Fear and Trembling
A. Selected Passage
Type out in full a passage from this week’s primary reading assignment (rather than the preliminary, historical information) that you would like to comment on. The passage should be between 5-8 sentences long. You may choose any passage you are interested in thinking about. Use quotation marks. Supply a page number.
B. Analysis
Offer an analysis of your cited passage. This analysis should contain the following three sections.
1. In the first paragraph (3-4 sentences), describe the context of the cited passage. Who is speaking? What is their aim? Are there any relevant historical details?
2. In the second paragraph (5-8 sentences), offer a careful analysis of the passage’s argument. Identify the main point or thesis for which the author is arguing. Identify particular reasons given or implied that support this main point. Identify the evidence offered in favor of the main thesis and any evidence that corroborates the supporting reasons.
3. In the third paragraph (4-5 sentences), describe why this particular argument or idea is important to the philosopher’s larger concerns. In particular, clearly state the author’s general aim or overall thesis for the entire reading assignment, clearly state the author’s particular aim in the passage analyzed above, and (most importantly) clearly state how the particular, analyzed passage relates to the general aim.
C. Cultural Comparison (
Write at least two paragraphs comparing the logic of the above argument to a scene from a movie, TV show, song, or commercial. In the first paragraph, describe the scene, song, etc. In the second paragraph explain in detail how the scene, song, etc. illustrates the logic of the argument.
D. Online Resources
Supply addresses for two websites that helped you to understand this week’s reading assignment. Rate their usefulness on a scale of 1-5 (1 being the least useful, 5 being the most useful). Offer brief descriptions (4-5 sentences) of the websites’ content. Avoid “easy” websites like Spark Notes and Wikipedia. In addition, post these websites, along with their ratings, in the weekly discussion post dedicated to this topic on the discussion list.
