Philosophy Project - Final Work Day

So here it is - your final day of in-class time to work on the Philosophy project.

I do not have anything new to add here that hasn't been said before.

You have all been working so hard for these past few weeks.
I hope the journey has been rewarding in many ways.

Your essay is due Monday night by midnight.
We will not have time in class Monday to work on it.
Please be sure to put all of the parts into one document, and then double-check that everything is there before you upload it.
Late work, for any reason, means you will take the final.

Next week we'll return to our classroom for some time together, including some fun, a chance to say thank you to people important to you, and an opportunity to bring some closure to our community.

I wish you all deep thoughts and the energy to express them clearly!
I can't wait to read your work!

Philosophy Project - Thoughts Towards Part 5

Greetings!

When I checked in with most of you yesterday, the buzz of activity was a positive one, with lots of people moving towards part 5.  Here are a few thoughts and suggestions for those of you getting into that part:

• This section synthesizes your original ideas with those of a literary text, a philosopher, and a peer.  You may address each of these sources in a separate paragraph, or organize this section by ideas / questions, or whatever other structure works for you.
• The goal of this section is to name how you are now answering your question. It may be that you have a definitive answer, or new questions, or more confusion, or anywhere in between - all of these, of course, are acceptable responses.
• You do not need new evidence in this section, but you may include some if that works for you. All of the previous evidence you quoted is considered part of the paper at this point, and you may refer to it as much as you need. You do not need to re-quote it.
• You are writing in the first person - this is all about the "I" voice.  Therefore, you may also want to speak about the process - which steps were most helpful to you, and why? Which ones were the most challenging? Which ones made you see different perspectives on your question?

As always, I am happy to conference with you about this or any other section of your essay.  Happy writing!

Philosophy Project - Setting Up the Final Week

Happy Monday!

Here we go - a busy week ahead, but entirely do-able with good planning.  I'll try to check in with each of you today and tomorrow to help out with whatever pieces are remaining.

You should be well on your way with sections 1-4 by now, and have a sense of how part 5 will start to take shape.

Stay the course! Finish strong!

Philosophy Project - Peer Dialogues

It's dialogue time!

For section 4 of your project, you will engage in a written or typed dialogue with a peer about your topic. The concept here is the idea that it’s important not only to have the courage of your convictions, but also the strength to have them challenged.

The two roles here are the “writer” and “responder.”

Here is the structure for today:

• Open a new Google Document. Create a name for it (“philosophy dialogue” perhaps) and share it with the person / people you will be working with today.
• I think it will also be helpful at this point to decide on a color or font for each person to use, so you can distinguish the different voices.
• Write an “opening statement.” This paragraph needs to include both your question and a general sense of how you are answering it at this point.
• Responder reads this statement and writes a paragraph that includes their answer to the question and reasons / justifications for it. 
•  Then, the responder will ask a question, trying to dig deeper into the beliefs of the writer. The responder may, but it not required, to use one of the following questions we've previously used to expand / focus philosophical questions:
• What are its assumptions and premises?
• What are its implications?
• What different types or contexts exist?
• When does / doesn’t it work?
• What do the specific terms mean?
• What are the reasons underlying the questions / answers?
• Who else shares this belief or perspective, and why?
• Writer now responds to this question with a combination of ideas, reasons, explanations, and examples. This should conclude with a question back to the responder.
• Dialogue continues this way for the rest of the period. 
• Both sides are encouraged to challenge the ideas and beliefs of the other person. The idea behind that is to push the writer’s thinking, to consider new possibilities, and to potentially reach new conclusions. 
• Feel free to add in personal stories or make up hypothetical situations ("would your beliefs hold true if...") - philosophy is always at its best and most challenging when it has to be specific and not just theoretical.
• You will be turning in this dialogue as is - the reflection on it will come in Part 5 as you link all of the sections together. Don't worry about the grade here - just have an authentic dialogue for the whole period.
• ** There are two ways to do this:
• Have both dialogues at the same time. 
• Do one dialogue at a time, spending roughly 25 minutes on each one
• Enjoy the opportunity to have a powerful, deep conversation!