{"id":515,"date":"2019-05-04T16:22:55","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T20:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/?page_id=515"},"modified":"2019-05-06T15:13:48","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T19:13:48","slug":"final-essay-assignment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/final-essay-assignment\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Essay Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Sad Tale of the Novice Monk\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The novice monk, Alyosha Karamazov, is devastated by his brother’s horrifying rant about the evil lurking within the human soul.\u00a0 Worse still, he is despondent over Ivan’s powerful challenge to his faith.\u00a0 How could a merciful God allow for such horror?\u00a0 For that matter, why should one worship a God who shows such indifference? Alyosha cries out: “Oh, humankind. Is there no room left for hope that we human beings might still treat each with decency and goodness!”<\/p>\n

Wracked by a momentary loss of faith in his Creator, Alyosha returns to his cell. There, he is surprised to find three articles about hope on his desk by Kelly Baker<\/a>, Roy Scranton<\/a>, and Samuel Scheffler<\/a>.\u00a0 Alyosha shoves his Bible into the bottom drawer and slowly begins to read each of these pieces.<\/p>\n

Which one of these three writers will persuade Alyosha that a hopeful perspective on the human condition is still possible?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please respond to this question in a typed, double-spaced essay of no more than six (6) pages. To ensure that Alyosha is not confused, you may only choose one writer.\u00a0 However, if you wish, feel free to choose another reading\u2014an article or a book–from our course that in your view makes an even more persuasive argument.\u00a0 In this case, you should drop one of the above articles.\u00a0 Thus, you will still end up with three writers.\u00a0 Note: if you choose an additional writer, you must defend that writer’s position.<\/p>\n

In formulating your argument, please keep the following issues in mind: 1) Since Alyosha has suspended his faith, you may not use religious faith to make the case for hope; 2) Address the arguments and counterarguments of each of your writers directly; and in doing so, 3) Make sure you characterize all of these arguments correctly.\u00a0 Make sure your paper has a title and that you have put your name on it.<\/p>\n

Please adhere to the following rules<\/span>. If you fail to do so, I am afraid I won\u2019t be able to read your paper.\u00a0 1) Your document name MUST<\/u> take the following form:\u00a0 [yourlastname].final.essay. 2) You MUST<\/u> submit your essay as a WORD document<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 No other format will work. NO PDF<\/strong>!\u00a0 If you have any doubts about whether you are submitting it in WORD<\/u><\/strong>, test it beforehand and\/or ask for a friend\u2019s help.\u00a0 Please re-read these rules carefully.<\/p>\n

A couple grammatical notes.\u00a0 There is an important difference between \u201con the one hand\u2026on the other hand\u201d and \u201cin contrast.\u201d The former implies different ways of looking at one thing; the latter implies a contrast between two or more things. Also, if you use \u201con the other hand,\u201d there must be a corresponding \u201con the one hand.\u201d\u00a0 By adhering to these rules, you will make your future professors quite happy!<\/p>\n

The Honor Code to which you have affixed your signature applies! Since this is your final essay, please do not discuss it with your classmates.\u00a0 Your essay and argument must be absolutely, completely, and unmistakably your own work.<\/p>\n

As always, I recommend that you begin writing and re-writing this essay immediately. Naturally, my expectations are not unreasonable. I simply request that you compose the best pages of prose that you have ever written in your life.<\/p>\n

Please submit your essay to the document file entitled \u201cFinal Essay Assignment\u201d on our Sakai page. The final due date is this Friday, May 10, by 10:00<\/u>.\u00a0 Naturally, please feel free to submit your essay earlier.\u00a0 The Registrar has given me a ridiculously short window before I am required to submit grades.\u00a0 If you would like me to provide you with detailed comments on your essay, just let me know.<\/p>\n

Again, it has been a pleasure working with you. I hope<\/em> I will see more of you down the road.<\/p>\n

Good luck!<\/p>\n

AJM<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Sad Tale of the Novice Monk\u201d The novice monk, Alyosha Karamazov, is devastated by his brother’s horrifying rant about the evil lurking within the human soul.\u00a0 Worse still, he is despondent over Ivan’s powerful challenge to his faith.\u00a0 How could a merciful God allow for such horror?\u00a0 For that matter, why should one worship […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-515","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":536,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/515\/revisions\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/hell-spring2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}