Broadening the Conversation

In this unit, we begin to broaden our sense of the research about happiness by considering approaches from two different fields—philosophy and psychology—as well as the insights journalist Adam Sternbergh shares. Both Kesebir and Diener and Sternbergh cover similar territory in their essays. Yet the two essays also have, in some ways, a different focus. Sternbergh is reporting on a course that is designed in part to teach students “the practice of happiness” (4). Kesebir and Diener, in contrast, approach the topic through a very broad survey of the “issues philosophers and other great minds of history have raised regarding happiness,” alongside “the contributions of contemporary psychologists to the understanding of happiness” (117).

Kesebir and Diener’s essay ends with two “questions of great concern”: first, “whether happiness be the aim of formal education”; second, “whether the aim of national policymaking should be the happiness of citizens” (123). Your task in this paper is to focus on one of these questions and then to synthesize elements from both essays—both Sternbergh’s and Kesebir and Diener’s—in order to answer it. Both questions pose ways of taking happiness seriously and putting it at the center of some of our social goals—either education or governmental policy. Drawing from the two essays we have read, what might that look like? What would need to change? Is happiness a viable social goal?

Whichever question you decide to focus on, your purposes in this essay are to do the following:

• Analyze your chosen question in detail, considering multiple perspectives.
• Clearly distinguish your own ideas on the question from those in the source essays.
• Note: Do not use any outside sources other than the Sternbaugh and Kesibir and Diener essays.

Formatting and submission details:

Grading Criteria	Possible Points
Achieves the Purposes of the Assignment	30
Focuses on one of the two questions identified above and synthesizes elements from both Sternbergh’s and Kesebir and Diener’s essays in order to answer it.
Analyzes the focus question in detail, considering multiple perspectives.
Clearly distinguishes the writer’s own ideas from those in the source essays.
Works Well with Texts	20
Represents source text(s) accurately and fairly. Uses summary techniques from the UND Guide and They Say/I Say.
Includes direct quotation from source text(s) and uses conventions and techniques from the UND Guide and They Say/I Say (e.g., quotation sandwiches).
Integrates source text(s) smoothly into the writing.
Cites source text(s) appropriately.
Works Well with Your Own Ideas	20
Writer’s ideas, commentary, and examples are focused.
Writer’s ideas, commentary, and examples are well-developed.
Relationships between source text(s) and writer’s ideas are clear.
Provides Good Reader Guidance	20
The essay is well-framed by an introduction and conclusion.
The essay uses strategies to engage and orient the reader.
The essay follows a reasonable organizational structure.
The essay has clear transitions and connections among parts.
Uses Language Appropriately	10
Grammar, spelling, and usage are appropriate for college-level English.
Style and tone are appropriate for the assignment.
TOTAL	100