Writing Assignment #2

In the second writing assignment, you will write a short essay (minimum 1½ full pages) that explores the nature of your academic major and the role that logic plays in it. The purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to further your understanding of the academic major you have chosen and the relevance of logic to your academic interests. You will be using the content of this paper again in the final writing assignment, so make sure that you do a good job.

Write at least one paragraph about each of the following questions, discussing them in detail:

(A) What is your major and what are your reasons for choosing it?

(B) What is the subject matter of your major (i.e., the sort of thing it studies), and what are the central issues or debates that it addresses?

(C) What are the main areas of focus or specialization for faculty and/or students in your major? (Your answer should indicate the breadth or diversity found within your major.)

(D) What are the primary methods your major uses to gain knowledge about its subject matter? (If the subject matter includes an activity like making artworks or treating medical patients, then your major generates practical knowledge about how to do something, as well as theoretical knowledge, e.g., about the nature and history of art or the nature of illness.)

(E) What general role does logic play in your major? In other words, how do people in your major use arguments to gain knowledge about your major’s subject matter?

Sources and Citations: To fully answer questions B, C, and D, you will probably need to do some research and/or talk to your departmental advisor. Make sure to state all answers in your own words (which demonstrates that you understand what you are saying). Also, cite all print and electronic sources that influenced your work in a bibliography at the end of your paper, using any standard citation method that includes all of the relevant information (including exact page numbers if it is a printed source). If you present other people’s work as your own, you are engaging in Plagiarism.

Grammar and Spelling: Make sure that your papers are clearly written – i.e., that the meaning is clear enough that any other student would be able to understand it. Papers will be downgraded for spelling, grammatical, and stylistic errors if there are more than 2 per page.

Format: 12 point type, double-spaced, 1-1.5 inch margins, minimum 1.5 full pages of content. Number and staple pages.