John
Coleman's Philosophy "1" Page
John
Coleman's Philosophy "1" Page
Fall 2008 Harbor College / Monday & Wednesday
Homework Due Next Monday 'Read Plato's Apology'
Class Discussions: Ways of Knowing If There Is A "God"
The Philosophy Of the Essay
Ø The essay differs from a summary.
Ø Knowing the difference will make your world change as you notice the difference in the grading of each paper.
Essay
1. An essay takes a viewpoint and attempts to prove its validity.
1. A summary takes no viewpoint and has no thesis; it merely recapitulates the facts.
2. An essay assumes the reader is already familiar with the matter and tries to help him or her make better sense of it.
2. A summary assumes the reader is ignorant about the matter and tries to inform him or her about it.
3. An essay explains and evaluates. It tries to bring the reader to a better understanding of the subject.
3. A summary recounts the main points of the subject without in anyway trying to interpret it for the reader.
4. As essay archives all of this by formulating a strong, clear and interesting thesis about the subject.
4. A summary doesn’t try to present it’s own point of view of the subject and therefore has no need to subordinate anything, only to report on it.
5. In an essay, the writer argues for the stand taken about the subject, trying to make it convincing for the reader.
5. Having taken no stand, the writer finds no need to support or argue in a summary but merely to report, assert, and summarize.
6. This leads the writer to scan the research data for those items only, that support the thesis or demonstrate a point in it.
6. In a summary, the writer includes as many of the items as he or she can find.
7. In an essay; the writer tries to interpret the subject, leading the reader to see clearly what he or she had seen only dimly (all of it).
7. No such things are attempted in a summary.
8. As essay answers such questions as; How did this all come about and why?
8. A summary concerns itself only with the question; What happened?
9. An essay is; as a result, interesting to read, stimulating, and leads to new discoveries.
9. No new discoveries are made or announced in a summary; its object is to review and summarize.
Mr. Coleman