The period from 1789 to 1918 witnessed a major debate over the role of
government in society – a debate you know as the ‘Social Question.’ Using three texts
from this class (for example, Siéyès, Mill, Tristan, Nightingale, etc.) argue why you think
the Social Question became such a central concern for European thinkers during this
period.
Write an original paper that answers one of the two prompts below. Instead of writing the paper as an organic
whole, however, we want you to break it into its component ‘building blocks’: summary, analysis, and argument.
Your paper should include the following sections, with subheadings, in this order:
Summary: Introduce your readers to the theme of your paper and in no more than three sentences per text,
explain each author’s most relevant ideas in your own words.
Analysis: Contextualize the texts and explain how they relate to one another. Why is each author writing, and to
whom? Where do the authors share similar themes, biases, or claims, and where do they differ? Why are
these similarities and/or differences important?
Argument: Make a claim in the form of a two-part thesis that answers one of the prompts below. Then narrate
how you would make a case for that claim if you were writing a traditional essay:
What evidence you would draw from the texts to support your claim?
How will you use your analysis to demonstrate that your thesis is valid?
Do not structure these arguments as in a traditional essay; rather, talk us through how you would build your
argument, as if you were explaining it to Dr Peterson before you sat down to write it. What moves will you
make to build an argument, and why?
Clarification: In essence, the first two sections repeat what you did on the first and second papers; the
difference here is that you need to be much more selective in summarizing and analyzing the texts in ways that
address the prompt. The third section is new: it’s aimed at helping you think about how you might fit the first
two sections into a traditionally-structured paper.
Purpose: In this assignment, you will learn to write the ‘building blocks’ for an argumentative essay or
persuasive paper. In order to make an effective argument, you have to understand the works you are
engaging, put them in dialogue, and use them strategically as evidence to support your own assertions. You
will do each step separately, so that you can get a sense of what each ‘building block’ looks like before you put
them all together for the next paper.
Sample Solution