You are chatting with your sister and the topic of miracles come up. She says:
I am confused about miracle stories. I believe that God can do anything, so I guess I believe in them, though I am not sure how they can go with science? In any case, I do not see what the point of miracle stories is. They will never happen to me, why should I care? And if miracles could happen to me, then why should I work to get things done, like studying for my exams? I do not see the point of these stories.
You say: Well, I am taking a course on miracle stories I could explain it to you but it would take some time.
S: Really? I am ready to listen. Take your time.
Y: Listening requires some critical thinking, too. Id have to talk about nature, science and even free will. I will use ideas from some thinkers and theologians, including Muslim sources because the course was focused on Islam.
S: Sure. I am still interested!
Y: All right, then. I will show you how miracle stories can be relevant to us in this day and age…
Using only class materials, –*no* outside research allowed– offer a thoughtful essay of how you would explain the significance of miracle stories to your sister. Make a rich use of class discussions and readings, especially on the ones after the midterm. Illustrate how you understand and connect variety of relevant ideas and concepts. Keep in mind you are addressing someone who is not taking the class. Be as accessible as possible and feel free to be creative. The paper should be around five pages (double spaced in regular Times font 12 size, or some other font that yields 23-24 lines per page, not 17-18). Express ideas fully in your own words (keep quotations to bare minimum or, better, skip them.) Give references in brackets (e.g. textbook p. # ; Nursi, CP 100). See below for general guidelines on writing the paper.
HOW TO WRITE YOUR PAPER
Make sure you carefully completed all your readings so far and went over class notes.
Read your essay question carefully. What is it asking you to do? What kind of questions and concepts do you need to address so as to respond to the essay question adequately?
Do brainstorming. Once you clarified your target questions for the essay, you will start remembering that these questions have been answered in the readings by different authors and during class lectures. Just note down the answers as you remember, regardless of the order, and regardless of whether you remember which author provided which information.
Now go back to the readings and your class notes, refresh your memory, find the relevant pages you need, and read over. Enrich your brainstorming list (from step 3). This time start identifying which idea is from which author.
Group the ideas in your brainstorm list, and make an outline. Tell yourself the order in which you will tackle these questions. In other words, how will the flow of your essay be? Which points will you make first to lead onto next ones?
Form a thesis statement that will be placed at the end of your introduction paragraph.
Write your draft.
The essay isnt meant to be mystery writing where answers are revealed at the end. Rather, be upfront. Make sure you have a good introduction where you clearly indicate what is the aim of your essay, and how you will accomplish it. Announce your thesis statement toward the end of your introduction paragraph. For instance, In this essay, I would like to do X, by showing A, B, C and D.
The following paragraphs should flow in accordance with your thesis statement. Show me how well you comprehended the readings and discussions in relation to your essay question. I need to see your comprehension and analysis skills at work. Write coherently, clearly and with reference to the readings. Make sure each paragraph is a coherent unit in itself and is coherently linked with other paragraphs.
Make sure you have a brief conclusion paragraph, where you briefly summarize and finalize what you have discussed in the essay.
Always refer to your sources from the readings by noting the author and the page number in parentheses.
Do not use direct quotes from your sources unless you think direct quote would be much more powerful than paraphrasing the author. In a good paper, direct quotations will be kept to minimum.
Check your essay for grammatical errors and incomplete sentences! For the final revision, read the whole paper out loud, and ask yourself: did I answer the essay question well? Reading out loud will help you spot any inconsistencies in your argument and awkward wordings.
If possible, take advantage of The Writing Center to help you further improve your writing.
HOW YOUR PAPERS WILL BE GRADED
Each response essay is worth 120 points. The following is only a rough guideline. The professor reserves the right to make subjective judgments based on any criteria noted here. If an essay is exceedingly weak in some area, then the overall grade will be significantly lower even if it meets the other criteria of a given range.
A & A- range:
Essay indicates a sophisticated and insightful understanding of the materials and reflects careful reading of the texts. Essay is well supported from the readings, and reflects very good comprehension and synthesis of the reading material and lectures. Moreover, it offers excellentanalysis of the questions implied in the essay question.
Essay is well organized, has a clear thesis statement, which is unpacked and adequately explained in the following paragraphs.
Essay is written with a clear perspective. That is, it is written with the awareness of the audience in the essay question and accordingly offers information cogently.
The references to the sources are well noted. Direct quotation is used sparingly, but there is frequent reference to specific relevant passages.
Essay contains very few grammatical errors.
B+ & B- points range:
Essay indicates clear and accurate understanding of the materials and reflects careful reading of the texts. Essay is well supported from the readings, and thus reflects good comprehension and synthesis of the reading material and lectures. Moreover, it offers solid analysis of the questions implied in the essay question.
Essay is well organized, has a clear thesis statement, which is unpacked and adequately explained in the following paragraphs.
Essay is written with clear perspective, it is written with the awareness of the audience in the essay question and accordingly offers information cogently and clearly.
The references to the sources are well noted. Direct quotation is used sparingly, but there is frequent reference to specific relevant passages.
Essay contains very few grammatical errors.
C+-C-
Essay indicates fair understanding of the materials and an attempt at comprehending the material. Essay is fairly supported from the readings. Moreover, it offers some analysis of the questions implied in the essay question. Essay needs more analysis and synthesis.
Essay is fairly well organized, has a clear thesis statement, and attempt is made to cover all the aspects of the thesis statement in the following paragraphs.
Essay is written with some awareness of the audience in the essay question in mind, with occasional confusion.
The references to the sources are well noted but there are too many direct quotations.
Essay contains some grammatical errors.
D & D-
Essay indicates poor understanding of the materials and an attempt at comprehending the material. Essay is not well supported from the readings. Though there are some references to the sources, many have been overlooked. Moreover, it reflects careless reading and analysis.
Essay needs to be better organized, with a clear thesis statement.
There needs to be an awareness of the audience and how to use different information cogently.
The references to the sources are properly documented, but not enough reference to texts.
Essay needs considerable revision of grammatical errors.
F
Essay indicates very poor understanding of the materials or complete lack of it. Essay is not well supported from the readings, most likely result of not completing the readings.
There is little sense of perspective in the writing. Essay is poorly written, lacks coherence, and organization.
The references to the sources are not properly documented, and there is at least one incident of plagiarism (which will qualify the paper for 0 points).
Essay needs considerable revision of grammatical errors.
————————————–
I will include photos of relevant class materials and some key points
Abrahams son is a miracle and him being saved
if you just put the page number for in-text citations I can put in the author afterward
