Paper 3 Topic Choices

1. Write a summary paper covering and tying together all the readings for the quarter. This paper must exhibit a good understanding of all the readings and must have a central organizing idea or theme in your first paragraph, but need not have an eye-popping thesis. If you write this paper, think of it as telling a good story to your reader based on what you have learned and understand about the evolution of our (western) understanding of nature.

2. Write an academic essay (like you were assigned in the first two papers) that ties together the readings for the quarter with an organizing thesis idea with elaboration and support. This paper should go into more depth, but need not exhibit the kind of breadth of coverage of the readings as expected in the first option.

3. TBA. I'm contemplating a third option.

Notes and Tips

• Make the paper double spaced and four to six pages in length.
• Give your paper a meaningful title.

• 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.