Paper needs to be around 2500 words. It can be about ONE of these topics. You can choose for whichever seems best to your knowledge. This is university level, and I need this essay to be tip top.
Suggested essay topics:
1)Explain the officially stated purpose of the education of the guardians in Book Two. How is the education that follows in Books Two and Three an attempt to carry out
that purpose? To what extent would you say that the attempt is successful?
Is there
any indication that the goal is impossible?
What might we learn about the needs of a
political community by considering the strong and weak points of the education
Socrates outlines?
2)Carefully describe the “noble lie” as described at the end of Book Three, and explain
what it is meant to accomplish. How does this political teaching cap off the education
that has been described in the rest of Book Three? What kind of citizen is it meant to
produce? What would be the consequences for the city in speech of
failing to have a
noble like such as the one Socrates describes, and what does this tell us about the
need for political myths in all societies?
3)Describe the analogy Socrates proposes between the tripartite soul and the city in
speech in Book Four, and the definitions of justice and/or moderation that arise out of
it. What are the strengths of this/these definition(s)? The weaknesses? To what
extent are the weaknesses a result of the inadequacy of the tripartite model of the
soul?
4)Describe the three waves of reform that Socrates introduces to the city in Book Five.
What makes them necessary? What obstacles to their implementation does Socrates
identify and emphasize? Can you think of other obstacles that Socrates does not
emphasize? Is there indication in the t
ext that Socrates is aware of them?
5)Read Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen and compare its plot and themes to the first two reforms made in Book Five of the Republic
. What do you think might be the
differences between Aristophanes’ and Socrates’ political
-philosophic views of women and the family? In what way might Book Five contain a Platonic
response to Aristophanes?
PS 3530: Great Political Thinkers 1
Fall 2020
Special Writing Intensive Essay Guidelines
If you have elected to register for “writing intensive” credits associated with this course,
one of your two essays must meet the following criteria.
1) Rather than 1200 words, you should aim to write your essay at a length of approximately
2500 words.
2) The essay should be divided into two portions. In the first portion (approx. 1000 words),
you should present a review of some scholarly literature pertaining to your essay topic.
This literature should consist of either
a. four book chapters/journal articles, or
b. one book.
The second portion (approx.. 1500 words) will be of the same description as the essay
already assigned, though slightly longer: an presentation of your own interpretation of
Plato’s Republic as regards the theme you have chosen to study.
You may wish to begin by browsing through some of the literature on Plato’s Republic to
see what themes particularly interest you. You could then develop your own essay topic to
correspond to the scholarly work that has piqued your interest. This may prove easier than
seeking out articles or books that correspond to one of my suggested essay topic prompts.
You will find that there is a veritable ocean of scholarly literature out there on Plato’s
Republic. The Wayne State Library’s search engine will give you access to probably thousands
of articles, and probably hundreds of electronic books, pertaining to Plato’s Republic. There are
also other resources, such as JSTOR, which you may like to peruse. In any case, it’s much more
likely that you’ll be disoriented by the abundance of scholarship out there than at a loss to find
anything. But whatever problems you might encounter in finding and choosing your “secondary
literature” materials, feel free to be in touch with me to ask me questions.
Because this assignment requires so much additional time and research, I am
stipulating that the first essay option due date (October 6th) is not eligible for the additional
writing intensive credit. Get started now on your exploration of articles or books about Plato’s
Republic, and you’ll be in good shape to put together a good essay for the November or
December option.
PS 3530: Great Political Thinkers 1 – Fall 2020
Second Essay Option Guidelines
Due Date: Thursday, November 5th, 2020 at 2:30 P.M.
Topic
You are free to write on any theme of interest in Books Three to Five (as well as the end
of Book Two) of the Republic. However, I strongly recommend writing a paper that focuses on
one of the essay prompts given below. If you would like to write a paper about something else,
you must first clear your topic with me. Ideally, however, every student should come and
discuss his or her paper ideas with me in office hours at some point. If did not submit a paper on
Book One or Two on October 6th, you must submit on both of the remaining two essay deadlines
(see syllabus for details).
Don’t forget: your arguments about what Plato or his characters thought or would have
thought must be grounded in textual evidence that you cite in your paper.
These essay prompts should for the most part be taken as jumping-off points for your
paper. Do not feel compelled to address every sub-question in the prompt you choose to write
about. If you think you can write a coherent, intelligent paper that emphasizes only part of the
prompt, that’s fine. To be safe, though, it’s probably best to email me to explain what you’re
planning to focus on if you intend to tweak one of the suggested essay topics. That way, I can
tell you if it seems unlikely to me that a good paper could be written without addressing
whatever theme or question you’re proposing to downplay.
Suggested essay topics:
1) Explain the officially stated purpose of the education of the guardians in Book Two.
How is the education that follows in Books Two and Three an attempt to carry out
that purpose? To what extent would you say that the attempt is successful? Is there
any indication that the goal is impossible? What might we learn about the needs of a
political community by considering the strong and weak points of the education
Socrates outlines?
2) Carefully describe the “noble lie” as described at the end of Book Three, and explain
what it is meant to accomplish. How does this political teaching cap off the education
that has been described in the rest of Book Three? What kind of citizen is it meant to
produce? What would be the consequences for the city in speech of failing to have a
noble like such as the one Socrates describes, and what does this tell us about the
need for political myths in all societies?
3) Describe the analogy Socrates proposes between the tripartite soul and the city in
speech in Book Four, and the definitions of justice and/or moderation that arise out of
it. What are the strengths of this/these definition(s)? The weaknesses? To what
extent are the weaknesses a result of the inadequacy of the tripartite model of the
soul?
4) Describe the three waves of reform that Socrates introduces to the city in Book Five.
What makes them necessary? What obstacles to their implementation does Socrates
identify and emphasize? Can you think of other obstacles that Socrates does not
emphasize? Is there indication in the text that Socrates is aware of them?
5) Read Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen and compare its plot and themes to the first two
reforms made in Book Five of the Republic. What do you think might be the
differences between Aristophanes’ and Socrates’ political-philosophic views of
women and the family? In what way might Book Five contain a Platonic response to
Aristophanes?
Guidelines
Your essay must be around 1200 words, which is roughly 4 pages. Essays should be
double spaced, in 12 point font. Essays that are five pages long (in a typical font, like Times
New Roman) are fine, but spilling on to a sixth and seventh page is a bad sign; points will be
deducted for essays that go on too long, especially if it is clear that the essay could have been
more concise, which is almost always the case. On the other hand, essays that do not reach the
fourth page are virtually incapable of giving a satisfactory account of your subject. If you’re
finding it hard to write an essay that’s long enough, you probably don’t understand what’s
required to write a strong paper, and should come see me in my office hours. This is a good
reason to get started early!
Please remember to include page numbers on your paper, and a title page just like the one
at the end of this document.
Your grade will be based on your ability to demonstrate an understanding of the text. To
do this well, you’ll need to do a few things.
1) Write clearly. Each sentence should make a clear point, the flow from one sentence to the
next should follow a clear logical progression, and each paragraph should present a clear and
unified idea. Please read your own work carefully to make sure that someone besides you would
understand exactly what you’re trying to say. If you’re having trouble making that call, don’t
hesitate to use Wayne State’s writing center (Undergraduate Library, 2nd Floor). Visit
http://clasweb.clas.wayne.edu/writing for more info.
2) Make sure your essay has a point to it, and that every paragraph advances your presentation of
that point. This point is often well summed-up in a “thesis statement,” and at least ought to be
fairly clear from your introductory paragraph. Think of yourself as a teacher trying to bring out a
single, clear, and interesting feature of the text to an eager, intelligent student. This means that
you are certainly welcome to bring out both sides of an argument, to present evidence that cuts
both ways, so long as you make clear what is at stake in the problem or ambiguity you are
discussing.
3) You must cite the text. In order to write in an intelligent and comprehensible way about the
text you are studying, you must refer to specific passages and let your reader know exactly where
those passages are. There can be no strict rule about how much to refer to the text, but a paper
with fewer than four citations per page is probably not using the text thoroughly enough. Any
time you refer to, paraphrase, or quote from a section of text, you must show me where the
passage is with an in-line citation.
Example:
Even though Glaucon had insisted that he hates Polemarchus’ signature bright red socks
(128a-c), he now admits to Socrates, “I only wish, by Zeus, that Cephalus would honor me with
such magnificent footwear. Like mighty Hector, ‘I long for the very sock I have forsworn,’ and I
seem to myself to be in a great confusion” (139b).
Notice that punctuation marks go after the citation. Notice also that single quotes are
used for quotations within the quotation.
The exception to these rules are found in block quotations. Block quotations are to be
used for long quotations (don’t use these too much, they eat up your word count!). If you’re
using up more than 4 lines of text, you probably need a block quote. These have no quotations
marks, use full quotation marks for nested quotations, have the citation outside of the
punctuation mark, and are indented one inch from the left margin.
Example:
Here’s an example of a long quotation. Note that, if something inside the
quotation is itself a quotation, you need to use my advice above and “use full
quotation marks for nested quotations.” I didn’t have the energy to come up with
an elaborate fake quotation from Plato, so I’m just going to ramble a bit about
nothing. If you’re reading this, you’re basically wasting your time. The only
point of it is to show you how to use block quotations, which really isn’t all that
interesting, but it’s important. (386d-387a)
Writing Tips
1. Don’t spend too much time introducing your paper. A one paragraph introduction is enough to
tell me what the point of your essay is. Same with the conclusion.
2. Don’t start your paper with the phrase “Since the dawn of time,” or “Throughout history,” or
any equivalent. Your paper isn’t about the whole of history, it’s about one theme in one book.
3. Do not use contractions. Say “it is” instead of “it’s,” etc. In general, avoid being
conversational in your academic work: try to avoid clichés, instead stating what you mean in the
clearest and most precise way you can.
4. The bigger word is not necessarily the better word. If there’s a simpler way of saying what
you want to say, stick with the simple. Remember Shakespeare’s advice: “Brevity is the soul of
wit.”
5. In general, don’t write something just because you think it looks fancy or professional. Your
professor or GTA will always see through it. E.g., avoid semicolons if you don’t know how to
use them.
[On the other hand, if you don’t know how to use apostrophes, please look this up.]
6. Make every word count. Think about whether the word “very,” “actually,” or “basically,” is
adding anything to your sentence. If your sentence carries your meaning without words like this,
it’s usually best to remove them.
7. Know your homophones: they’re vs. their vs. there, who’s vs. whose, etc.
8. Book titles are in italics, not in quotation marks (e.g., Republic). And if you are going to use a
definite article with a book title, which is sometimes appropriate, don’t capitalize it or put it in
italics if it’s not part of the title. The book we’re studying this semester is the Republic (and
NOT “The Republic”).
9. Use the word “human” only as an adjective: the human heart, the human condition, human
longing, a distinctly human trait. If you want to use the noun, say “human being.”
10. When you use a quotation from the text, you must integrate that quotation into the flow of
your sentence so that the reader is not missing any of the information that is necessary to the
grammar or logic of the passage. Here’s an example of bad quotation integration:
Adeimantus loves justice “rewarded by Hephaestus in the view of the poets” (344a).
Here’s a good one:
Adeimantus argues that, “in the view of the poets,” there is no virtue “so richly rewarded
by [the god] Hephaestus” as justice (344a).
By far the most important thing is that each sentence is comprehensible and that the logic of
your argument is clear. Give your essay to someone else to look over and see if they can
understand what you’re getting at. You do yourself a big favor if you don’t make me struggle to
figure out what you’re saying.
Title
Subtitle
Your name
youraccessid@wayne.edu
PS 3530: Great Political Thinkers 1
Thursday, November 4th, 2020
Professor: Ariel Helfer
Office: FAB 2005
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