Paleontology News and Dinosaur Epistemology Research Format Paper length: Minimum 1500 words; maximum 2000 words
Text style: Times New Roman size 12 font, double-spaced; 0.5-inch margins
Only printed copies will be accepted
Paleontology News and Dinosaur Epistemology Research Instructions
Go to the New York Times pages for Paleontology news and browse the articles found there. Select one article, written in the last five years (byline no
earlier than 2018), about dinosaur research. Do not select an article about anything other than dinosaurs and do not select an article about research that we
discussed in class (i.e., the coloration of dinosaur feathers or the end-Cretaceous extinction event).
Read the article and look for a claim made about a belief we now know or a belief we have learned about dinosaurs. This is an epistemological claim. Your
the goal in this paper is to defend this epistemological claim.
Use additional resources, both from our class and from outside our class, to develop an argument that demonstrates why scientists can validly claim to know, understand, or have learned about the belief given in your chosen article.
Paleontology News and Dinosaur Epistemology Research Paper Components
Your paper should include the following components:
Introduction (2 points): briefly describe the discovery made or the research done. Use additional resources if you must.
Thesis argument (8 points): describe the evidence for the belief that paleontologists claim to have learned. Explain how that evidence supports the belief
and why the evidence is enough to say that the belief is strong enough to qualify as knowledge.
Objections (5 points): explain why someone might deny that the belief in question is now known. Give reasons to doubt that the evidence cited actually
supports the stated belief.
Replies (5 points): respond to the objections given in the previous section. Explain why the doubts have given there may be unreasonable. Describe how the issues raised in the rest of your paper may have an effect on other beliefs you hold, and why this connection justifies your claim that the belief given in the article is now known. Do not simply rephrase or restate your thesis argument.
Complete the first draft by December 09 (10 points). We will have a peer review writing workshop in class that day. Use the comments that you receive in the
workshop to revise your essay for the final draft.
