Overview:
The LAS 347 Common Assignment is intended to be a cumulative measure of your thinking about the common text, Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical, On Human Work, Loborem Exercens, as well as other texts and your own lived experiences. It should be written as an argument in which you integrate ample evidence in response to the seminar guiding questions and in support of your claim, also known as your essay’s thesis (the conclusion you have drawn from your own thinking, our class discussions, and the evidence you are considering). The common assignment will be graded according to how well you use evidence to support your own central idea or claim.
You must use ample evidence from our common text, Loborem Exercens.
In particular, the common assignment encourages integration, and it should directly address the junior-level guiding question stated below, as well as the LAS seminars’ goal two (see the related rubric).
A Note on Integration: Your challenge in writing this synthesis essay is to make connections, to show relationships between and among various text sources, and to explain those connections for your reader.
What to Do:
For this particular essay you are asked to present your unique focused claim in response to the following question: Is “Man” the subject or object of work?
Your response should be based on your understanding of the course’s common text, as well as our class discussions and readings, your own experiences, and your own thinking about the theme of this seminar: “Work and Leisure: Striking a Balance.” Be sure to support your response with ample relevant examples from the common text, as well as class resources and outside sources. Fully explain your examples, and cite them using in-text parenthetical citation (MLA) format.
Your essay should be fully developed, five to seven typed pages in length (approximately 1,500 – 2,000 words, double-spaced, 12 point font, with one-inch margins, and MLA format). Include a Works Cited page. I will not accept a paper that is less than 5 full authored pages of content.
Grading:
Your essay’s final grade (15 pts.) will be determined by your ability to organize, develop, and support your original argument by integrating evidence from various texts and your own experiences, as well as negotiating (i.e., acknowledging, accommodating, or refuting) opposing views/counter argument—consider, in other words,“diverse responses” to the question you are addressing while making connections across disciplines.