Darwin Essay

Unlike the Descartes/White in-class essay that required you to compare two texts based on your own close reading and thinking about them, the Darwin essay will be a research essay. You will need to choose a topic, find and examine scholarly (peer-reviewed) sources, and develop an argument about some aspect of Darwin’s work, his influence, and/or the development of evolutionary theory. For guidance on writing a research essay, consult the very helpful website: http://www.history.ubc.ca/table/writing-centre/

Plan to devote some time to your research. The quality of your sources will have an impact of the quality of your essay. A preliminary bibliography is due in your discussion groups on Nov. 5/6. It should include a minimum of four sources, at least one of which should be a book and one a peer-reviewed journal article. The essay itself is due in your discussion groups on Nov. 26/27. Late assignments will be penalized 5% of the total possible mark per day, up to a maximum of 30%.

Whatever topic you choose, your essay should maintain some connection to Darwin’s ideas. You may develop a topic in consultation with your instructor, or choose from the following list:

--“Darwin’s Delay”

--Wallace and Darwin

--Social Darwinism

--Evolutionary Theory Before Darwin

--The Story of the Peppered Moth

--Jemmy Button

--Darwin the Traveller

--Darwin and Animals (eg, finches, pigeons, barnacles, earthworms, or monkeys)

--Darwin and Family Life

--Darwin and Religion

Your essay should include a bibliography that may differ from the preliminary one you handed in on Nov. 5/6. The final bibliography should include sources you consulted, paraphrased and quoted from. Cite your sources using the Chicago/Turabian style. Information about this citation style can be found at: http://www.library.ubc.ca/chapmanlearningcommons/citation.html

Essay length: 2000 words or 6-7 double-spaced typed pages (300 words per page). Please include a word count for the body of the essay.

Assignment developed by R. Raglon (Jan. 2009) and adapted by C. Paterson (Oct. 2009)