Guidelines:These guidelines should be considered a strong suggestion, not a necessity. The easiest way to make sure you cover all the things you need would be to follow these guidelines… BUT you may feel free to structure your paper however you like, as long as you make sure there is SOME KIND of structure to it. That is, have a thesis, break the paper into paragraphs that flow into each other and provide support for the thesis, distinguish between what the text says and your analysis of it, etc. Opening paragraph: 4-7 sentences stating what the topic you are discussing is, why it is important, what position you will be taking on that topic, and what your primary reasons are. 1-2 pages describing and explaining what the issue is as clearly as possible. For example, if you are discussing Heidegger’s distinction between “wishing to know” and “willing to know”, you will want to explain the distinction by strict reference to the text. What, as far as you can tell, does Heidegger mean by this distinction? What other parts of the text illuminate his idea? What information is crucial to understanding the idea? What are some of the implications of the idea? Are there necessary consequences of accepting the idea? 1-2 pages where you present a critical analysis and present your position on the topic. Again, if you are writing on Heidegger’s distinction, how useful is the distinction? How appropriate do you think it is? In what ways is it unclear? Are there multiple ways of interpreting it? Does this make the main idea weaker or stronger? Does it make demands on your perspective of things? In other words, does it tend to make you change your mind about anything, or does it do more to reinforce ideas that you already had?