General Instructions: Write a paper, 800 – 1,200 words, on the topic below, which is to be turned in to Canvas on the date specified in the syllabus using a file type compatible with MS Word. The paper should have a typical essay formatting.
Topic: In Unit 4 of the course, we have been reading texts that discuss the power structures that shape our society and several modes of resistance to the oppression these structures can impose. The task of this paper is to use these theoretical concepts and examples to help you critically interpret the words or actions of a contemporary leader. This means that there should be a good balance between the time taken to explain ethical concepts and the time taken to apply them to the leader you choose. Don’t forget, your task is an ethical interpretation.
A leader: You may choose a leader from any context, including politics, business, local communities, sports, science, fine art, etc, so long as they have been in their role as a leader within the past ten years. However, since your objective is to critique their thinking on a position or their reasoning for taking certain actions, make sure there is something worth analyzing before you pick your favorite football coach or a leading figure in your field of study. Whatever position(s) or action(s) you address must have a discernible impact on the group of people who would call this person a leader. You can analyze anything on the spectrum from ethical failures to ethical successes.
Ethical concepts: You must use the ethical concepts of one author from Unit 4, including Foucault, Alexander, King, or Sophocles (Antigone, specifically) to interpret the leader you have chosen. You must explain this author’s ethical concepts carefully and in context before applying them to your leader. You must also use the ideas of a second, different author from any unit (1-4). For example, you cannot use King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail from Unit 4 and then his A Time to Break Silence from Unit 2 as your second, though you can refer to it to make a point. For each author you use, you must use at least one quote as textual support for your argument. Please use parenthetical notation and include a works cited document.
Research: You are required to use at least one source, but no more than two sources. This research will be necessary for describing the leader you have chosen and establishing the decisions/policies you will be analyzing philosophically. These 1-2 sources can be news articles, books, interviews, or speeches and must be found in reputable publications. Your task is to analyze the source using the ethical ideas we have been working on, so be prepared to read several before you find one that might be fitting. Be sure to give your reader a clear sense of what the source is about, including (if applicable) the author’s thesis and any biases the author might have. For each source, you must use at least one quote as textual support for your argument. Please use parenthetical notation and include a works cited document.
Advice: A substantial challenge in this assignment might be finding sources that allow for an effective analysis. Therefore, let me make some suggestions. Your search can begin by focusing on a leader or on an ethical concept. If you come at it through the leader, consider what kind of leader you might want to analyze. The trick here will be finding an article about the leader that is relevant to your task, so after you pick a leader, add in a keyword that might reveal relevant events, controversies, debates, or disagreements. If you work from the side of the ethical concepts, carefully consider the keywords that you use. Journalists will not likely talk about “ethical fading” or “fixed ideas and values,” so you need to put these in more common terms. For example, words like “stubborn,” “flip-flop,” or even just “changes his/her mind” might yield better results than “fixed ideas.”
