Applied Ethics Paper

Applied Ethics Paper

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is for you to critically engage an important ethical issue with philosophical rigor and clarity. This assignment emphasizes the real-world skills of accurately and clearly summarizing another person’s point of view as well as offering thoughtful criticism.

Outcomes:

• Offer a clear and accurate summary of scholarly work.
• Offer an appropriate, critical response to scholarly work.
• Rewrite and edit language, style, tone, and sentence structure
• Demonstrate effective organization and style

Assignment: You will select an article from the “Applied Ethics” folder on the course website and write a critical response to it. Your paper should have, along with an introduction and conclusion, a section devoted to explaining the position or idea that you are critical of, a section devoted to offering one objection to it, and a response to a criticism of your objection.

Requirements:

• 4-5 pages in length (typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman, normal margins)
• Drafts and outlines prior to final submission are required. Your paper will not be graded until you submit each draft.
• MLA format

Schedule:

• Summary of article due Wednesday, August 16th
• Objection due Wednesday, August 23rd
• Peer review August 30th
• Final draft due September 13

Applied Ethics Paper Rubric

Superior / Good / Competent / Non-Passing
Develops afocused andconvincing objection / Illustrates exceptional ability to craft a clear, cogent objection and sustain a complex argument. The argument provides remarkable insights and remains focused throughout the paper. / Usually able to craft a clear, cogent objection and sustain an argument. The objectiongoes beyond the obvious claims to provide insight and it rarely wanders, staying focused on the main argument of the paper. / Can occasionally craft a clear, cogent objection and sustain it throughout the paper. The argument is usually consistent and speaks with some depth. / Fails to craft a clear, cogent objection and sustain an argument. The objection is inconsistent and/or may not apply to the argumentsin the text.
Summarizes the article clearly and concisely / Summary is clear, thoughtful, and accurate. The student’s summary presents the author’s point with as much or greater clarity than the author. / Summary is usually accurate and thoughtful but could be clearer in exposition. The inaccuracies or lack of clarity do not greatly affect the overall point / Offers a summary that is more or less accurate. albeit hard to follow, too wordy, or imprecise. / Fails to present the author’s position or idea accurately and with acceptable precision and/or clarity.
Identifies and responds to a strong possible criticism / The criticism of the student’s objection is forceful and plausible. The student’s response explains clearly why the criticism is not successful. / The criticism is plausible and there might be another criticism that is more obvious. The student’s response suffices to explain why the criticism falls short. / The criticism is not the most convincing or it is unclear. The student tries to respond to the criticism with some success. / The criticism is inappropriate or problematically unclear. The student’s response is misguided.
Demonstrates effective organization and style / Shows exceptional control in both
paragraph coherence and unity that leads to a well-structured paper. The structure of the paper enhances the argument as well as adheres to the genre expectations of an academic paper for an academic audience. / Shows effective control in both paragraph coherence and unity that leads to a well-structured paper. The structure of the paper serves the argument as well as adheres to the genre expectations of an academic paper for an academic audience. / Shows control in both paragraph coherence and unity that leads to a structured paper. The structure of the paper may detract from the argument as well as mostly adheres to the genre expectations of an academic paper for an academic audience. / Fails to show control in both paragraph coherence and unity that leads to a well-structured paper. The structure of the paper does not serve the argument and/or may not
adhere to the genre expectations of
an academic paper for an academic audience.
Writes a paper that displays the scholarly virtues of being clear, concise, engaging, and critical. / The result is original, clear, thoughtful, complex and polished final products. Essays are virtually free of errors
in mechanics, usage, grammar and spelling. / Final drafts may be less clear, less complex, or demonstrate a lack of polish. Essays are usually free of errors in mechanics, usage, grammar and spelling. / The writer may exercise some revision skills, but may not have brought to bear the effort needed to use them to push the writing beyond the level of competency, or may produce writing with occasional language or structural problems, including grammar. Minor errors are never so severe that the paper is difficult to follow. / The writing shows significant problems
with language or structure, including grammar. Essays may have been revised only once, or only superficially, or makes so many
errors that the paper is difficult to
follow.