Humanities Homework Help

HUM 127

Final in-class essay (30%)

To help students write a more compelling final paper, I have created an in-class essay exam that is open note, open book, and offered over two class periods. You will find much of the evidence and analysis you will need already worked out in your homework, notes, and post-class reflections. Please let me know of any accommodations you will need in completing this assignment, so I can work with the Testing Center. In cases of documented emergency, the in-class essay can be rescheduled and completed at the Testing Center.

Note: I will allow you to show me a printed copy of the final version of your paper in class on the first day (not the second day) of the exam. If it has met all of the criteria here and I have no concerns about plagiarism, you may submit it and skip our exam days. If I see any issues, you will need to start over with everyone else and take the exam in class. This is me allowing an additional option that was not promised in the syllabus, so if we encounter any problems at all the default will be to revert to the original structure.

Essay prompt:What will you take away from this class that will change how you pursue a good life and make (or refuse to make) a lasting contribution? Focus on the most challenging and important lessons for you and reflect on how they could be incorporated into your day-to-day habits and long-term commitments. To support your ideas, you will need to directly cite at least one of our contemporary authors/films (David Foster Wallace, Freedom Summer, Tad Waddington, or Brene Brown) and at least two philosophers we have studied from The Good Life anthology (Epictetus, Emerson, Nietzsche, Lao Tzu, de Beauvoir, or Noddings).

You are very welcome to disagree and offer counterarguments to our authors’ approaches. You can also discuss the process and important questions you will need to explore in order to discover your final purpose without knowing for certain what it will be. College is an important transitional moment for most people–a beginning whose end you may not see now. It is also one of your best opportunities to build an amazing foundation for the rest of your life–which is why it is worth asking these questions now. Your essay should be written in the first-person and should support your largest vision. I want to read essays that are original, meaningful, insightful, and authentic. You’ve had an entire semester to consider these ideas, and I expect you to have the courage to challenge yourself and really show everything you’ve learned. I suggest that you talk over the question with others and spend some time freewriting to dig into the unique point of view *you* have to offer.

Guidelines for using evidence

• You should use ~one quote per paragraph. The quote should not be longer than one sentence. Make sure that you include a page number and the name of the author. Examples: Nietzsche defines happiness as “swinging in a hammock on the beach” (293). Happiness is “swinging in a hammock on the beach” (Nietzsche 293).
• Quotes should be directly related to the author’s philosophy, not a stray comment.
• Your interpretation of the quote should be accurate. Be careful not to distort the author’s meaning for the sake of your argument.
• The quote chosen should be the one that best supports your point. If another author or another passage would have been stronger, I will have expected you to have used that reference instead.

Your final paper should be 6-10 handwritten pages long (more if your handwriting is large). If you use your computer in class, please use standard-formatting, 12-pt and double-spaced without manipulating length through using XL fonts, margins, spaces between characters, etc. You will need to write at least 1500 words. I do not want you to cite readings from outside of the class, and I will not need a works cited page.