Phil 205 S14: Final Essay Prompt

General Instructions: Your assignment is to write a 6-8 page paper on the following topic. The paper should be typed, double-spaced in a 12 point legible font. It is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, May 15.

: Use the tools developed in class to examine and evaluate a Supreme Court case. This essay will be an extension of Essay 4, and will require you to dig a little deeper into the case you wrote about for that essay.

A successful essay will do the following:
  1. Take a stand on the issues discussed in the case.
  2. Lay out the history of the case, accurately describing the issues that gave rise to the case in the first place.
  3. Articulate the argument made by the Court in favor of its decision. 
  4. Evaluate the argument by explaining what type of argument it is, and explaining whether it is valid/strong and sound/cogent.
  5. Consider and evaluate at least one counterargument to the arguments made by the Court.
  6. Discuss some of the implications the case has and could potentially have.
  7. Include at least four non-Wikipedia sources (other than the case itself) including two non-internet source (this may include the sources you already used for Essay 4).
  8. Cite all sources using the CMS citation style as discussed in Appendix B in Writing Philosophy.
The essay should be typed, double-spaced in a 10-12 point legible font. In addition to the final draft of the paper which is due on Thursday, May 15, you will also need to complete the following pre-writing assignments. Though these assignments will not be graded, failure to participate in them will result in an F on this essay:
  • You will need to bring three copies of a draft of your paper to class on Thursday, May 8 for in-class peer editing and instructor comments.
  • You will need to give a short, 5 minute presentation on your paper in class on Thursday, May 15. Feel free to use presentation software or the internet in your presentation. 
Clarity/Style: Your paper should be written such that a person who is entirely unfamiliar with the subject could understand it and follow it with relative ease. This means that you avoid excessively long sentences and you keep it simple. Once again, imagine that you are writing your paper to a reasonably intelligent friend who is interested in what you have to say but is unfamiliar with the subject. Also, your paper should not digress from your thesis. This means that your paper constantly keeps its objective in sight and does not change the subject or veer off course.

Mechanics: “Mechanics” here refers to the presentation of your paper as well as grammar, spelling, punctuation, and proper citation. Paper should be double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins. Paper should be AT LEAST 6 pages, but more appropriately, you should accomplish your objective. Further, all of your citations should be done properly according to the Chicago Manual of Style. If you are unfamiliar with these methods of citation, please consult Writing Philosophy, Appendix B.

Grading: This essay will be graded using the attached rubric. Each column in the rubric will count for 20% of the essay grade.