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Instructions for Essay #1

Length: approx. 3-5 pages (approx. 500-1000 words)

Footnote/references: When referring to materials assigned as readings for the class, you may adopt an informal style. If you refer to other materials, use a standard formatting style, such as the MLA or APA styles found at the bottom of the Library Homepage. (http://www.indiana.edu/~libfind/)

Mode of Submission: Turn in a hardcopy of your essay on the day assigned. You are also encouraged to turn in an electronic version as an e-mail attachment. For directions about how to do attachments on either the IU Webmail system or Pine, click on the Knowledge Base link on the IU Homepage. (http://www.iub.edu/) Consultants in the clusters can also help you.

Picking a topic: You can select any issue that has arisen within our readings for the first couple of weeks that can be adequately treated within the space allotted you and with the resources that are easily available to you. We have read essays on the cloning debate, genetic screening, eugenics, different approaches to ethical theory, and the range of issues covered under the general phrase "research ethics".

Treatment of the topic: Very few of the questions that we discuss in this class have non-controversial, clear-cut answers. For this reason, I ask you to pick a topic such that you can present at least two competing views that can be defended with reasonable arguments. (That does not mean that you need to present the views as equally defensible. Often you will write a conclusion in favor of one over the other. But it does mean that you should make the strongest case possible for the position that you eventually reject.)

Many people feel strongly about some of the issues we deal with in this class. You do not need to present your personal views in your essay. If you like, you can tackle the essay assignment as if you were on a debating team where you don't know ahead of time which side you will have to argue. If you do present your own private views you will not be graded according to their content. What I am looking for is a clear analysis of the issue you have chosen to write about and a clear presentation of varying positions with respect to that issue.