Guidelines for Answering the PS118 Homework Questions

On several of the dates for this unit, your assignment is to answer one of the questions posed by the Reconstruction Committee questions:

1. What purpose should the state serve?
2. Should states be organized to maximize their own power or organized to restrain this power?

Write your answer as though you are the philosopher. (You may use “I.”)Your answer should be a well-developed, typed paragraph, around 200 words in length. Each paragraph should have the following elements:
– A topic (1st) sentence that answers the question directly.
– Sentences that summarize the philosopher’s relevant ideas.
– Relevant quotations from the philosopher’s “Thomas Hobbes” book.
– Sentences that explain what the quotations mean and how the philosopher’s ideas support the claim made in your first sentence.

Following is a sample “template” that you could use to get started:

In The Leviathan, I argue that the state should serve the purpose of [COMPLETE THE SENTENCE].

The state needs to do this because as I write, “[QUOTE SOMETHING RELEVANT FROM HOBBES HERE]” (Chapter __).

In other words, [EXPLAIN THE QUOTATION IN YOUR OWN WORDS].

Moreover, one can see that “[QUOTE SOMETHING RELEVANT FROM HOBBES HERE]” (Chapter __).

If I am correct, then surely [EXPLAIN THE LOGICAL CONSEQUENCES IN TERMS OF THE PURPOSE OF THE STATE].
For the full project assignment, you will need to apply your answer from the paragraph above to the post-apocalyptic conditions. Begin a separate paragraph for this application, with the following elements:
– A topic sentence that makes a claim about how your answer above applies to the post-apocalyptic world.
– Some imagined details about this world that “fit” with your theory.
– A clear explanation of how those details fit your theory.
– A short quotation or two that will help you make your argument.

For further help, please study the samples of student writing posted in the VSpace Unit One folder.