W- PRECISE THESIS STATEMENT
– More clear explication of key ideas could bolster the analysis. Break down sentences into clear ideas.
Answer 1 of the 3 essay questions below.
Required length: 800-1000 words. You cannot go over the word limit. No exceptions.
1. Compare and contrast Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) and Latane and Darley’s views (2
1968 papers) of how the presence of others impacts human behaviour and decision-making.
Make sure to use the course materials (readings, videos, and lectures) to support your analysis.
2. In your view, how do scientific theories embody or incorporate some cultural and social
elements? In your answer, you must draw on materials from at least two topics in the second half
of the course – attachment, empathy, altruism, happiness, and resilience.
3. Compare and contrast the Harvard Grant Study with Deiner and Seligman’s research on “Very
Happy People” with respect to: 1) aim and method, and 2) research findings.
Number of paragraphs: Your essay should be about 6 to 8 paragraphs.
Paragraphs vary in length. However, for this assignment no paragraph should be shorter than 3
sentences or longer than 7 sentences.
Use paragraphs with topic sentences, precise language, clear phrasing, and good connections that
help the reader to follow your analysis.
Essay structure:
Your first paragraph should introduce your topic and state your main claim(s).
The following paragraphs should support your claim(s) by providing evidence for them.
Whenever possible, use good examples to illustrate your main points.
The final paragraph should be a conclusion, where you remind the reader what you have
accomplished in this essay and how you did that.
Content:
To write your essay answers, use the materials from our class – lectures, tutorials,
readings, and videos. You can consult other sources, but this is not required and not needed to
do well. Moreover, the specific ideas and evidence in your essay should come only from the
course materials and your analysis of those materials.
Citing materials:
Do not provide full references or a bibliography. However, you need to mention the
source of information you are using. You can do this easily in many ways. For example, you can
say: According to author so and so, . . . . ; So and so claimed . . . . ; Research
on . . . showed . . . (Milgram 1974).
Quotations:
If you are quoting directly from a source, then you need to put the quoted passage in
quotation marks and indicate the source. For example: Mamie Clark said “. . .” (Clark, quoted in
Rutherford, page x). For a video/film, you can say: Milgram video (for example). No need to cite
the minute of the quotation.
NOTE: You cannot ask your TA to review your test.
But you can ask your TA a question of clarification about the test in tutorials, during office
hours, or by email up until BUT NOT AFTER April 7th at noon.
FAQ: Can I write in the first person?
You need to use whichever person is appropriate.
When you are expressing your views, you should make this clear. To do so, you can say: I
believe, I think, In my view, In my opinion, etc. But you can also say: This essay shows, this
paper has argued, etc.
When you are summarizing or presenting what somebody else says, you should use the third
person. For example: According to Milgram, He claims, In Milgram’s view, etc.
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The most important point: as the writer you need to make clear to the reader whose view you are
discussing at all times.
So, don’t write something like “Obedience to authority is bad” without also indicating who holds
this view. You? Milgram? Somebody else?
Remember: it should always be clear whose view you are writing about and who is saying what.
