FSYM 101 FIRST YEAR SYMPOSIUM

Professor Mary Johnson, MA

Fall 2020 – Section AA
Tuesday/Thursday 12:30 – 1:45 pm in Knott Aud. Classroom C
m.c.johnson@msmary.edu
Office hours: via Zoom. Email me to set up an appointment.

What does it mean to be human? Can we know truth? Where do we find

happiness? What are our responsibilities to others?

What is this course about?

This course is designed to introduce you to our Catholic liberal arts community by helping you to
explore a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human? We explore this general
question through readings that raise particular questions about the human condition: Are we
humans more than just our material bodies? Do human beings have special dignity? Can human
beings know truth? Do we really have free will? Is there such thing as moral law and is it
applicable to all peoples? Are we social animals? Should we seek our happiness beyond the
material world?

Catholic vision of the human person

This class also asks you to engage a tradition of answering these questions that, taken together, is
referred to as the Catholic Vision of the Human Person (though the Catholic tradition joins with
many other religions and worldviews in answering yes to these questions). In sum, the Catholic
tradition posits that:
 human beings derive our dignity from being made, body and soul, in the image and
likeness of God;
 though capable of evil, we are fundamentally good;
 we have the capacity to know truth by both faith and reason;
 we are free beings, subject to a moral law that is written on the hearts of all people;
 we are social animals, most fully human when we live in relationship and community
with others; and
 we seek our most perfect happiness in the transcendent.

Why are we doing this?

We begin the core curriculum with these fundamental questions about the human person because
your answers will provide a foundation for how you approach the rest of the core curriculum,
how you engage with your chosen discipline and career, and how you live your life beyond the
Mount. Indeed, whether one affirms or denies elements of this vision, these issues have clear
consequences for how one lives, treats others, values one’s own life and others’, and finds
meaning in the world.

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COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The overarching goal of the First-Year Symposium is to initiate students into membership in a
Catholic liberal arts community dedicated to the pursuit of truth.  In order to achieve this, it seeks
to develop students’ abilities to:

1. Think critically through reading, writing, speaking, listening, reciting well.

2. Pose and explore answers to fundamental questions about the human condition.
 
The course assumes that seeking answers to fundamental questions about the human person
requires the ability to think critically.  One of the primary ways in which we learn to think
critically is through dialectic, the process of engaging with the ideas of others, especially those
that differ from our own.  This course will hone your dialectical skills by asking you to read and
engage with great literature, to listen attentively and respectfully to your classmates’ ideas, and
to stake out and defend your own arguments in class discussion and written work. 

Because clear thinking and clear writing are inextricably linked, writing will be a particularly
important part of this course. With the help of your Symposium professor, you will be introduced
to college-level writing and improve your ability to make, defend, and articulate written
arguments.

Required textbooks: The following physical books are required and are available for
purchase at the campus bookstore in the McGowan Center.

Bullock, Richard and Weinberg, Francine.  The Little Seagull Handbook, 2nd edition. New York:
Norton, 2014.
Huxley, Aldous.  Brave New World. New York: Harper, 2006.
Symposium Reader, provided at orientation.
Handouts distributed on Canvas.

Other things: access to a computer and printer; folder; pen/pencil; notebook; digital storage
(OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)

How will I be evaluated?

The basis of evaluation in this course is words: speaking, writing, reading, explaining, listening,
interpreting, analyzing – in short, engaging in conversation. The final grades will be based on the
following categories:
 Major writing assignments (75%)
 Participation (attendance, responses, exit tickets) (15%)
 Final exam (10%)

Major writing assignments (75%)

 Autobiographical narrative (10 points)
 Resume (5 points)
 Brave New World analysis paper (100 points): Analyze the text and defend a thesis with
evidence from the novel.
 Letter to Wendell Berry or Kwame Appiah (100 points): Write a letter to one of the
authors explaining where you agree or disagree with him, citing evidence for your ideas.
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  Human responsibility paper (100 points): Describe a social problem using research and
show what you can do in response to it.

Assignment sheets are at the end of this syllabus and on Canvas. Grading rubrics will be posted
online and discussed in class.

Participation (15%)
This category is comprised of written responses and attendance.

1) Written responses and Canvas discussions: These will help you practice summary and
analysis skills, allow you to offer your thoughts and questions about the reading, and give me a
place to assess what you’ve learned so far. There will be 2 types of responses: TQEs (where you
write a Thought, Question, and an Epiphany or aha! moment while reading) and exit tickets.
TQEs are due before the class session, posted on the appropriate Canvas discussion post. You’ll
often be asked to respond to each other’s posts as another way to continuing the discussion we
begin in class.

Exit tickets will be submitted as homework after a class session, usually on Thursdays.
You’ll deal with a specific issue from the class discussion or another topic. These assignments
will allow me to assess your understanding of the course material or a particular writing skill.
(Points TBD, generally 3 pts each. Deadlines given in class.)

2) Attendance: Physical presence in class, either in person or virtual (1 point each day). See
page 9 for attendance policy.

Final exam (10%)

For our final exam, you will make connections between two or three of our readings and how
those readings address a particular aspect of what it means to be human.  You will present these
connections to your classmates during our exam period and submit a written version of your
thoughts. Your presentation can be creative (poetry, skit, etc.) or a traditional written outline.
More details will be given in class.

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COURSE CALENDAR

Session topics and deadlines

Date
8/12 - 8/14 move in and initial parts of orientation

Orientation: Sat. 8/15 Values in Action survey completed

Orientation: Sun. 8/16 Introduction to course. Distribute Symposium Readers.

Discuss Frederick Douglas, Mount St. Mary’s undergraduate mission
statement
Assign: Merton and Wilson

UNIT 1: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?

How are we different from animals or machines? Can we choose who we become? Can we know
what is true? Where does dignity come from? What is the value of our work?
1 8/18 Welcome!
Discuss Douglass, Merton, Wilson; assign autobiographical narrative

8/19 GATTACA film night – various locations on campus

8/20 Is a perfect society worth it? GATTACA and Rosen

Read: Rosen, “Eugenics: Sacred and Profane,” SR pg. 49-64

** Bring your copy of Brave New World **

Due Friday 8/21: final draft of Autobiographical Narrative

2 8/25 Brave New World, concept log and taking notes

Read: Huxley, Ch. 1-3
Writing due: TQE

8/27 Brave New World: sex, religion, distraction; doing summary/analysis

Read: Huxley, Ch. 4-7; Safi, “The Disease of Being Busy” (Canvas)

Writing due: Exit ticket

3 8/31 Brave New World: The Reservation, suffering, motherhood/fatherhood
Read: Huxley, Ch. 8-12
Writing due: TQE

9/2 Brave New World: soma, happiness, conscience

Read: Huxley, Ch. 13-15
Writing due: Exit ticket

4 9/8 Brave New World: the dialogue; citation exercises; paper assigned;
Read: Huxley, Ch. 16-17
Writing due: TQE

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 9/10 Wrap up; watch video forum: “Are We Already Living in the Brave New
World?”
Read: Huxley, Ch. 18
Writing due: TQE

5 9/15 Writing skills/paper preparation; outlining; analyzing student essays;

prepare for conferences
Reading and writing due: article + MLA citations (Canvas handout)

9/17 Conferences

6 9/22 Conferences

9/24 Dignity common to all men and women

Read: Singer, “The Washwoman,” SR, pp. 65 – 70
In class writing: resume activity

7 9/29 Knowledge, the body, and believing in nothing

Read aloud! O’Connor, “Good Country People,” SR, pp. 71 - 93

Writing due: Brave New World analysis paper final draft

10/1 How do we learn how to see? O’Connor (cont.); Pieper; wrap up

Read: Pieper, “Only The Lover Sings” (Canvas)

UNIT 2: HOW ARE WE RESPONSIBLE TO OTHERS?

What does it mean to love? How do we form communities? What is justice, and how is it given to
others? What can we do to ensure proper treatment of others?
8 10/6 Soil, memory, community
Read: Berry, “The Work of Local Culture,” SR, pp. 94 – 109; Hannah
Coulter, Ch. 11, “The Membership” (Canvas)
Writing due: main points summary

10/8 Culture, place, diversity; assign Appiah/Berry letter

Read: Appiah, “Global Citizenship,” SR, pp. 110 - 119
Writing due: main points summary

9 10/13 NO CLASS – Exploration Day

10/15 Berry and Appiah, continued; paper preparation

10 10/20 Arguments for justice

Advising Read: Martin Luther King, Jr. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
appts
Watch video forum: “What Makes Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Rhetorically Effective?”

10/22 Watch library orientation video; return to Berry / Appiah; prepare for

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 King
Last Day to Withdraw - 10/23

11 10/27 Justice and responsibility

Reading: King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, SR, pp. 153 – 173;
Advising Hughes, “Let America Be America Again”
appts Writing due: TQE

10/29 King’s rhetoric; introduction to The Four Loves; paper discussions

12 11/3 Friendship love: philia

Read: Cicero, “On Friendship”
Spring
registration Berry/Appiah letter due
opens for
first-year 11/5 Attractive love: eros
students Read: Hawthorne, “The Birthmark,” Hopkins, “Pied Beauty”
Writing due: exit ticket

13 11/10 Self-giving love: agape; assign human responsibility paper, choose topic
Read: Deus Caritas Est, #1-18 (Canvas handout); Hannah Coulter Ch. 14
“The Room of Love” (Canvas handout)
Writing due: response paragraph

11/12 Paper workshop; where do we go from here?

Read: Havel, “The Need for Transcendence in the Postmodern World;”
Angelou, “A Brave and Startling Truth;” Gorman, “In This Place (An
American Lyric)” (all on Canvas)

Conferences outside class

14 11/17 TBD; conferences

Paper 11/19 Return to where we came from: image & likeness of God; conferences
conferences Read: Mulieris Dignitatem (Canvas handout)

Conferences outside class

15 11/23 – 11/29 Thanksgiving break

16 Human responsibility paper due on Monday of exam week

Finals week Final reflection due during session - Thursday, 12/3 at 12 – 2:30 pm
11/30-12/4

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 How we do things: class policies

Laptops or tablets should be brought to each in-person class. Thank you in

advance for using them only for class-related activities, like group work or in-class writing.
When these devices are not in use, they should be off your desk.

Please use a paper notebook for in-class notes. Many studies show that writing notes by hand
helps us better understand the material we hear. Thank you for helping me create a less
distracting classroom!

When attending via Zoom, please keep your microphone muted except to participate in
discussion. Also, use a profile picture that shows your whole face so that we know who you are!

Cell phones or and other electronics should be silenced and put away in a bag
before class begins (ie, not kept on your desk). If you expect an important call, step out
quietly when needed.

Headphones may be worn during independent work time. Please put them away
during lectures, discussion, or group work.

Only water (not food) is allowed in the classroom.

Please show respect to your teacher / classmate by listening (not chit-chatting)

while someone else is talking.

Similarly, avoid distraction by using ONLY the public chat function in Zoom
for asking class-related questions and comments.

My email response time: 24 hours of when I receive your message. I may

respond faster, but you shouldn’t expect it. Don’t wait till the last minute to contact me!
Email tone: Your emails to me should be professional and respectful with correct
grammar and spelling. You can address me as “Mrs. Johnson” or “Professor Johnson.” Include
“FSYM” in the subject line with some phrase to indicate the nature of your message, like
“FSYM: week 4 reading question.” This helps me respond more quickly.
** Please contact me by email only, not through Canvas. It’s easier for me to keep track
of your messages this way.

Late work
 Final drafts of the major papers may be turned in after the deadline. I will drop one letter
grade for each day past the final deadline.

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  Other assignments may be accepted for partial credit after their deadlines. I’ll let you
know about these as we go.
 Remember, some points are better than no points!

Attendance
Your presence and contributions are essential to helping you and your classmates learn.
Therefore, I expect that you attend every class session, in person or virtually. If you must
miss class, follow these guidelines:

 If you are ill or are asked to self-isolate or quarantine, I expect that you attend virtually
until you are cleared to return to face-to-face sessions.
 If you are too ill to attend virtually or need to miss for another reason, you may miss up
to 3 sessions without penalty.
o If you don’t use all your allowed absences, you’ll earn points for each class you
do attend. (So, extra points!)
 If you are severely ill and are going to miss many sessions, please let me know as soon as
possible so that we can discuss your situation.
 If you are an athlete, you should miss no other classes besides your game/travel days.
Give me your travel schedule ASAP, AND send an email to remind me when you will
miss class.
 You are responsible for any class content you miss when absent. Email me only after
you’ve checked your resources (Canvas, classmates).
 More details about the university’s attendance policies are available in the Undergraduate
Catalog.

Campus announcements, inclement weather, instructor absence:

 Download the MyMountHub app and check your email and the Mount’s website for
details about weather events and updates regarding COVID-19.
 If we are delayed/cancelled for inclement weather, I will announce any changes on
Canvas. Some assignments might still be due on a day we don’t meet, so be prepared!
 If I am absent because of a family emergency, I'll let you know as soon as possible by
email. Class will either be entirely cancelled, or we will all meet via Zoom. A notice will
be posted outside our classroom door. Check Canvas for how I will adjust the course
activities and deadlines if class is cancelled. Some assignments might still be due on a
day class is cancelled. 

COVID-19: Please abide by all university policies regarding COVID-19 safety, especially
wearing masks and physically distancing. Wash your hands often! I know it will be difficult, but
we can all do our part to lower the risk to our community.

Submitting on Canvas:
Make sure you confirm that an assignment has been properly uploaded before closing
your browser tab or window. In the past, students have thought they finished submitting a
document, but they left the page before the upload was completed.
If you have technical difficulties submitting assignments in Canvas, please contact
Canvas Help for assistance before the due date/time. Representatives from Canvas will provide
technical support and an email confirmation regarding the status of the request. Students must

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forward the email to me with the assignment if the problem cannot be resolved prior to the
deadline.

Do your own work

One of the best parts of teaching is watching my students develop as writers. I can’t do this,
however, if you submit work that isn’t yours. Remember, if you include ideas or words in any
assignment, big or small, that are not yours, give credit to the original author through proper
MLA citations. See the Academic Integrity Policy for more. If you’re behind and need help,
contact me. “Borrowing” from an expert, the Internet, or a willing friend isn’t worth it.

Learning services accommodations:

If you have a registered disability that requires accommodation, please share your documentation
with me as soon as possible so that I can help you learn most effectively. If you have a special
need and would like to receive classroom accommodations, please register with Learning
Services in Borders Hall.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THIS SYLLABUS:

If you find yourself missing more than 3 class periods or dealing with a situation that’s
impacting your progress (personal or family illness, roommate issues, homesickness or trouble
fitting in, balancing class with sports/activities, anything mental health-related, etc.), come to me
as soon as possible so that we can work together to come up with a plan. I will do my best to
support you, but I can only do that if I know you need help!

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Academic Integrity Policy
Mount St. Mary’s University relies on its students, faculty and staff to adhere to high levels of academic
integrity and avoid misconduct. The undergraduate handbook describes academic misconduct as including but not
limited to the following infractions:
A. Cheating: the unauthorized use or exchange of information before or during a quiz, test, or semester
examination. Cheating also includes unauthorized collaboration on a class assignment, submitting the same work in
two courses without the professor’s permission, and buying or selling work for a course are also forms of cheating.
B. Plagiarism: the representation of someone else’s words or ideas as one’s own. The various forms of
plagiarism include but are not limited to copying homework, falsifying lab reports, submitting papers containing
material written by another person, and failing to document correctly in one’s written assignment words, arguments
or ideas secured from other sources.
C. Providing or receiving assistance in a manner not authorized by the professor in the creation of work
to be submitted for academic evaluation including papers, projects and examinations; presenting as one’s own the
ideas or words of another for academic evaluation without proper acknowledgement.
D. Doing unauthorized academic work for which another person will receive credit or be evaluated.
E. Attempting to influence one’s academic evaluation by means other than academic achievement or
merit.
F. Misconduct assistance: cooperation with another in an act of academic misconduct. A student who
writes a paper or does an assignment for another student is an accomplice and will be held accountable just as
severely as the other. Any student who permits another to copy from his or her own paper, examination, or project
shall be held as accountable as the student who submits the copied material. Students are expected to safeguard
their work and should not share papers, projects, homework, or exam answers with other students unless
specifically directed to by their professors.

Penalties for Academic Misconduct: The minimum penalty for the first offense will be a grade of zero for the
assignment or examination, but I may choose to impose a more severe penalty if circumstances warrant it. A
second offense in this or any other course will result in a semester grade of failure (F). Penalty for the third offense
Undergraduate program goals
The First Year Symposium serves the larger goals of the university. These goals, called “undergraduate program goals,” span
both the curricular and the co-curricular aspects of your education and are at the heart of the Mount educational experience.
These goals focus on (1) the Catholic vision of the human person, (2) the Western tradition, (3) competencies, (4) your major, (5)
social justice in a global community, and (6) a life well-lived. This course contributes to achievement of the following
undergraduate program goals:

1. Competencies (goal #3) and your major (goal#4). The First Year Symposium promotes these goals by addressing
critical thinking skills as embodied in writing, reading, listening and speaking. These skills are practiced in small seminar classes
where everyone is encouraged to speak, through practice in the process of writing, and through reading of significant texts.
Students become acquainted with basic methods of argument, research, and documentation. All of these skills are foundational
for more specialized work to be pursued within an academic major.
2. The Catholic vision of the human person (goal #1), the Western tradition (#2), social justice in a global community
(goal #5) and a life well-lived (goal #6). The central theme of the First Year Symposium is the question of what it means to be
human. This question is explored in various dimensions, through such themes as technology, happiness, bodiliness, beauty,
friendship, and community. The course seeks to foster a personal inquiry about the ends, goods, dignity, and distinctive features
of human life. The view that seeking answers to such questions is part of what characterizes human nature and that learning to
answer such questions well is essential to success in human life is at the heart of the Catholic vision of the person and is essential
to understanding the Western tradition. Self-knowledge, linked to the discovery of essential truths about human nature, is not
only theoretically interesting but also practically significant, helping to realize individual and social well-being, to seek a life well
lived, in solidarity with the human community and with respect for the individual dignity of each member of that community.

Course objectives and goals, and overarching Undergraduate Program Goals are aligned as follows:
Program goal Undergraduate program goal
Discourse skills, critical thinking and reading 3, 4
Questions about the human condition 1, 2, 5, 6

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 MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

Resume (5%)

You will complete your resume and upload it to Canvas. Follow the instructions you received at
the resume workshop (see course calendar). Your professor will grade the resume on a pass/fail
basis. Your resume will be filed at the Career Center to assist you in the future as you apply to
jobs or internships.

Autobiographical Narrative (10%)

Guidelines edited August 2020

Now that you have completed the summer readings and the Values in Action survey, this
assignment asks you to reflect on them and write your own autobiographical narrative.

This assignment serves three purposes: 1) to introduce you to your instructors; 2) to help you
think about the ways your own core values and strengths connect with the central theme of First
Year Symposium, “what does it mean to be human?”; 3) to allow you to compose your own
autobiographical text, using the summer readings as a model, with particular focus on the way
those authors used sensory language to tell their stories.

Submit this assignment on Canvas by August 21. Your narrative should follow the basic rules of
English grammar, sentence structure, style, and punctuation laid out by the MLA.1

Assignment Steps:
1. Consider your top 3 scores on the Values in Action survey. Choose one of those values.

2. In the first half of the assignment, narrate a story about an experience from your life in which
you used the value you selected in Step #1. Use as many vivid details as possible, drawing on
your five senses. Make sure your story is appropriate to share in class!

3. In the second half of the assignment, reflect on how you see that experience connecting with
something universal in human experience. These universal themes could include but are not
limited to: how human beings relate to God, nature, and each other, as well as the responsibilities
and duties we owe to each.

For examples on how to connect a personal experience to one of these universal themes, consult:
-Man and God: Merton's conversion of heart in adoration (Merton 32-35); Wilson's
experience of the transcendent at Martin Luther King, Sr.’s address (Wilson 19-20);
Douglass’s Psalm-like lament (Douglass 42-44)

-Man and nature/the cosmos: How Wilson became a naturalist (Wilson 11-15)

-Man and others: Douglass's story of “how a slave became a man” (Douglass 44-50);
Douglass's education and later abuse by Mrs. Auld (36-42)

1
For these guidelines, see:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/
mla_general_format.html.

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 Brave New World Analysis Paper (20%)

By writing a dystopian novel about a society in which the characters lead comfortable, but
meaningless lives, Aldous Huxley invites his readers to consider what is truly valuable in human
life.  Similarly, the Mount’s mission statement challenges you to reflect on what it means to lead
a “life of significance.”  Your second major writing assignment asks you to Write an essay
which offers an answer to the question: What does the novel Brave New World suggest is
necessary in human life for people to “live significantly”? You might consider how the novel
suggests that something the citizens of the World State are lacking is essential to the human
condition or especially important or fulfilling in human life. 
 
Requirements: 
Your paper should have a clear thesis and defend that thesis with evidence drawn from the text. 

A thesis is a clearly articulated and appropriately focused central argument that demonstrates
your own independent thought about the question.

Using evidence effectively means that you will support all sub-points of your central argument
with appropriate, convincing, and correctly cited evidence.  In the case of this essay, you should
clearly refer to and cite specific instances of plot, characters, themes, diction/dialogue, and/or
setting of Brave New World. For this paper, you will use 8th edition MLA citations. More details
about how to correctly cite can be found starting on page 119 of your Little Seagull Handbook or
online at the Purdue OWL. 

Audience:  Your paper should be addressed to an audience of your peers (college students)
and your professors.  Your professors and classmates have all read the novel, but not all college
students have, so do not assume that all your readers are as familiar with the novel as you are.
That means you will need to explain important elements related to setting, plot, character, etc. as
if the reader has not read the book. 
 
Award:  Your professors will nominate the best papers from your section to be entered into
the Brave New World Essay competition.  A panel of Symposium professors will select the best
three.  The winners will receive a $100 dollar gift certificate to the Book Store, and their essays
will be included in the 2019 reader as models for future students.

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 Letter to Wendell Berry or Kwame Appiah (20%)

You will frequently find that in your academic and professional career, you will be asked to
write in response to another’s position or argument. 

Your third major writing assignment asks you to write a letter of response to an argument
made by either Wendell Berry (“The Work of Local Culture”) or Kwame Appiah (“Global
Citizenship”).  Authors frequently write letters to people with whom they disagree and whose
minds they would like to change, but you may also consider writing a letter of agreement or even
partial agreement. 

Requirements: 
Your letter should clearly articulate your position (disagreement, partial agreement, full
agreement, etc.) as well as your main reasons for accepting or rejecting the given proposition of
your chosen text. This position should be supported through a mixture of analysis of pertinent
sections of your chosen text, as well as your own examples and insights, which you might
develop through personal anecdotes and experiences, or examples from readings in this class or
others. 

If you disagree with one of these authors, you must point out flaws in the position or the
supporting reasoning. 
If you agree with one of these authors, then you must somehow add to their position,
either through additional examples or reasoning, or by adapting the author’s insights to a new
purpose or audience. 

For this assignment, you are not required to cite your chosen essay in MLA format because
citations are not a feature of letters; however, you are expected to provide straightforward
statements that indicate when you are referring to a specific argument or passage from one of the
texts. 

Audience:  Your primary audience for this letter is, of course, the recipient (Wendell Berry or
Kwame Appiah) and your primary purpose is to persuade them of your position, but you should
also keep in mind that other interested parties may end up reading your work.  For instance,
Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail was written to persuade moderate white
pastors in the Jim Crow south of the necessity of non-violent action, but millions of people
continue to read it today for many other reasons.

If you are disagreeing with an author, your audience will include both the author and classmates
who agree with his position.

If you are agreeing with one of the authors, your audience will include classmates who may not
be persuaded by your chosen author’s position. 
 
Award:  Once again, your professors will nominate the best letters from your section to be
entered into the Persuasive Letter competition.  A panel of Symposium professors will select the
best three.  The three winners will receive a $100 dollar gift certificate to the Book Store, and
their letters will be included in the 2019 reader as models for future students.

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 Human Responsibility Paper (20%)

The second half of this course asks you to consider the question: “How are we responsible to
others?”  For your final paper, you will reason through a moral problem in which your individual
actions and behavior have the potential to make significant differences in our shared social life.
For instance, you might consider the following: 
“If I overhear racist speech on campus, am I obligated to respond?” 
“Do I have an obligation not to purchase products that are produced in unethical ways?” 
“Should I modify my behavior to be environmentally friendly, even if it inconveniences me?”
“Should I use genetic technologies to enhance the health/well-being of my future children?”
“If steroid use is rampant in my sport, is it cheating for me to use them too?”

Your instructor may, in consultation with the class, limit the number of potential questions to
serve as prompts for this assignment.
To complete this assignment, you must:
1. Include an introduction that leads the reader to your thesis: a clearly articulated and
appropriately focused central argument that demonstrates your own independent thought
about the question.
2. Summarize the differing points of view of at least two sources that you have located
through the Opposing Viewpoints in Context database, or other relevant library
databases, with the goal of identifying points of agreement, conflict, and any
insufficiencies in the positions you might note. 
3. Offer a clear definition of relevant terms, focusing explicitly on defining the moral or
ethical criteria by which you will evaluate the relevant action, behavior, etc. You might
accept a definition from one of the course readings outright, or alternatively modify or
expand on it. 
4. Make a persuasive argument about how an individual should behave in your chosen
instance based on your established criteria for moral and ethical behavior.  
5. Conclude with a brief restatement of the thesis and lead the reader to further questions.

To guide you on the way, you will be required to complete the following steps:
a. Attend library orientation day. You will meet library staff, get a primer on how to use the
library’s electronic resources, learn how to use the library of congress system to check a
book out of our library, and begin to distinguish between different types of sources.
b. Using the “Opposing Views in Context” resource on the Mount’s library’s website or
another relevant database, identify at least two articles that take contrasting approaches to
the issue under examination, as well as one other source that you might consider using in
your essay.
c. Write summaries of each of those three articles.
d. Write your essay.
e. Given feedback from your instructor and peers, revise your essay.

Audience: Your primary audience for this essay is your peers and professors. Remember that
your reader will not know as much about your topic as you do. Thus, use the skills of summary
in your paper to give the reader enough knowledge in order to be able to follow your analysis.

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