Assignment:
Pick two of the follow writings attached below, from the works of Saint Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Pope Innocent III and Dante Alighieri, and compare the paths these two writings describe for spiritual salvation. Did these writers appeal to the mind (to reason) or to the heart (to emotions such as peace, fear or ecstasy) to convey their message?
Write a paper of a minimum of 200 words in response to these two questions. Follow our normal format (double-spaced with your name on the top) and be sure to follow the paper guidelines included in the syllabus. Proofread your work carefully before submitting it on the link below.
Your papers must follow these guidelines:
1) Make an argument. Use a strong topic sentence at the start of your paper to help your reader orient himself. A paper that starts "Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés had different motives for writing about their roles in the conquest of America," helps your reader get his or her bearings. I know where you're going.
2) Organize your thoughts into a brief introduction (even just two sentences), where you say what you're going to say in your paper. In the middle paragraph, give some evidence to support what you're arguing. In the last paragraph, in a conclusion that can be as brief as two sentences for this 200-word paper, summarize what you said.
3) Write for a friend. In other words, write for someone outside our class, and to whom you must give a bit of context in order for him or her to understand what you're talking about.
4) If you offer a quote as evidence, then explain why that quote is important. The rule of thumb is that you need two to three words of your own to explain each word of a direct quote.
5) Check grammar. Nouns and verbs must agree. Pronouns must have clear antecedents (the person, persons, object or objects to which that pronoun refers). Sentences must be complete. Ask me if you do not understand grammar problems I indicate to you. You may also look up the problem in a grammar book, or read the grammar and punctuation pages on the Purdue University Online Writing Lab web site.
6) Avoid vague expressions (e.g., "for the most part," or "in the day").
7) Do not write words such as "thing," "something," "everything," "anything," "someone," and similar words. They have little meaning. Find a clearer, more descriptive word to express your idea.
8) Do not use contractions. I've used five contractions in this list so far. Do you see them? We may do so in the discussions, but do not write contractions in your papers.
9) Do not refer to yourself or to the reader. That is, do not write "I," "me" or similar words referring to yourself, and do not write "you," "yourself," or similar words referring to the reader. If you delete expressions such as "I think" or "I believe," you will probably find that the rest of the sentence makes perfect sense. Your argument becomes stronger if you eliminate yourself from the picture.
10) Use active voice verbs. If you write that "Twenty million indigenous people were killed in Mexico," then you leave a big question in your reader's head: WHO committed such an atrocity? On the other hand, if you write: "The Spaniards, with their weapons, their strategy to destroy the Indians' food supply, and the European viruses that the Spaniards unknowingly brought along, killed twenty million indigenous," NOW I know who the culprits were.
11) If you choose to refer to a person by one name, choose the last name, not the first name. Ulysses S. Grant should be referred to as "Grant," for example, not "Ulysses." Martin Luther King, Jr. is "King," not "Martin." We make very few exceptions to this rule in formal writing. The titles of monarchs, popes, and religious, such as "Elizabeth," "Francis," or "Sister Mary," are one example, as are artists who choose to be referred to by one name, such as Cher and Madonna.
12) If you write your paper in Word, watch for the green and red squiggle lines below your text. Word uses these lines to indicate where you likely have problems with grammar, spelling or punctuation. Word sometimes indicates a problem where there is none, and sometimes fails to catch problems, but in many cases the system alerts you to potential errors that you should at least think about before submitting your work.
Readings:
The Humanistic Tradition
By Gloria K. Fierro