I want you to study happiness in order to optimize your chances of recognizing happiness when it strikes.
You have a great deal that's important to say. I want you to find your voice and say it. SAY IT!
Tell me, what supplementary information can you bring to the issue of happiness? Is it all what you have heard, or do you have some thoughts and feelings and ideas of your own? Are you just a copy cat, or do you have something to say for yourself? Who has influenced you? What do they have to say? What have you read? What have you heard? What have you seen?
Take the time to link to THE RESEARCH PAPER Read, study, take notes, learn.
I want you to write a research paper so you are familiar with the style when presented with the requirement in other classes. There is only one way to learn to write a good paper, and that is to study how to do it. You can do it if you familiarize yourself with what is in your Reference Guide, pages pages 374 - 419. "Familiarizing yourself" is not the same as memorizing. I don't want you to memorize these pages. I want you to know where to turn when you have a question. First, define the question, then look up the answer. What is required is staying on task and focus.
TOPIC = The great order
is this: Be Happy!
- Wow! How liberating. We are free to pursue our dreams, happiness, but we'd better not confuse happiness with that mall across the road. There are a lot of "happiness swindles" out there.
- What is happiness?
- What are you going to do to be happy in your life?
- How is happiness achieved?
- How are you going to maximize your happiness?
- How will you know when you have it?
- Who are the Gurus of Happiness? What do they have to say about this?
- Is achieving happiness a problem, or a natural state?
- Do people have an obligation to be happy?
- Or, perhaps the idea of happiness is another form of psychological idolatry, as Epectitus and Schopenhauer suggest? As Bishop Fenelon said in the 1600's, "There is no more dangerous illusion than the fancies by which we try to avoid illusion."
- Does happiness really exist?
- Tell me about a time when you were happy.
- What do the Buddhists, Taoists and Stoics have to say about happiness?
- What does the Bible say?
- How about Christ? What was his instruction?
- Is there anything in "The Literature of Hope" that gives you any insight?
- Are you free to influence your happiness? Or is it all just a matter of luck, or genes, or choosing the right parents?
- What is the opposite of happiness? Anger? Resentment?
- Is happiness the same as pleasure?
- Can a poor person be happy? Can a rich person?
- Does happiness depend on achieving certain goals and objectives. What are your goals and objectives
Most of us would say that we want to be happy, yet what do we mean by this statement? Is happiness just something that comes to us, or are there things we can do to optimize its realization?
ADDENDUM: Some of you may want to expand the topic of happiness. Here's my suggestion, "What do you believe?" In other words, "What is your philosophy?" Do you have a philosophy that guides how you are living your life, how you are going to live your life? "What are your virtues, values and gifts?"
The assignment is due the beginning of class Tuesday, November 22. It must be very formal, include a cover page, and follow the MLA format. All of your notes, drafts, pre-writes, webpages, printouts and etc. should be stapled together and put in your portfolios for future reference.
Writing Tips:
- The assignment is to be 1,500 2,500 words, word processed, MLA format.
- Read it aloud to yourself and to others ten times before turning it in.
- Take it to the Writing Center and ask them for editing help.
- Ask a parent or friend to read it with a pen in his/her hand to make corrections.
- Ask me for extra help, especially with your opening and conclusion.
- Define your thesis. What position are you going to take?
- What are you going to read?
- Who are you going to quote?
- What is your conclusion?
- Use your dictionary to look up words.
- Use your thesaurus to expand your vocabulary.
- Write down your questions. Hand them to me.
- Quote a minimum of five different authorities and reference them correctly in "Works Cited" at the end of your paper.
- Include a minimum of seven quotes.
- Create a cover page. Put your notes in your portfolio. Staple your paper in the upper left-hand corner.
- Be sharp.
THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO TYPES OF RESEARCH PAPERS:
The first is written from the first person "I" perspective: What is happiness? How am I going to get it? Is happiness the same for me as it is for you? These are the major questions I am going to explore in this paper.
The second is less personal and written from the second and third person perspective: What is happiness? How can it be achieved? Is happiness the same for all people? These are the major questions this paper is going to explore.
I prefer that you write from the first person, telling me what you think, not just what others think.
Begin you paper in a manner something like this:
What is happiness? How am I going to get it? Is happiness the same for me as it is for you? These are the major questions I am going to explore in this paper.
When exploring an age-old subject like this, the first thing to do is agree on some terms. When I use the word "happiness," what in the world am I talking about? Perhaps if we turn to some of the "happiness experts" we can gain some insight into what they mean when they use this word. So, let's begin by typing the word "happiness" into a search engine and see what we find. Wow, 37 million references. I want to take a look at some of the top references, but perhaps it would be simpler to begin by seeing what the dictionary has to say. I wonder what some of the common synonyms are?
According to the Dictionary, happiness is, "..."
Do you agree? Disagree?
Tell me about your own experience(s) with happiness.
What do others have to say?
THE MLA FORMAT
The Modern Language Association (MLA) format is the one commonly used at MxCC and must be used on this formal research paper. If other professors want a different format please refer to your Reference Guide.
As is true with so many skills, the MLA format can be learned, but it must be learned by you. How do you learn it?
Your Research Paper must quote a minimum of five different authorities. Each time you quote an authority ask yourself a few questions. All of this is well outlined on the first two pages of the MLA tab in your Reference Guide. First find the quote you want to use and then figure out how to cite it.
ENOUGH. The great order is this: Be Happy. Now, write 1,500 words. That is about five double-spaced pages.