As was the case the last time, you will be persuading me and your classmates whether or how evolution theory is compatible with religion.  This is still a very complex issue, and you will need to address both--or all--sides of it as objectively and fairly as you can.  You may want to briefly and accurately summarize the scientific theory and talk about its purposes and limitations; likewise, you may want to address religion or religious texts, specifically, and explain those entities' purposes and limitations.  Be careful here that you don't assume that all religions hold the same beliefs as Christian religions, and likewise, don't assume that all Christian religions have the same beliefs on these issues.

Once you have both sides of the issue covered,  you may begin talking about whether and why those ideas, purposes, and limitations are mutually exclusive or whether and how they may co-exist, either institutionally or within an individual's construction of reality. As before, you may address current events, as they relate to the topic. You may also talk about the nature and techniques of reading literature, as well.  However, as with the last paper, you should not seek to support or debunk the Theory of Evolution in this paper, although you are free to point out its limitations or contexts. 

As part of your addressing of popular culture's role, I want you to quote from poetry or music and from prose, like film or fiction, in this paper. Specifically, I'd like to see a long and short poetical quotation somewhere in your paper, an exchange of dialogue between characters from a drama or film, as well as a single line of dialogue from film or drama, and a short and long quotation from a prose source--all integrated correctly following the rules of MLA and standard English grammar. As before, there is a degree of research involved here, and the integrity of your source material will be important. In the larger community of ideas, you want to write using a reasonable voice and present a persuasive--and logically supportable--conclusion.  Because this is a formal academic paper, your sources must be of high academic calibre; the preferred type of source is material from a refereed academic journal, like the kinds you can obtain through a ProQuest or a WilsonSelectPlus/FirstSearch search through our library. Sources, of course, need to be cited within and at the end of your paper.  The minimum number of sources required for this paper is five (5). 

The purpose of this assignment is two-fold: it should inform your classmates and me of how we can make sense of the current cultural debate on the topic, as well as clarifying the debate for us. 

We will peer review these papers in class, but you may also have your essay read by a reader in the Writing Center on campus, but if you do so, make sure you bring in a copy of this assignment sheet with your draft and remember that the readers in the Center may require a 48-hour turn around time, so plan ahead.  Having your paper at the Writing Center is not a valid excuse for attempting to turn it in late.  

Format: This essay should be double-spaced, laser-printed, carefully edited and proofread, and stapled before you turn it in. You should have a heading with your name, my name, the course title and section number, and date on it. You must give the paper number and title a line of its own, and your last name and the page number should appear at the top right of each page, after your first page. This paper should be five-seven pages in length with one-inch margins, not including the Works Cited page.

An activity to help you on this paper is the Website Evaluation Activity.

You might also complete the Quoting Sources Help Sheet.

Your rough draft is due at the beginning of class for optional peer review on ______________ .