Readings: Thomas Jefferson: The Declaration of Independence

From the State of Nature to Civil and Political Society:

Compose a brief essay of at least 400 words but no more than 600 words (not including your references list) in which you answer the following question, referring to and critiquing relevant ideas from at least three of the Week 2 readings as you develop your thoughts: What are the main challenges to achieving justice in American society today and how does American republican government allow the country to address those challenges better than either the Platonic and/or Aristotelian forms of government would?

Be sure to bring in relevant ideas from the essays that correspond to those and to offer your critical thinking opinion of the ideas you synthesize.

Write an essay form (that is, in paragraphs, not in bullet points). Be as specific and precise as possible.

Write in Arial font, size 14 Reference specific ideas from at least the two readings that illustrate these values. Always name the author whose ideas you are discussing (use the author's full name the first time you refer to him/her; after that, identify authors by their last names).

Provide in-text citations for all ideas, opinions, and facts derived from the course readings, whether you simply refer to them, paraphrase them (put them entirely into your own words), or quote them. Place the in-text citation at the end of your sentence but before the period that ends your sentence. The in-text citation should give the author's last name (unless you've used it already in your sentence), the year of publication (if known), and the appropriate page number(s) from the reading (if page numbers are used in the online text of the essay). Do not use the title of the reading unless it does not have an author).

Here's an example of a citation for the Thomas Paine reading for Week 1: (Paine, 1776).

Here's an example of a citation for the John Locke reading for Week 2: (Locke, 1689, pp. 46-47).

Provide a References list at the end of your essay that includes bibliographic references for every reading cited in your essay.

Note: Your references list does not count toward your minimum word count.

Center the word References (do not underline it, place it in quotation marks, or place it in bold or larger size font).

Present your references, listed alphabetically by author's last name.

Doubled space Arial Font, size 14

John Locke: Two Treatises of Government (the selections here are from The Second Treatise on Government, 1689): pp. 7-20 (through sec. 33); p. 38 (sec. 77); 40-42 (sec. 86-90); pp. 44-47 (sec. 94-99); pp. 58-60 (sec. 123-131); pp. 66-67 (sec. 142); p. 72 (sec. 155)