Discussion Makeup Assignment
Dr. Linn
If you’ve missed a discussion, you may make it up by writing a 2-3-page paper.
These papers ask that you live out the ideas from the course material or think about the ways they are present in
your life by applying them or drawing connections to real-life examples.
The goals of these short papers are to (1) increase your knowledge and familiarity with the course concepts and
(2) develop your critical thinking and self-reflection skills.
Length and Format: Your paper should be at least 2 double-spaced pages, 1-inch margins, 12-point Times
New Roman font, excluding any heading. Papers should include in-text citations in the following format:
parentheticals with author’s name and page number throughout the paper as well as a bibliography at the end.
E.g. (Gilovich 99) in the paper and Gilovich, Thomas (2008). How We Know What Isn’t So: The fallibility of
human reason in everyday life. New York, NY: Free Press.
Papers are to be submitted to Sakai->Assignments->Discussion Makeup Assignment by the deadline agreed
upon with your instructor.
There are 3 portions of your papers:
1) Summary: Your opening *paragraph* should identify the idea or ideas your paper will focus on. You
should ideally pick one idea unless you are making an explicit connection between two or more ideas. Explain
what they are and their significance. Keep this short and concise and no more than a half page. Cite whenever
you reference the text, not just for direct quotes. Limit your use of direct quotes. Only quote if you will be
commenting on an ambiguity in the text. Otherwise, paraphrase and cite.
2) Application: Spend some time living out the ideas or making connections to your life.
Some examples from the Free Will debate:
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Try to perform a free action
Analyze the action of a criminal, celebrity, politician, or other public figure and explain whether
it was free/not free and why
Analyze your application using the concept(s) you chose. You should make several connections to the material
that demonstrates more than a basic grasp of the general idea(s) and cite. For example: engage with the
underlying reasoning, consider the evidence in support of it, implications the author discusses (or doesn’t
discuss), how the idea fits within the broader argument or interpretive framework, consider objections and how
the author might respond, etc.
3) Reflection: What did you learn from the exercise? How did it improve your thinking and reasoning? How
did it improve your character, behavior, epistemic state, or relationships? Focus this section on something
concrete that you took away from the assignment. Avoid general reflections.
Note on Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is a SERIOUS academic offense. Any instance of plagiarism- whether intentional or not - will
warrant a grade ZERO and may also be reported according to university requirements.
Discussion Makeup Assignment
Dr. Linn
Academic integrity reports remain on your academic record!! Please take the care to ensure your paper is free of
plagiarism. You may view your Turnitin report and resubmit one time if you catch anything suspicious. It takes
about 20 minutes for the report to generate after submission.