What unique role do friends play in a persons ethical development according to Books VIII and
IX in Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics? How does this demonstrate that our flourishing is, to some
degree, dependent on others?
1. The essay must have an argument, meaning that it presents a line of reasoning in support of your main
claim. The main claim (your thesis) should be your answer to whatever question you are attempting
to answer in your essay.
2. The essay must be clear enough so that I can understand your argument. Things like consistently imprecise
terminology or significant problems with sentence organization and/or paragraph organization will
make it impossible for me to understand the steps in your argument, which is the thing that I am
interested in.
4. The essay should meet the page length and formatting specifications given for the assignment. In this course, each
essay should be 4-5 pages, 1.5 line-spaced. Your essay should also have a title, one that informs your
readers about what your essay is about.
5. The essay should include some direct quotation from the relevant texts. Your use of quotations should show
that you are working closely with the text as you think through your topic. For an essay of this
length, 5-10 direct quotations are an appropriate amount. Quotations should be no more than 4 lines
in length. Make sure to embed the quotations in your own text in an effective way. We will go over
this in class. Please make sure to include line numbers in parentheses for all quotes.