LIBERAL STUDY

For this response, you will write one well-developed paragraph.  Your first sentence needs to announce your one controlling idea for the entire paragraph; the sentences within the paragraph (probably at least seven or eight) need to prove that controlling idea; the last sentence needs to pull all you have said together effectively and answer the question “So what?”

· In his essay “Of Studies,” Francis Bacon says:  “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”

In one well-constructed paragraph, explain why one book (or essay or story, etc.) that you have read would fit under Bacon’s category of one to be “tasted” or “read only in parts.”  Your purpose is not  to summarize the work you write about;  instead, you should use as many specifics as you can to support your argument as to why or how this particular work adheres to these specified words by Francis Bacon. 

Since you are writing only a paragraph, do not waste any time. Your topic/opening  sentence for this one paragraph might be something like this: 

· . . . (A particularly work–book, story, essay, poem, etc.) that I have read holds significance in the area of  . . . .   

· OR. . . you might say something like this:   The ideas about . . . and . . . hold relevance in the work . . . . 

If you feel a bit rusty regarding your writing or have any questions, please contact me before you submit the assignment–and let’s review.  Be sure to spend some time with the “Academic Tips” handout, too.

Also, remember the importance of careful editing and proofreading.  You must write clean prose; grammar and mechanics are important!