Papers are now due ONE WEEK LATER, on October 26th. They should be about 5 pages in length, but papers are judged by weight, not by volume. Four pages of deep thought is preferrable to 6 pages of fluff.

To keep people on track, there will still be something due on October 19th. Hand in your first paragraph, complete with a well-established thesis. To do this effectively, you'll need to have a draft of the whole paper. Outstanding paragraphs will get 5 points of extra credit, and poor or non-existent paragraphs will lose 5 points from the total of 100 the paper is worth.

We want to see your mind seriously and actively engaged with the reading and thinking we've done throughout the course. Be as specific as possible, and limit the scope of the central argument to two or three key passages, drawn from no more than two of the readings. You may also bring in an additional reading or work to compare with one of the books or articles we have read. For example, you could compare painting, poetry or mathematics created at the same time as some music described in the Ross book. If you choose to write about only a single text, resist the dangerous urge to summarize, but find a small number of significant passages for focus. Math people can definitely include as much math as they wish, perhaps comparing a mathematical argument with a literary one.

The paper should start with a short introduction that situates the paper in relation to the class, and include a clear and explicit thesis. The thesis is not a summary of your conclusions, but a road-map of the journey you are going to lead us on. The body of the paper is that very journey, and the conclusions are not a restatement of where we've been, but something new to think about: the consequences of your insights.

For a paper of this length, no references are necessary, but if you use other sources, reference them ALL. Avoid the temptation of using secondary sources (other criticism about these works) because we want to see your ideas, not a rehash of the ideas of other people. Other primary sources, like poetry, paintings and mathematics, are of course suitable.

Any paper with more than two grammatical errors on a page will be returned to be corrected (yup, that includes spelling). Clear writing means clear thought.

Please feel free to email your ideas, or set up an appointment to talk things over with either of us. Discussing ideas with other students, friends or family is also great as long as the final product is your own.