Overview
Montaigne
Set up: In “That to Philosophize Is to Learn to Die” Montaigne recommends confronting the inevitability, unpredictability, and omnipresence of death, making the case that we ought to prepare for death rather than avoid thinking about it or go about our lives not worrying about it. In “That Our Happiness Must Not Be Judged Until After Our Death,” Montaigne then points out the urgency of preparing for our last day (which could be, for all we know, any day), since that is the day that will determine how our whole life might be judged—and too much about the last day is already a matter of chance.
Task: For this essay, you must answer the question: What is Montaigne’s argument for how we should deal with death? To do this, you must first explain Montaigne’s general view about what death is (using your first paragraph for this), then explain how that view results in his specific recommendations for how to confront death (using your second paragraph for this).
Montaigne’s argument for how we should confront death begins on p. 13 at the top of the page (“What does it matter…” and ends on p. 15 (“…all its aspects.”). However, his understanding of death has to be collected from different remarks he makes throughout the essay. For help on that, use my ppt and video on the essay.
All of this must be done in your own words. “In your own words” means you should avoid simply repeating the philosopher, and also that you should avoid simply repeating the lectures. You should also not mimic my phrasings or writing either here or in the ppts (which is plagiarism, and I shall be able to tell).
Format: You must submit this as pdf or word doc only.
Structure: You must use the following structure.
Paragraph 1:
a)your first sentence = state the thesis you will be discussing.
a.A thesis must be specific, and not vague, yet clear and concise (no jargon).
b)your next two sentences = describe Montaigne’s general view about what death is and how he is arriving at this characterization of death.
c)the last sentence = conclude by explaining how Montaigne’s characterization of death makes confronting death problematic. What is the problem? In other words, using what you said in sentences 2 and 3, how does that set up a problem/question that Montaigne will answer by the thesis (described here in your sentence 1)
Paragraph 2:
d)your first sentence = You must transition into the argument for Montaigne’s thesis. Hint: this paragraph is going to require interpreting the “enemy” metaphor. (Once again, this is how good writing works).
e)your next two sentences = describe the support Montaigne uses to justify his thesis for how we should deal with death. Note: this should involve referring back to your description of Montaigne’s conception of death in your first paragraph.
f)the last sentence = conclude by explaining how Montaigne’s support is supposed to justify his recommendation for how we should deal with death. In other words, explain the reasoning that connects your prior 2 sentences in this paragraph back up to his thesis (which you should have stated in sentence 1 of your first paragraph).