Guidelines on Reading Philosophy It will be difficult for you to make sense of some of the articles we'll be reading. This is partly because they discuss abstract ideas that you're not accustomed to thinking about. They may also use technical vocabulary which is new to you. Contents Skim the Article to Find its Conclusion and Get a Sense of its Structure A good way to begin when you're trying to read a difficult article is to first skim the article to identify what the author's main conclusion is. When you're skimming the article, try also to get a general sense of what's going on in each part of the discussion. The articles we read won't always have a straightforward structure. This is the conclusion I want you to accept. Philosophers often provide auxiliary arguments, arguments for important premises they appeal to in support of their main conclusion. The conclusion I want you to accept is A. Articles can be complex in other ways, too. Keep an eye out for words like these when you're reading: and so on.
Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper Philosophical writing is different from the writing you'll be asked to do in other courses. Most of the strategies described below will also serve you well when writing for other courses, but don't automatically assume that they all will. Nor should you assume that every writing guideline you've been given by other teachers is important when you're writing a philosophy paper. Some of those guidelines are routinely violated in good philosophical prose (e.g., see the guidelines on grammar, below). Contents What Does One Do in a Philosophy Paper? A philosophy paper consists of the reasoned defense of some claim Your paper must offer an argument. Three Stages of Writing 1. The early stages of writing a philosophy paper include everything you do before you sit down and write your first draft. Discuss the issues with others As I said above, your papers are supposed to demonstrate that you understand and can think critically about the material we discuss in class. Make an outline Start Work Early
Free Course: A Survey of Shakespeare's Plays This is a course on Shakespeare's career, given at Brandeis University in the spring of 2010, by William Flesch. It covers several representative plays from all four genres: comedy, tragedy, history, and romance. We consider both the similarities and differences among those genres, and how his more and more radical experimentations in genre reflect his developing thought, about theater, about time, about life, over the course of his career. In terms of texts, any complete Shakespeare will suffice, including this free version online from MIT. The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, is also recommended. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19: The Winter's Tale, part 1: Things Dying: Audio 20. Support Open Culture We're hoping to rely on our loyal readers rather than erratic ads.
Plagiarism Checker - the most accurate and absolutely FREE! Try now! Encyclopedia Britannica About a little thing called 750 Words