FINAL ESSAY ASSIGNMENT:  Fall 2010
PolS 13181:  Ten Images of Hell in the 20th Century

 

"Hell: Who needs it?"

South Bend is not always as exciting as Professor McAdams' other favorite cities:  Berlin, Berkeley, and Pyongyang.   To spice things up, he invites you and two other deep thinkers—Jerry Walls and Bishop John Henry Spong—to have dinner with him in the Nanovic Institute lounge.  Right off the spot, he gets the fireworks that he wants.

Walls and Spong get into a heated argument about whether we human beings need a concept of Hell.  Right off the bat, Spong dismisses the concept as nothing more than a cynical instrument of control.  "I don't believe in hell," he argues. "Religion is in the control business, and the church doesn't like for people to grow up.  People need to accept their responsibility for themselves and the world."  Walls immediately reacts with indignation, insisting that belief in Hell is essential to human well-being.  "In its nature," he contends, "Hell is the intrinsic consequence of pursuing the wrong means to happiness. It is the natural outcome of not considering carefully who we are and profoundly pursuing what will truly satisfy us."

At this point, McAdams turns to you:  “You’ve been kind of quiet up to now,” he says.  “Which of these profound thinkers is right?”

It sounds like McAdams wants you to make an unequivocal choice and then justify it.  Please write a rigorously coherent essay of no more than 4-5 typed, double-spaced pages in which you respond to his question.  As always, this assignment will challenge you to do something more than just express your opinion.  You will need to make sure that McAdams understands what all the furor is about. What is the position of each speaker?  Why is one right and the other wrong?

This question is an exercise in the art of persuasion.  By the end of the dinner, you want McAdams to say that he agrees with your judgment on the topic.

I strongly urge you to begin writing this essay immediately.  If you write a rough draft now, you will find it much easier to go back in a few days and reflect upon your answer.  Then, write more, reread, and then write some more.

Allow me to say for one final time, I do not expect your paper to be perfect.  However, you should still write the best paper you have ever written in your life.

According to the formal exam schedule, your paper will be due at the Nanovic Institute, 211 Brownson, by 10:30 am, Friday, December 17.  Because this is the last day of exam week and you are likely to have other priorities, please feel free to turn in your paper early.

If you would like me to return your paper to you with comments, please remember to provide me with a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Write like a Champion today!

AJM