reading response papers for class western legal tradition 1
Q:
“Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.â€
― Mahatma Gandhi
Is violent resistance against a perceived injustice ever justified?
Cite FIVE different authors from: Aristotle; Augustine; Aquinas; Salisbury; Magna Carta; Innocent III; Pope Gregory; Barbarossa; Martin Luther; James I; Coke; Paine; Roosevelt; MLK Jr; any from reader
Skills: Contextual analysis of historical events; Tracing origins of contemporary structures and ideas; Empathy;
Key Points to Remember!:
Requirements of the paper:
The Basic Structure
i. Introduction
Short and sweet! Outline your paper’s argument concisely but clearly. Do not write: “My thesis statement is…†Integrate it into your overall paragraph – “This paper argues that…â€. State how your paper will make this argument in a logical and clear manner. If I am under ANY doubt at all about what you will be arguing in your paper by the end of the introduction, then your introduction has failed its purpose.
ii. Main Body
This is your chance to demonstrate what you have read and the critical approach you have taken to the statements in it. There are two important points to remember here:
1. Cite accurately! Please use any recognized citation style of your choosing, but please stick to one style consistently throughout your work. Take a look at: http://www.library.american.edu/subject/citation.h… for further details on this.
2. Do not cite needlessly. Providing lots of quotations is not a way to impress me. I am impressed by strong argumentation which uses citation only to make a specific point. A good paper will have no room for unnecessary quotation and factual statements (e.g. dates). If you cannot explain how telling me Socrates was born in 469BC develops your argument, then it’s unnecessary. Write your papers for a professor of legal history – this is your audience.
3. The best papers will include outside readings beyond the primary sources. You are not required to use outside readings, but I have provided many on each topic in the ‘Readings’ folder on Blackboard. You must cite these accurately.
4. Use of Ibid – If you cite consecutively from the same source or reading, you may substitute the bibliographical data on all but the first cite with the term “Ibid†(Ibidem is Latin for “the same placeâ€. You still need a page number. This only works on consecutive citations – if anything comes in between, you need full data again.
iii. Conclusion
The conclusion is the (first and) last thing I will read of your paper, so MAKE IT COUNT! When writing the conclusion, take the opportunity to reiterate in highly abbreviated form, the key points, themes or arguments from the body of your essay that you believe best support the paper’s argument. Avoid introducing new arguments in the conclusion that you have not supported earlier with evidence; however, you can draw out fresh implications from previously introduced arguments. Expanding on the general significance of major ideas that your paper has discussed is often a good way of adding something extra to take away from your work.
How should I cite the reference or citation?
- The first page of the Class Reader explains how to cite from it.Below is an example of how you should cite from the Class Reader:
- For both in-text or footnote citations: Plato, Class Reader, pg. 38
- For your bibliography, give more detailed information about what your are citing from the Class Reader:
Plato. The Republic, Book 2. Class Reader.
Polybius. The Histories. Book 6, Parts 2-18, Parts 43-57.Class Reader.
Luther. 95 Theses.Class Reader.
c For sources not from the Class Reader, please cite them in accordance with your preferred citation style guide (such as APA, Chicago Style, etc).I have no preference as to citation style – just use one style consistently through each paper.
The readings you should use.( reading from class):
Augustine, The Two Cities
Tacticus, Germania, first section
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part, A, Question 2, Article 3
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 91, Articles 1-4
Thomas Aquinas, On Human Law
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 105
Thomas Aquinas, On Kingship to the King of Cyprus
Martin Luther King Jr, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers From Prison
Magna Carta
Innocent III, Annulling Magna Carta
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Third Inaugural Address
Edward Coke, The Second Part of the Institutes
James I of England, The True Law of Free Monarchies
Thomas Paine, Of Monarch and Hereditary Succession
John of Salisbury, Policratus, Book 4
Gregory VII, Dictatus Papae
Frederick Barbarossa, Manifesto
Concordat of Worms
Martin Luther, 95 Theses
Hugo Grotius, On the Laws of War and Peace, Book 3, Chapter 11
Immanuel Kant, Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose, Proposition 5-8
Immanuel Kant, Practical Reason, from Critique of Pure Reason
Immanuel Kant, The Philosophy of Law: An Exposition of the Fundamental Principles of Jurisprudence as the Science of Right