1.In roughly 300words: Explain the argument contained in this passage.•Make sure you clearly identify and explain the main claim or thesis the author is arguing for in the passage. •Explain how, in thepassage, the author supports this claim or thesis. Fully understanding this willrequire looking at the context in which the passage appears. Your explanationthereforemay drawon parts of the course readingadjacent to the passage, but only insofar as these are relevant to explaining the passage itself. 2.In roughly200words: Explain how this argument fits into the projectof the overall reading. •Make sure you clearly identify and explain the main claim or thesisthe author is arguing for in the reading. •Explain how the argument from the passage fits into the author’s argumentsfor this claim. For example: is it one of the author’s arguments directly for their main thesis?Is it used to help clarify or elucidate their main thesis in some way?Is it used to support aparticular premise inthe author’s overall argument for their main thesis? Is it part of a response to an objection to their mainthesis? Etc.Note that the excerpts are from parts of the readingswhich were not directly covered, or not covered in detail, in my lectures. So, understanding these passages and how theyfit into the readingsrequires you tolook closely at the readings themselves. You canassume your reader has the excerptand the readingsitting in front of them.Besides the accuracy of your explanations, the clarity of your writing is the next most important thing. Try to write in a clear, concise, straightforward way. Don’t feel the need to make your writingextremely formal (a somewhat conversational tone is fine, as are contractions like ‘isn’t’ instead of ‘is not’).Minimizedirect quotes in favour ofyourown explanations. If you do include quotes, includepage numbers. Don’tconsult any sources besides the readingyou’re writing about.You don’t needa bibliography. Exact formatting is up to you (in terms of things like font, spacing, whetheror notto break the paper into sections with headings, etc.—I don’t really care how you do these things aslong as you don’t do anything weirdor unreasonable). Dowhatever you think makesthe paperclear and readable.Stick closely to what the above instructions are asking—you don’t need any kind of intro or conclusion, nor do youneed to give your own personal evaluation of the author’s arguments.
