Philosophy Marx

Writing Guide On Papers and Writing Argumentatively For many of you, this will be the first time you’ll have written an argumentative paper about some vaguely defined ideas—what “philosophy” is, or at least, might be. This document is designed as a guide that will do two things: Serve as an explanatory guide to how I would like you all to begin thinking about and constructing argumentative papers.Offer a couple of helpful hints that should help you become better writers. As always, I encourage you to ask me questions to help clarify what any of this means. **An Aside on the “Virtues” of Writing Philosophy Papers** For this class, I would like you to try to adopt and embody the twin virtues of preciseness and conciseness in your writing. This means that your writing should reflect exactly what you mean (hence the preciseness), and should seek to convey your meaning using as few words and clunky/awkward language as possible (hence the conciseness). In other words, if you can say exactly what you mean using a ten word sentence, say it in ten words. If you can do it in seven, do it in seven. The Basic Outline of an Argumentative Paper For our purposes, the standard five-paragraph paper outline is the template here. Please note that your paper may have more or fewer body sections than the three given here. 1.) The Introduction Your introduction should contain the most important parts of your paper. It should:Introduce the reader to any existing conversation or debate that you’re weighing in on.State, in very clear and no uncertain terms, what your thesis, or main argument will be. (More info later)Be short, and to the point. That is, it should not contain much fluff or filler language; nor should it introduce any information (defining terms, etc.) that would be better stated in the Body of the paper. It should not: Be long.End on a cliffhanger that doesn’t directly tell the reader what you’re actually arguing, because you intend it to serve as a surprise in the conclusion.Get bogged-down in introducing concepts, ideas, names, etc. 2.) (and 3/4) The Body The Body of your paper is, somewhat obviously, where you’ll actually be spending the majority of your time. The Body should: Develop your thesis/main argument in a sequential, well-ordered manner.Introduce examples, evidence, etc. that support(s) your position. 5.) The Conclusion The Conclusion to your paper is, again rather obviously, the end of your paper. It should: Wrap your paper up in a neat package (not literally, unless you want to pay for shipping…).Restate your argument and, if you think necessary, summarize your key points you made in its support. It should not: Introduce new material. That’s what the body of the paper is for.Contain the first articulation of your actual thesis statement. That’s what the introduction is for. In other words to all of this, your paper should be ordered as follows: Introduction—Tell me what you’re going to say. Body—Say it. Conclusion—Tell me what you’ve said.