HowtoWriteaGoodInterpretiveEssayinPoliticalPhilosophy

DevelopingYourTopic Agoodinterpretiveessayinpoliticalphilosophyisnotasummaryofwhatis obviousinwhattheauthorsays.Itisnotevenatleastnotprimarilyadefense ofsometheoryofyourownaboutthetext.Itisratheranexplorationofan important,puzzlingquestionaboutthemeaningofthetext.Itproceedsthrough openmindedandseriousinquirytoananswerthatmaybemoreorlesstentative butthatisneverdogmatic.Itseekstounderstandanauthorastheauthor understoodhimself,inaspiritthatisbothsympatheticandprobing.Theaimis toshedlightonthetextbyfollowingtheauthorsownindicationsaboutwhatis importantandwhatmustbeconsideredforafullunderstandingofaproblem. Ifyouareaskedtowriteonanassignedtopic,beginbyasking,Whyisthis questionimportant?Whatmakesitdifficult?Ifyouareaskedtochooseyour owntopic,ask,Whatisitinthisworkthatespeciallyintriguesorperplexesor troublesme?Lookforaquestionthatisfundamental,butframeitinawaythat ismanageablewithintheassignedpagelimit. Thenask,WhatsubordinatequestionsdoIneedtoasktoanswerthisquestion well?Ifyouhavenotbeenassignedaspecificpassagetowriteon,identifythe sectionorsectionsofthetextmostrelevanttoyourquestion.Readthepassage(s) youwillfocusonverycarefully,multipletimes.Askyourself,Whatispuzzling orobscurehere?Whatistheauthorupto?Whatarethepremisesofthis argument,statedandunstated?Whatareitsstatedandunstatedconclusions? Whatobjectionscouldberaised,andhowmighttheauthoranswerthem?Is thereanythingonewouldhaveexpectedhimtosaythatheisnotsaying,and whatisthesignificanceofthatsilence?Whatrhetoricalstrategymighthebe employinghere,andforwhatpurpose? Payspecialattentiontoyourownperplexitywheneveritarises.Platolikensthe enterpriseofphilosophytoahunt,andonthathunt,itisyourownpuzzlement, carefullyattendedto,thatputsyouonthetracksofthequarry.Simplybeingable tostateclearlywhatisperplexingorproblematicorseeminglycontradictory aboutapassageoranargumentisoneofthemostimportantstepsyoucantake. Now,foreachofyourquestions,formulatepossiblehypotheses.Gatherspecific evidenceinthetextfor(andpossiblyagainst)eachone.

MakinganOutline Onceyouhavedefinedacentralandseveralsubordinatequestions,gathered yourideas,andmadenotesoneach,decideontheorderinwhichyouwantto pursuethesequestions.Whichismostbasic,ormostinneedofaddressing beforeyoucanproceedtotheothers?Howcanyouarrangeyourquestionsand ideassothateachleadsnaturallytothenextandlaysthenecessarygroundwork forwhatistofollow?Oneperfectlyacceptableprocedureissimplytotracean argumentoftheauthorsstepbystep,intheorderinwhichhegivesit.Thenpart ofyourworkistoshowwhytheordermakessense,andwhyeachofhis questionsnaturallyarisesfromwhathascomebefore. Nowfilloutyouroutlinewiththeargumentsandevidencefromthetextthat youwillusetoaddresseachquestion.Asyoudoso,youwillprobablyrealize thattheorderneedsrevising.Thatisnotaproblem;itispartoftheprocessof goodwriting.Youmayalsorealizethatyouhavetakenontoomuchforashort, tightlyfocusedpaper,andyouneedtojettisonsomematerial.Again,thisisa commondiscoveryfordisciplinedwritersandisnotasignthatyouhavedone anythingwrong. ChoosingaTitle Itshouldbeimmediatelyclearfromyourtitlewhatthepaperwillbeabout.If yourprofessorhasgivenyouseveraltopicstochoosefrom,thetitleshouldmake clearwhichoneyouarewritingon.Aclever,attentiongrabbingtitleisgoodif youcanthinkofonethatalsomakesyourtopicclear,buttheimportantthingis thatthetitlebeinformative. TheIntroductoryParagraph Thisparagraphhasseriousworktodo.Itneedstoshowthreethings:whatyou aresettingouttoexplore,whyitmatters,andwhyitispuzzlingordifficult.You mayalsowishinotherwaystosetthestageorgivebackgroundinformation,but themaintaskistowhetyourreadersinterest.Nothingismoreboringthanthe sweepinggeneralizationsanddictionarydefinitionswithwhichinexperienced writersoftenbeginessays.Itistruethatreadingyouressayispartofyour professorsjob,butyouwanthimorhertobeginyourpaperinaspiritof intriguedanticipationratherthanoneofgloomyresignation.

TheFlowofParagraphsandIdeas Statingthepointofeachparagraphaheadoftimeinatopicsentencecanmake forawoodeneffect,buteveryparagraphneedstohaveasinglesubject,andthat subjectneedstobeclearbytheendofthesecondsentenceifnotthefirst.Each paragraph,andeachsentencewithintheparagraph,shouldflownaturallyoutof whatcomesbeforeandpreparethereaderforwhatiscomingnext. Makeliberaluseofconnectivewordsandphrasesassignpoststoalertthereader tothedirectioninwhichyourargumentismoving.Ifyouarequalifyinga previouspoint,useexpressionssuchasyet,but,still,ontheotherhand, andhowever.Areyouofferingadditionalsupportforsomething?Use expressionssuchasmoreover,besides,whatismore,andinaddition. Areyoudrawingaconclusion?Usesuchtermsasthus,therefore,hence, itfollowsthat,andwemayconcludethat.Areyoudiscussingthemost importantpointinasection?Useexpressionssuchasaboveallandmost importantly,sothatthereadersitsupandtakesnotice. Yourconclusioninashortpapershouldbeshortaswell.Ifpossible,itshouldin afewsentencesbothdrawtogetheryourmainthoughtsandpresentsomenew andinterestingideaabouttheirsignificance. BeingPrecise Oneofthemostcommondefectsofmediocreessaysisvaguenessand imprecisioninlanguage.Suchessaysoftenreadasiftheirauthorsweretossing fuzzyobjectsinthegeneraldirectionofeachideawithouttakingthetimeto figureoutexactlywhattheymeantosay.Ifyouarentsurewhatyoumean,your instructorneverwillbeeither.Disciplineyourselftoask,asyouwriteeach sentence,DoIknowexactlywhatIhaveinmindhereandamIsayingexactly whatImean?Ifyoucantfindtherightwordforwhatyouwanttosay,keep thinkinguntilyoufindit,orconsultadictionaryorthesaurus. Stayclosetothetext,bothbyusingfrequentcitationofitandbyusingthesame languagetheauthoruses.Iftheauthoriswritingaboutapolis,usetheword polisorcityandavoidalientermslikestate.Neverusewordslike values(ahopelesslyvaguetermincommonparlance)orlifestylewhen discussingclassicalorearlymodernauthors.Tryasmuchasyoucantoframe theissuesusingtheauthorsowncategories.

UsingQuotations Thefrequentuseofshortquotationstoanchoryourargumentinthetextis important,butgivingthesourceofeachinafootnoteisrepetitiveand distracting.Agoodpracticeistoprovideonefootnoteforeachbookyouare citing,givingtheeditorandtranslator,ifany,andthentoplacesubsequent citationsinthetext.Learnthecorrectformforfootnotesanduseit.Hereisan example.1Insubsequentcitations,youneedonlysupplyenoughinformationto allowthereadertofindthepassageyouareciting.Howmuchisnecessaryvaries withthecontext.StandardpageandlinenumbersofancienttextssuchasPlato's andAristotle'swereestablishedlongago,andareindicatedinthemarginsofthe editionsyouread.AreferencetoPlatomightread,forexample:(Plato,Republic 336a),orifthecontextisclear,simply:(336a).Moderntextsoftenaredivided intosmallnumberedsections,asin:(Locke,SecondTreatise,sec.58).Fortextsthat aredividedonlyintochapters,youshouldprovidechapterandpagenumbersin yourcitations,asin:(Hobbes,Leviathan,chap.11,p.59),butagain,ifthepaperis onlyontheLeviathan,(chap.11,p.59)issufficient.Citationsinthetextprecede thefinalperiodofthesentence,butcitationsgivenattheendofblockquotes comeafterthefinalperiod.Notealsothatinreferringtothetitleofawork,you mayincludeordroptheinitialthe,dependingonthecontext.TheRepublicand PlatosRepublicarebothacceptable,butPlatosTheRepublicshouldbeavoided. Itrequiressometimeandefforttolearntointegratequotationsintoyourwriting sothattheresultsflowsmoothly.Whenyouincludeashortquotationwithina sentenceofyourown,itmustfitgrammaticallywithinthatsentence.Ifpronouns withinthequotationrefertoanounyouarenotquoting,youmustmaketheir antecedentsclear.HereishowasecondorsubsequentreferencetoXenophons EducationofCyrusmightstand,withitscitation: XenophonsaidofCyrusthathewaswillinglyobeyedbymanywhoknewquite wellthattheywouldneverseehim(1.1.3). Quotationsoflongerthantwolinesofpoetryoraboutfourlinesofproseshould besetoffandindented.HereishowaquotationinapaperonPlatosApology mightstand: ForifIsaythatthisistodisobeythegodandthatbecauseofthisitis impossibletokeepquiet,youwillnotbepersuadedbyme,ontheground Plato,ApologyofSocrates,inFourTextsonSocrates,translatedwithnotesbyT.G. WestandG.S.West(Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversityPress,1984),37e38a,p.92.
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thatIambeingironic.Andontheotherhand,ifIsaythatthisevenhappens tobethegreatestgoodforahumanbeingtomakespeecheseveryday aboutvirtueandtheotherthingsaboutwhichyouhearmeconversingand examiningmyselfandothersandthattheunexaminedlifeisnotworth livingforahumanbeingyouwillbepersuadedbymestilllesswhenIsay thesethings.(37e38a) Notethatnoellipsispointsareneededbeforeorafteranyquotation:by definitionaquotationisanextractfromalongerwork.Ellipsispointsusedto markwordsyouhaveomittedwithinasentenceshouldbeprecededand followedbyspaces;theyarenotenclosedinparenthesesorbrackets.Thus,citing aportionofthepassageabove,youmightwrite:IfIsaythatthisistodisobey thegod...youwillnotbepersuaded(37e). Formoreinformationontheuseofquotations,seeTheChicagoManualofStyle. Proofreading Afteryouhavefinishedafirstdraft,printitandreaditaloud.Iseachthought andisthesequenceofthoughtsperfectlyclearandlogical?Areyourarguments wellanchoredinthetext?Doeseverysentencesayexactlywhatyoumean?Does everywordpullitsweight,orcanyoubemoreconcise?Haveyouusedany jargonorfuzzyabstractionswheremorefresh,vivid,orconcretetermsare possible?Haveyouusedanypassiveconstructionsthatyoucanchangetothe activevoice?Haveyoukeptoneverbtensewhereverpossible?(Itisusuallybest tousepresenttenseintheoreticalpapers,reservingthepasttenseforstatements ofhistoricalfact.)Isthereferentofeverypronounclearlyidentified,anddoesthe nounmatchthepronouninnumber?Haveyouavoidedcommasplices,runon sentences,danglingmodifiers,andsplitinfinitives?(Ifyoudontknowwhat theseerrorsare,youprobablyarecommittingthem.)Doyouknowandhaveyou followedtherulesforusingcommasandotherpunctuation?Finally,areyou absolutelysurethedocumentationandanyquotationsinthepaperarehandled correctly? RecommendedReferenceWorks Strunk,WilliamandE.B.White,TheElementsofStyle. Trimble,JohnWritingwithStyle. UniversityofChicagoPressStaff,TheChicagoManualofStyle.

________,AManualforWritersofResearchPapers,Theses,andDissertations.