Instruction
Objective: Students are to state and defend their position concerning whether or not Socrates should be sentenced to death for practicing philosophy. The paper should be an argumentative essay, meaning that students should take a position on the matter and provide compelling reasons for why the reader should adopt that position.
Evidence: Students have the option to defend or prosecute Socrates. In either option, students must incorporate direct quotations from either the Apology or the Republic into the body paragraphs of the essay as evidence for their position. A minimum of three in text direct quotations are required, these quotations should be explained, and their relevancy to the student’s verdict selection should be clear.
Analysis and Synthesis: Student work will not be graded based upon the position the student takes. Instead, grades will be based upon the quality of argument the student produces for that position. The student will need to accurately analyze the texts and select and interpret the relevant quotations, and then the student will need to piece those bits of evidence together to form a well organized, cohesive whole.
Requirements: Papers should be typed, doubled spaced, in standard font size (11), and between 3 full pages and 5 full pages in length. A minimum of three direct quotations is required. Essays are to be in MLA format.