History of Science Paper 2, Fall 2009
http://grace.evergreen.edu/mon
Paper 2 Topic Choices
You may choose from any of the following three options.
- In what specific ways do the constituients of Plato's theory of knowledge underlie (for better or worse) our current understanding of nature
and relationship with nature?
- In what specific ways did the components of Plato's theory of knowledge
arise from the Presocratics and yet are distinguished from the various
doctrines of the Presocratics' that address questions of cosmology,
ontology, and epistemology?
- You may propose an alternative thesis question to me on Thursday of
week 5.
You should not try to cover all of Plato's theory of knowledge, but
you should clearly distinguish those components of his theory that you wish to
focus on and indicate how they fit with the other components in his overall
theory as you introduce and elaborate your thesis.
Notes and Tips
- Make the paper double spaced and four to five pages in length.
- Give your paper a meaningful title.
- Five pages maximum, three pages minimum.
- Your essay goal: an interesting and clearly stated thesis with
elaboration and support.
- Assume your audience is other classmates who have read and studied the
same material as you have.
- Try to evoke ideas in your reader - see if you can "make the lightbulb
come on" for your reader - an "aha" experience for your reader. Look for
textual connections, relationships , insights.
- Use specific examples from the fragments and testimonies to support
your claims.
- Make sure your thesis is clear, focused and can be supported with
specific evidence from the texts.
- Make sure you can verbally articulate your essential idea to others
in a clear and succinct way.
- Be sure you clearly articule your thesis in the first paragraph. One
sentence in your introductory paragraph should encapsulate the essence of
your thesis idea. Often this is the last sentence of the first paragraph.
- Write with clarity. Simplify, shorten, and focus.
- Check your spelling and word use. Watch for its vs it's. Watch for
then vs than. Make sure your words properly articulate what you mean. If you
are unsure, look up a word to sharpen your understanding of its meaning.
- Make sure each paragraph contributes one (and only one) key idea in
support or elaboration of your thesis.
- Check to make sure each sentence in your paper is clearly constructed
and conveys meaning in support of the idea in the paragraph.