Reading Response Papers for class Western Legal Tradition Academic Help
I need help with a History question. All explanations and answers will be used to help me learn.
Q:
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”
– Plato
Plato’s Republic is the best form of government – only the wise and knowledgeable should rule. Any checks on their discretion and power, especially democratic ones, should be avoided. Discuss. Cite FIVE different authors from: Plato; Aristotle; Polybius; Cicero; Epicurus; Any Federalist Paper that is relevant; any work of John Adams; any work of T. Jefferson; any from reader
Skills: Critical comparative analysis of multiple legal philosophies; Empathy; Application of historical ideas to contemporary world
Key Points to Remember!:
Requirements of the paper:
The Basic Structure
i. Introduction
Short and sweet! Outline your paper’s argument concisely but clearly. Do not write: “My thesis statement is…” Integrate it into your overall paragraph – “This paper argues that…”. State how your paper will make this argument in a logical and clear manner. If I am under ANY doubt at all about what you will be arguing in your paper by the end of the introduction, then your introduction has failed its purpose.
ii. Main Body
This is your chance to demonstrate what you have read and the critical approach you have taken to the statements in it. There are two important points to remember here:
1. Cite accurately! Please use any recognized citation style of your choosing, but please stick to one style consistently throughout your work. Take a look at: http://www.library.american.edu/subject/citation.h… for further details on this.
2. Do not cite needlessly. Providing lots of quotations is not a way to impress me. I am impressed by strong argumentation which uses citation only to make a specific point. A good paper will have no room for unnecessary quotation and factual statements (e.g. dates). If you cannot explain how telling me Socrates was born in 469BC develops your argument, then it’s unnecessary. Write your papers for a professor of legal history – this is your audience.
3. The best papers will include outside readings beyond the primary sources. You are not required to use outside readings, but I have provided many on each topic in the ‘Readings’ folder on Blackboard. You must cite these accurately.
4. Use of Ibid – If you cite consecutively from the same source or reading, you may substitute the bibliographical data on all but the first cite with the term “Ibid” (Ibidem is Latin for “the same place”. You still need a page number. This only works on consecutive citations – if anything comes in between, you need full data again.
iii. Conclusion
The conclusion is the (first and) last thing I will read of your paper, so MAKE IT COUNT! When writing the conclusion, take the opportunity to reiterate in highly abbreviated form, the key points, themes or arguments from the body of your essay that you believe best support the paper’s argument. Avoid introducing new arguments in the conclusion that you have not supported earlier with evidence; however, you can draw out fresh implications from previously introduced arguments. Expanding on the general significance of major ideas that your paper has discussed is often a good way of adding something extra to take away from your work.
How should I cite the reference or citation?
- The first page of the Class Reader explains how to cite from it.Below is an example of how you should cite from the Class Reader:
- For both in-text or footnote citations: Plato, Class Reader, pg. 38
- For your bibliography, give more detailed information about what your are citing from the Class Reader:
Plato. The Republic, Book 2. Class Reader.
Polybius. The Histories. Book 6, Parts 2-18, Parts 43-57.Class Reader.
Luther. 95 Theses.Class Reader.
c For sources not from the Class Reader, please cite them in accordance with your preferred citation style guide (such as APA, Chicago Style, etc).I have no preference as to citation style – just use one style consistently through each paper.
The readings you should use.( reading from class)
Defining Critical Thinking
Michael W. Austin, Standards of Critical Thinking: Thinking Towards Truth
Plato, The Apology of Socrates
Plato, Crito
Xenophon, Apology of Socrates
Plato, The Republic, Book 2
Plato, The Republic, Book 3
Plato, The Republic, Book 5
Plato, The Republic, Book 7
Aristotle, The Politics, Book 2
Aristotle, The Politics, Book 4
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 10, Paragraph 9
Polybius, The Histories, Book 6, Parts 2-18, Parts 43-57
James Madison, Federalist 63
John Adams, Defence of the Constitutions, Preface
Cicero, On Laws, Book III
Cicero, On Duties, Book 2, Parts 19-29
Cicero, On the Commonweath, Book 3
Epicurus, Principle Doctrines
Augustine, The Two Cities
Tacticus, Germania, first section
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part, A, Question 2, Article 3
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 91, Articles 1-4
Thomas Aquinas, On Human Law
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 105
Thomas Aquinas, On Kingship to the King of Cyprus
Martin Luther King Jr, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers From Prison
