PAPER 1 GUIDELINES: RESPONDING TO DAVID CHRISTIAN’S MAPS OF TIME

TASK/OBJECTIVE: The goal here is to compose a longish (8-10 pages) argumentative research paper that responds to Christian’s text. What exactly should you write about; what exactly should you argue in response to Christian’s work? Well, this depends on you, obviously. But, one useful guideline would be to follow what a hundred-plus years of psychoanalysis has taught us: “one learns where one loves.”1 So, in other words, we might want to ask ourselves questions like the following (these are by no means exhaustive—nor do you really have to pose these questions in particular):
1. What did you really love about this book? What did you love learning about that you didn’t know before—or that Christian’s text deepened your understanding of, perhaps?
2. What have you found to be fascinating or thought-provoking about Christian’s book?
3. Are there problems you have with the text?
a. What kinds of problems are they?
i. Theological?
ii. Philosophical?
iii. Ethical?
iv. Political?
v. Historical?
vi. Psychological?
vii. Literary?
4. Do you have questions you would have liked Christian to have dealt with?
5. Can you relate anything from Christian’s book to your own major? to your “dream career” once you get out of school? to your current classes or to classes you’ve already taken?
6. Is Christian’s book a big book of solutions for problems you see around you—in your local community, in your neighborhood, your town, your school, your place of work?
7. How useful is it—really—at the end of the day to know about all the history of the universe prior to the rise of humanity and of written records?