instead of an
essay).
Suggestions
for Essay Writing
Use of
quotes/evidence.
It can
be very useful to cite specific passages from the text, but simply citing long
passages or sentences without explanation leaves the reader confused as to the
point of the citation. Furthermore, such citation doesn’t really explain
the critical or argumentative value of the quotation. Don't just toss in a
quote without explaining why it is important.
Use of
signposts
Signposts,
such as “next,” “furthermore,” “however,” and “thus,” inform a reader that the
essay is taking a turn in its argument: delving into a related topic such as a
counter-argument, stepping up its claims with a complication, or pausing to
give essential historical or scholarly background. Because they reveal the
architecture of the essay itself, signposts remind readers of what the essay’s
stakes are: what it’s about, and why it’s being written.
Focus
A
descriptive paper just summarizes what the author has said; an analytical paper
analyzes what the author has said. Does the author’s claim/idea make sense?
What supports the author’s point? What challenges it? What are the author’s
basic assumptions or premises? Are these premises true? Does the author ‘sneak
in’ assumptions? An analytical paper is not encyclopedic or sweeping, but
focused and to the point. Concentrate on composing tightly-knit essays; if you
find that you are going beyond the page limit, narrow your focus, don’t
lengthen your paper.
Persuasion
Work
to convince, not to please, the reader. Writing analytical prose is like
arguing a case in court—you need reasons and arguments to persuade the jury. If
you are making an interpretive or evaluative claim, show how and why.
Thesis
The
first paragraph of your paper should contain a clearly stated thesis. Don't
leave your reader in the dark—state the purpose of your paper, and briefly
describe the interpretive claims you will be making. All subsequent paragraphs
should be written with an eye to providing ‘evidence’ substantiating the claims
you make at the start of your paper.
Interpretation
Don’t
be intimidated by the authors. No one in the class is expected to offer the
‘definitive’ account (whatever that might be) of anything. As long as you give
reasons for your comments, don’t feel shy about offering them.
REFERENCES
AND CITATIONS
It is
essential that you credit the works that you have researched with proper
citation. Proper citation also gives me the ability to see ‘roadmap’ of
all the intellectual and scholarly work that you’ve done.
For
every direct quotation and every borrowed idea, you will need to cite your
source.
The
Chicago style requires you to put a full citation in a footnote on the first
quotation or reference to a borrowed idea.
Here
is an example:
Gulliver's
transformation in Book IV has two motives: his sudden awareness of the
Yahoo-like nature of European human beings, including himself, and, equally
important, his sudden discovery about what true reasonableness really means (in
the lives of the horses). As Swift explains, “My reconcilement to the Yahoo
kind in general might not be so difficult, if they would be content with those
vices and follies only which nature hath entitled them to. I am not in the
least provoked by the sight of a lawyer, a pickpocket, a colonel, a fool, a
lord, a gamester, a politician, a whoremonger, a physician, an evidence, a suborner,
an attorney, a traitor, or the like: this is all according to the due course of
things.” So in estimating how one should assess his final state, one
needs to bear in mind that the issue is not just a turning away from European
family and social life; it is also a turning towards what he is now fully in
love with, a contemplation of the truth.
____________________________________________
Jonathan
Swift, Gulliver's Travels, ed. Herbert Davis (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1965),
p. 120.
CITATION
FORMAT
For a
book:
Author’s
first name, Author’s last name, Title
italicized (Place of publication: Publisher, Date of publication), page
number.
Example:
August
Kleinzahler, Earthquake Weather (New
York: Moyer Bell Limited, 1989), p. 322.
Example
with more than one author:
Kwame
Ture and Charles V. Hamilton, Black Power
- The Politics of Liberation (New York: Vintage Press, 1967), pp. 23-100.
Example
with an editor (for a book with multiple authors):
Wing-Tsit
Chan, ed. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
(New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1963).
Example
with more than one editor:
Kumkum
Sangari and Sudesh Vaid, eds. Recasting
Women - Essays in Indian Colonial History (New Jersey: Rutgers University
Press, 1989).
For an
encyclopedia or dictionary:
"Article
Title." Encyclopedia/Dictionary Name.
Date.
Example:
"France."
Encyclopedia Americana. 1998.
For an
article (from a magazine or a newspaper):
Author’s
first name Author’s last name,. "Title in quotes." Publication’s name italicized. Date of
publication: Pages.
Example:
Mark
Singer, "Profiles (Errol Morris)." The New Yorker 16 Feb. 1989: 38-72.
For an
internet source:
Note:
leave out the author’s name and the article name if they are not available. To
get the title of the web site, try to find the root page for the entire site.
This is also called the home page for that site. This is the most basic page,
from which all of the other pages of the site branch off.
Author’s
last name, author’s first name. "Title of specific page in quotes." Title
of web site underlined. Date accessed. Available
www.whatever.the.url.address.is.com/pagename.html.
Example:
Tel.
"Why are territory points better than capture points?" Tel’s Go
Notes. 24 Feb. 2000. Available www.telgo.com.
Alternate
Citation Style
[Parenthetical
citations in the body of the essay with author and date, list of references is
necessary]
Frye’s
rejection of liberal feminism is evident in her assertion that,
“…heterosexuality, marriage, and motherhood, which are the institutions which
most obviously and individually maintain female accessibility to males, form
the core triad of antifeminist ideology; and all-woman spaces, all-woman
organizations, all-woman meetings, all-woman classes, are outlaws, suppressed,
harassed, ridiculed, and punished—in the name of that other fine and enduring
patriarchal institution, Sex Equality” (Frye, 413).
Bibliography
Marilyn
Frye, “Some Reflections on Separatism and Power,” from Feminist Social Thought: A Reader, ed., Diana Tietjens Meyers (New
York and London: Routledge, 1997), pages 406-414.
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