SEMESTER ONE PROJECT
Analytical essay in the Philosophy of Religion
Dr. VanderWilt
Philosophy 2 HL IB
Objectives:
 IDENTIFY a relevant non-philosophical work that assists in the exploration of a major issue in the
Philosophy of Religion
 ANALYZE the non-philosophical work from ONE consistent accurately summarized and validly
applied philosophical perspective in a manner consistent with the Philosophy of Religion and of
Philosophy in general
 EVALUATE the non-philosophical work AND the chosen philosophical perspective from a wellconceived, concise, and arguable (not asserted alone) position on the religious or philosophical
issue. PERSONAL beliefs or statements of faith are not appropriate in this assignment; use
language and methods appropriate to philosophy.
 REVIEW and ASSESS the work of at least two other students on this same assignment using
Turn-it-in.com peer review features
Assignment instructions:
 Prepare an analytical essay of between 1600 and 2000 words in the Philosophy of Religion. A
dialogue, script, poem, fictional work or other style is not acceptable. Your work must be a
philosophical essay.
 This essay may not form the basis for the analytical essay you will submit for Internal
assessment at the beginning of Second Semester. That essay will be an independently
undertaken work.
 Follow the model title page attached below. Your title page must include all this material. Your
IB Candidate number is given to you by Mrs. Cunha in the IB Office.
 Number each page
 Use standard MLA references for cited material. BE SURE to use the proper format for non-book
and non-article resources such as works of art, images, videos, television shows, song lyrics and
so forth. MLA is the only reference method supported by SMCHS instruction.
 The essay topic must relate to any of the major questions we have or will examine in the
Philosophy of Religion. The IB Philosophy syllabus for Philosophy of Religion includes the
following topics and sub-topics: Concepts of a higher being (theism, non-theism, atheism,
agnosticism, arguments for or against the existence of God, problem of evil and suffering,
religious language, ritual, and symbol, diversity of conceptions of the divine); Religious
experience and behavior (nature and value of religious experiences, faith and motivations for
belief, the human experience of evil, sin alienation and salvation); Religion around the world
(religion and politics, religion and gender issues, or religion in a multicultural environment)
 Suitable material for analysis includes: novels, plays, poetry, song lyrics, films, movies,
documentaries, television and radio shows, cartoons, paintings, photographs, other visual
images, newspaper articles, letters, internet sites, advertisements, pamphlets, propaganda,
sculpture, sacred architecture, texts or performances of religious ritual
 Suitable philosophical source material to frame your analysis include: any materials found in
the Sheed & Ward anthology, any materials found in the Meister anthology, any ONE article
found in a PEER-REVIEWED scholarly journal using an online database supplied by our library or
the OC Public Library (EbscoHost, for example), or a chapter length excerpt from a book-length
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philosophical treatise (such as Descartes’ Meditations or Plato’s Republic) in a standard
translation.
The essay must include a bibliography and references. Attach a copy of the source material
you used for the philosophical analysis. If the work is a text over 200 words, plays, films, movies
scenes, television scenes, radio shows, or lengthier extracts from novels please include a 200
word summary description of the pertinent features of the work. This additional material is NOT
included in the 1600-2000 word count limits. In other words, you cannot use the 200 extra
words to reach the 1600 word minimum, nor will it cause you to lose points for exceeding the
2000 word maximum.
YOU WILL LOSE 5 POINTS if your essay is fewer than 1600 words or more than 2000 words; the
word count includes only the text of your essay, not the title page, bibliography, references, or
200 word description of the material for analysis. YOU WILL LOSE 5 POINTS if your essay does
not follow the model title page and include all required information and sections (references,
bibliography, etc.)
After all students have submitted their essays, you will complete TWO peer reviews using the
peer-review feature in turn-it-in.com. Your peer reviews will be completed using the same IB
Internal assessment rubric that will be used in the Spring Semester to mark your Internal
Assessment essays by both the internal reviewers (Dr. VanderWilt, Mrs. Johnson, and Mr.
Gentry) and by the external reviewers who are blindly assigned by IB.
The IB assessment rubric is attached below. For the final essay, your IB score will be converted
to a SMCHS percentage mark out of 50 homework points.
Deadlines for this assignment:
ALL SUBMISSIONS are ELECTRONIC for this assignment.
SUBMIT all your work through turnitin.com using the DOC, RTF, or PDF formats.
For this assignment NO PAPER copies and NO E-MAIL copies will be accepted.
December 7, 2009: Rough drafts are due, submitted to turnitin.com; 10 pts O/S/U Homework
December 15, 2009: Peer review comments are due, submitted to turnitin.com; 20 pts O/S/U Class
participation
January 4, 2010: Final submissions are due, submitted to turnitin.com; 50 pts IB rubric Homework
[Analytical Essay Model Title Page]
THE GAMBLER’S GOD
Einstein, Pascal and the Las Vegas Pit Boss
by
J. Q. Simplicius
October 12, 2008
Link to Syllabus:
Philosophy of Religion: Concepts of a Higher Being
1752 words
IB Candidate Number: 1234567-89
Internal assessment criteria
Assessing the internal assessment exercise
These are the four internal assessment criteria that IB asks teachers to use when assessing the internal assessment
exercise at both HL and SL.
A
Expression
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Has the student presented ideas and arguments in an organized way?
How clear and precise is the language used by the student?
To what extent is the language appropriate to philosophy?
Has the student met all the formal requirements (that is, has the student stayed within the word limit of 1,600–2,000 words and provided
the following information)?
o Title
o Part of the syllabus to which the exercise relates
o Bibliography and references
o Number of words
o A copy or description of the source material used for the philosophical analysis. Texts of over 200 words (poems, novels,
newspaper articles) and film/movie scenes or television scenes/radio shows (not the whole movie or show) must be described in
no more than 200 words.
Achievement
level
The student has not reached level 1.
or
All formal requirements have not been met.
The student expresses some basic ideas but it is not always clear what the argument is trying to convey. The use of language is
not appropriate to philosophy. All formal requirements have been met.
The student presents some ideas in an organized way. There is some clarity of expression but the argument cannot always be
followed. The use of language is not always appropriate to philosophy. All formal requirements have been met.
The student presents ideas in an organized way and the argument can be easily followed. The use of language is appropriate to
philosophy. All formal requirements have been met.
The student presents ideas in an organized and coherent way and the argument is clearly articulated. The use of language is
effective and appropriate to philosophy. All formal requirements have been met.
The student presents ideas in an organized, coherent and incisive way, insights are clearly articulated and the argument is
focused and sustained. The use of language is precise and appropriate to philosophy. All formal requirements have been met.
0
1
2
3
4
5
B
Knowledge and understanding
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To what extent does the student demonstrate knowledge of philosophical issues?
To what extent does the student apply the skills of philosophical analysis to material of a non-philosophical nature?
How well does the student demonstrate an understanding of the philosophical arguments, concepts and perspectives used?
Achievement
level
0
1
2
3
4
Descriptor
Descriptor
The student has not reached level 1.
The student demonstrates a superficial knowledge of philosophical issues. There is only a limited application of the skills of
philosophical analysis to material of a non-philosophical nature. There is only a basic understanding of the arguments, concepts
and perspectives used.
The student demonstrates some knowledge of philosophical issues. There is a basic application of the skills of philosophical
analysis to material of a non-philosophical nature. There is a limited understanding of the arguments, concepts and perspectives
used.
The student demonstrates satisfactory knowledge of philosophical issues. There is a satisfactory application of the skills of
philosophical analysis to material of a non-philosophical nature. There is a satisfactory understanding of the arguments, concepts
and perspectives used.
The student demonstrates a good knowledge of philosophical issues, which is used effectively to support arguments. There is a
convincing application of the skills of philosophical analysis to material of a non-philosophical nature. There is a convincing
understanding of the arguments, concepts and perspectives used.
The student demonstrates a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of philosophical issues, which is used incisively to support
arguments. There is a compelling application of the skills of philosophical analysis to material of a non-philosophical nature. There
is a compelling understanding of the arguments, concepts and perspectives used.
5
C
Identification and analysis of relevant material
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To what extent does the student identify stimulus material that is appropriate for philosophical analysis?
How effectively does the student analyse the stimulus material with the aid of supporting material from other areas of the course?
To what extent does the student identify and analyse appropriate examples and counter-arguments?
Achievement
level
0
The student has not reached level 1.
The student identifies appropriate stimulus material in only a limited way. There is little analysis and few or no examples are
given.
The student identifies and analyses some appropriate stimulus material and some appropriate examples are used.
The student identifies stimulus material that is nearly always appropriate. There is a satisfactory analysis of this material. The
examples used are appropriate and give some support to the argument.
The student identifies stimulus material that is always appropriate. This material is analysed in a thoughtful way. The examples
used are appropriate in their support of the argument. Counter-arguments are identified.
The student identifies stimulus material that is clearly appropriate and the implications of this material are analysed in detail. The
examples used are well chosen and compelling in their support of the argument. Counter-arguments are identified and analysed
in a convincing way.
1–2
3–4
5–6
7–8
9–10
D
Descriptor
Development and evaluation
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Does the student develop the argument in a coherent way?
How well does the student develop and evaluate ideas and arguments?
How well has the student demonstrated that non-philosophical material can be treated in a philosophical way?
To what extent does the student express a relevant personal response?
Achievement
level
0
1–2
3–4
5–6
7–8
9–10
Descriptor
The student has not reached level 1.
The student develops ideas and arguments in a basic way with little or no evaluation of them. There is little evidence of a
philosophical treatment of non-philosophical material.
The student develops some ideas and arguments but the development is simple, or is asserted without support or reference.
There may be some basic evaluation of the ideas and arguments but it is not developed. There is some evidence of a
philosophical treatment of non-philosophical material.
The student develops ideas and arguments in a satisfactory way and evaluates them to some extent. There is evidence of a
philosophical treatment of non-philosophical material. There is some evidence of a relevant personal response.
The student develops ideas and arguments from a consistently held perspective. Evaluation of the ideas and arguments is
effective. There is good evidence of a philosophical treatment of non-philosophical material. There is good evidence of a relevant
personal response.
The student develops ideas and arguments from a consistently held and well-justified perspective. Evaluation of the ideas and
arguments is compelling or subtle, and convincing. There is a convincing philosophical treatment of non-philosophical material.
There is strong evidence of a relevant personal response.