Joe Lau's wiki: Courses/2013a CCH U9005cw 1

Short assignments

Assignment #1: Logic exercise

• Deadline: Wed 18 Sept 2013. Hand in at the end of the lecture on that day.
• First of all, complete this online survey. This is to collect your views and your answers will not be graded. But marks will be deducted if you don't participate.
• Next, read online tutorials A01-A06 before your first tutorial. Do the online exercises as well.
• For your assignment, on a single page of A4 paper, write down (a) your FULL name (underline your last name) and HKU student number, (b) a VALID argument with false premises and a true conclusion; (c) an INVALID argument with true premises and and true conclusion, and (d) a SOUND argument. All the premises should be about food.
• The arguments should be presented in the STANDARD format. They do not have to be long. It is good to be SIMPLE AND SHORT.
• DO NOT copy! Formulate your own arguments.
• You can either type out your answer or write it out clearly.

Assignment #2: Argument summary

• NEW DEADLINE: Tue 15 Oct 2013
• Write a summary about the arguments IN SUPPORT of eating meat. The point is to let your reader know about all the main arguments for eating meat. So you need to be comprehensive. Imagine you are writing for someone who does eat meat but wants to know all the reasons that have been given to justify that eating meat is not wrong. The arguments should include the ones we discussed in the lecture, and any other arguments you find on the web or in books, articles, or any other sources.
• There is no need for you to evaluate the arguments. You do not have to give your own opinion on any of the arguments. You can offer some comments if you think it improves the presentation, but that is not the main point of the exercise. You do not need to explain where these arguments come from. You do not need to give citation for the arguments. But you should formulate these arguments in your own words and not copy long passages directly.
• The discussion should be clear and systematic. It is of course impossible and undesirable to simply list all the different arguments. So you need to find some way to classify the arguments. You should let the reader know about the different reasons people have given for eating meat. In the lecture we have classified the arguments into different types. You should think about whether you want to follow that or use your own classification. The system in the lecture might or might not be the best for writing this summary. Perhaps it fails to include some arguments you have found. You need to think about this carefully.
• There is no need to present the arguments in the standard format. Do not write in point form. It should take the form of an essay.
• Around 1000 words (+/- 100). Typewritten. Submit an online copy through moodle. It will be scanned for plagiarism. Use font size 11 or 12. -20% for each day that is late. Include your name, your student ID, the name of your tutor, and you tutorial group in your essay. -5% if you fail to include such information.
• Check back later in case there are new guidelines.

Assignment #3: Analytical essay

• Deadline: Wed 20 Nov 2013
• Essay title: GM crops bring more benefits than harm. Discuss.
• Please note that the essay is about GM crops, not animals.
• You should include a list of references at the end. Citation should be in either the APA (American Psychological Association) or author-date format. The word limit DOES NOT include the title or list of references. Cite your sources in the right format and NO COPYING.
• AT LEAST 1500 words (up to 1700). Typewritten. Submit an online copy through moodle. It will be scanned for plagiarism. Use font size 11 or 12. -20% for each day that is late. Include your name, your student ID, the name of your tutor, and you tutorial group in your essay. -5% if you fail to include such information.
• Read these notes: http://philosophy.hku.hk/joelau/?n=Courses.WritingEssays
• No need to submit hardcopy.