Write an essay in response to Noel Sharkey's "The Ethical Frontiers of Robotics." This assignment asks you to relate your own ideas to those in Sharkey's article. To successfully complete this writing task, you must draw on information from both the text and your personal experiences. Do not assume that your audience has read "The Ethical Frontiers of Robotics."
Here are some questions to consider when developing your personal response to the text. You do not need to answer the questions in order, and you DO NOT need to answer all of these questions in your paper.
- How do the ideas in the text connect with my own ideas? What associations can I make?
- What experiences have I had that relate to the text? What experiences might I have in the future?
- Is there anything in the text that I agree with, reject, or wonder about?
- Am I drawn to particular words, phrases, or sentences?
- Does the text contain ideas that lead me to speculate, reflect, or make predictions?
- What images does the text create in my mind?
- What else in the text do I relate to?
Organization of Content:
Introductory Section
Your introductory section should include the following information:
1) Identification of the text and author
2) Short summary of the text
3) Thesis Statement-your overall reaction to the text
Response Section
Your body paragraphs should include 3-4 ideas from Sharkey's text along with your response to each of these points.
One possible organizational strategy is the following:
Idea One:
a. Sharkey's idea
b. Explain his position with information from the text
c. Your response to Sharkey's idea
d. Explain your position with personal experience, beliefs, etc.
Repeat pattern for next 2-3 ideas. Remember that you can use more than one paragraph to fully explain and respond to one of Sharkey's points.
Conclusion
Restate your perspective on Sharkey's ideas and remind readers of your thesis.
*See pages 38-39 in Writing in the Disciplinesfor information on how to convert your informal (in class) response into a formal response essay.
Grading Rubric for First Draft
CONTENT
1. Includes a thesis statement that expresses the writer's overall reaction to the text.
2. Identifies the text and author.
3. Contains a summary of the author's text.
4. Makes explicit connections between your reactions and the target text.
5. Integrates information from the text with your perspective and ideas.
ORGANIZATION & DEVELOPMENT
1. Overall structure-the writing has an effective introduction, body, and conclusion. All paragraphs support the thesis statement.
2. Paragraph development-each paragraph focuses on one topic only and is developed with details, descriptions, explanations, or examples.
LANGUAGE & USE OF TEXT
1. Essay has varied sentence structure (simple, compound, complex) with appropriate conjunctions, discourse connectors, or subordinators (Top 20, pp. 299-300).
2. Errors may occur, but they do not interfere with comprehension.
3. Text is appropriately paraphrased (and cited where necessary).
4. Quotes are short, used infrequently and are fully integrated into the text.
FORMAT _____/3 points
1. APA Citation-references are listed at the end of the paper using APA Style. (See Writing in the Disciplines, pp. 602-603.)
2. Original title
3. 2-3 pages-typed in 12 point font, double-spaced, 1" margins
CONTENT ____/50 points
- Includes a thesis statement that expresses the writer's overall reaction to the text.
- Identifies the text and author.
- Contains a summary of the author's text.
- Makes explicit connections between your reactions and the target text.
- Integrates information from the text with your perspective and ideas.
ORGANIZATION & DEVELOPMENT ____/30 points
- Overall structure-the writing has an effective introduction, body, and conclusion. All paragraphs support the thesis statement.
- Paragraph development-each paragraph focuses on one topic only and is developed with details, descriptions, explanations, or examples.
- The paper has appropriate connections and transitions between and within paragraphs.
LANGUAGE & USE OF TEXT ____/14 points
- Essay has varied sentence structure (simple, compound, complex) with appropriate conjunctions, discourse connectors, or subordinators (Top 20, pp. 299-300).
- Errors may occur, but they do not interfere with comprehension.
- Text is appropriately paraphrased (and cited where necessary).
- Quotes are short, used infrequentlyand are fully integrated into the text.
FORMAT _____/6 points
- APA Citation-references are listed at the end of the paper using APA Style. (See Writing in the Disciplines, pp. 602-603.)
- Original title
- 2-3 pages-typed in 12 point font, double-spaced, 1" margins