HUMN 303 Week 1 REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT: THE NATURE OF TRUTH

HUMN 303 Week 1 REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT: THE NATURE OF TRUTH

HUMN303 Introduction to the Humanities

Please read the excerpt from Plato’s The Republic called “The Allegory of the Cave” (the link is available in this week’s readings), as well as the section in your textbook on Greek philosophy (Chapter 2, pp. 64–67 “Philosophy and the Polis” through “Plato’s Republic and Idealism”). Using what you’ve learned in these excerpts as well as in this week’s lesson about philosophy, please use the questions in the Reflection Assignment Sheet to help you decide what you think Plato was arguing about independent thought and how we can trust what we know to be truth.

This two-page essay should be submitted in APA format, avoid plagiarism, and offer some insight into what you’ve learned! Please refer to the Week 1 Reflection Assignment Sheet (Links to an external site.) to answer the prewriting questions and then to compose your essay.

Video: Here is a resource to help you start delving into Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” (Book VII of The Republic):

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

Week 1 Reflection Assignment: The Search for Truth

Please answer these prewriting questions in complete sentences (the more you write, the better your ideas will be for the essay portion!):

Why do the prisoners in the cave mistake appearance for reality?

Why is it so painful for the freed prisoner to venture first past the fire and then out into the sunlight? Is the pain worth it? Why?

Why might some prisoners, having been exposed to the outside world, choose to return to their shackled lives in the cave?

Why might the remaining prisoners kill the prisoner who returns to free them?

Take your answers to these questions and apply them to life and truth today. Are there any metaphorical “prisoners” in modern life?

The Assignment: Now that you have a deeper understanding of the text, please write a two-page essay on the topic How Can We Trust What We Think We Know? Use examples from the “Allegory of the Cave” to support your answer. Please write your essay below and submit your answers to the prewriting questions as well as the essay in one Word document to Canvas.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.

Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.

One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.

I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.

In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.

Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).

Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).

Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.

I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.

As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.

It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

Lopes Write Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.