term paper diaglogue

In order to receive any credit for your original post, you must meet the 250 word-count requirement and directly engage with one or more of the assigned videos or authors. Replies must be substantive. Unoriginal or superficial replies, including those that feature filler language, will receive no credit. Note that greetings and effusive or general praise for a given post do not count toward word-count requirement nor do they take the place of thoughtful engagement with the ideas themselves. Original posts and replies must feature proper spelling, complete sentences, and, generally, correct grammar. Rules of Netiquette must also be followed.

Author an original post of no fewer than 250 words discussing the subject of your term paper. Tell your colleagues what you’ve chosen to write about and why it interests you. You may also include a couple of brief points from the term paper but the discussion board must not be a mere cut-and-paste of the term paper. If your paper is about a particular work of art or artifact, include an image or relevant link to the work. You are also encouraged to utilize this discussion board to receive helpful feedback as you finalize the draft of your term paper for submission. You are encouraged to use this discussion as an opportunity to clarify your topic, thesis, or argument. 

Option 1: Self-Examination

Author a critical analysis of your present values, beliefs, commitments and/or actions in the light of course readings in one of the course’s topic areas. The emphasis of this paper should be on providing an in-depth consideration of a particular question. Put differently: do not sacrifice depth of analysis in order to cover a lot of ground. Students are encouraged to identify a particular focus and answer a question that is particularly of interest and importance to them.

Content and form: The paper need not be a cut-and-dry argument driven paper, but it must have discernable purpose and direction. This essay must also directly consider and engage course works and ideas relevant to the chosen topic. Furthermore, students should consider and engage ideas that challenge as well as confirm the authors own thinking. Finally, be sure to thoughtfully organize and develop the paper: interesting introduction, carefully developed body paragraphs, conclusion.

Examples of topics and lines of questioning include but are not limited to:

• In what ways has your conception of love been challenged by Botton, Fromm, hooks, and/or Sousa? 
• Has your understanding of happiness been mistaken in any ways? How does Bok’s work challenge you to reconceive of happiness?
• What was your idea of happiness prior to entering the course and is this vision defensible or should it undergo alteration?
• What was your view on entertainment violence prior to this course and how has this view changed? What were you right about and what were you mistaken about?
• Were your beliefs about the political (or apolitical) nature of popular culture correct?
• To what extent did Erich Fromm’s work challenge your notion of what it means to be active, powerful, or happy? 
• Prior to this course were you living primarily in the having or the being mode of existence, as per Fromm, and what should or should not change about your manner of living? Why?
• What was your initial view of the value of the humanities and how has it changed? Were your initial beliefs justified or mistaken, how so? 
• How does David Vine’s work challenge your preconceived notions of the United States and its place in the world? 

Keys to a successful Self-Examination paper:

• Identify and articulate the key question your paper is considering and seeking to answer or bring clarity to.
• Draw on, implement and/or critically evaluate course ideas/works relevant to your papers focus.
• Consider contrasting or opposing perspectives (i.e. those ideas you do not (or are less) convinced by)

Option 2: Cultural Analysis

Author a 1,300 to 2,200-word critical interpretation of a cultural artifactmovie, book, TV series, album, work of art, comedy act, monument, historical sitethat is relevant to one or more of the major themes discussed in our course: the value of the humanities (including the arts), thinking philosophically, the meaning of life, the good life (happiness, pleasure), philosophy of education, love, the power of the arts, and warfare in popular culture.

Students must develop a research question to answer.

Examples of humanistic research questions include, but are not limited to, 

• What does the online multiplayer game series, Destiny, contribute to our understanding of the meaning of being human? What does it have to teach us about the nature of human existence?
• How does Twenty One Pilot’s “Mulberry Street” exemplify Erich Fromm’s critique of “having” compared to “being”; or how does the song exemplify Epicurus’ or Seneca’s conception of the good life?
• What is the meaning of Childish Gambinos song, This is America, and music video for the song?
• Is the Purge movie series cathartic or does it constitute entertainment violence as Sissela Bok defines the concepts?
• How does (movie on warfare) uphold erroneous ideology of U.S. exceptionalism or obscure realities of U.S. militarism?
• Is the R-rating given to Eight Grade (2018) by the MPAA justifiable?

• What vision of a meaningful life does Slipknots Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses convey to listeners and how does it relate to existentialism?
• What differentiates the violence of the horror/thriller movie, A Quiet Place (2018), from that of Hostel (2005)? Why is one cathartic, as defined by Bok and Aristotle, while the other is entertainment violence? What makes the one more edifying than the other?
• In what ways does the film, Collateral (2004) exemplify Sartre’s existentialist philosophy of freedom and life?
• How does Twenty One Pilots Stressed Out question conventional notions of human happiness, and how does it relate to the ideas of Epicurus (or Seneca, etc.)?
• How does Edge of Tomorrow (Live. Die. Repeat) (2014) relate to the idea that human beings have a fixed destiny and Sartres contention that human beings are condemned to freedom?
• Why do I agree/disagree with the vision of a meaningful life projected by the film Seeking a Friend for the End of the World?
• What do popular Halloween costumes teach us about dominant American culture? What does it say about our values, fears, conceptions of gender, the good life, fun?
• In what way might it be argued that the virtual reality realm of Ready Player One (2018) represents an exemplification of the Nozicks experience machine? Do the protagonists actions support Nozicks claim that the pleasure the experience machine gives us is insufficient for a truly good or meaningful life?

General questions to consider in formulating your research question include:

• What meanings are presented? Are multiple meanings offered? Which ones do I agree with and why?
• What does this cultural artifact say about the meaning of life, truth, education, and/or Gods existence?
• Does this historical site or monument present an honest portrayal of the past? Does it feature some bias?
• In what way does this work of art affirm what is best in humanity? Does this work of art have anything to teach us about the difference between the ends and means of life?
• In what way does this cultural artifact exemplify or communicate thinker from our courses philosophy? 
• How does this event, place, or object relate to the humanities and its concern with developing our species humanity?

Option 3: Focused Analysis

For this option students are invited to author an original interpretative analysis of a significant artifact or text from the assigned course materials. Options for this assignment include evaluating the specific claims of texts central to our course including those by Sissela Bok, Alain de Botton, Erich Fromm, Ronald de Sousa, Martha Nussbaum, Terry Eagleton, David Vine, along with assigned works by course related Ancient authors such as Seneca. 

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