Go as a Metaphor

For this paper, explain one way how Go acts as a metaphor for life. The more specific you can be, the better. You can discuss how a specific aspect, strategy or idea in Go recurs in life, or you might explain how Go provides guidance for how to succeed in some specific (but common) real-life situation. You may assume the audience consists of avid Go players, so you use terminology from the game freely without defining it.

For example, you might discuss how the concept of ko applies in different real-life situations, or you might discuss how lessons from Go apply to contract negotations. If you can be specific about both Go and the aspect of life you address, that would be all the better. (You show how ko applies to contract negotiations.) It is unsatisfactory to be general about both sides of the metaphor (e.g., by comparing Go to a teenager's life.)

Although you should formulate your paper around a single, interesting, focused thesis, it's perfectly acceptable to have the thesis be inferred by the reader rather than stated explicitly. There is a danger, however, in that the thesis should still be clear to the reader after one reading. This would therefore only be appropriate if you can use your creative writing skills to effecively show the reader the metaphor without telling the reader. You may also choose to write a clear, argumentative paper, in which case you should definitely state your thesis.

Although most papers will be about 900-1500 words (3-5 pages), a shorter but very creative paper, even a poem or song, is welcome. Although I won't give separate guidelines for such a creative work, those guidelines below which are appropriate will still apply. If you are concerned about how your idea will be assessed, feel free to discuss it with me outside of class.

For this particular paper, I will use the following grading guidelines. (Large portions are taken nearly verbatim from Lewis Hyde.)

The F paper is rare. This grade is usually reserved for cases of plagiarism and excessive lateness. However, exceptional failure to comply with the terms of an assignment may also result in an F.
The D paper, in some significant way, doesn't answer the question that was asked. A D paper which does answer the question is filled with mechanical faults (errors in grammar and/or spelling). Paragraphs do not hold together; ideas do not develop from sentence to sentence. This paper usually repeats the same thoughts over and over, perhaps in slightly different language but often in the same words. It is usually rambling and directionless.
The C paper offers too broad a metaphor, or it fails to effectively support the metaphor proposed. Sometimes a C paper has a good deal of evidence, but it is not part of a coherent argument and the reader can only make sense of it with great difficulty (if at all); thus, the evidence is ineffective.
The B paper makes sense throughout. It poses an appropriate metaphor and succeeds in convincing the reader of its validity. The paper has enough flow so that the reader always knows where the paper is going and what the author wants to say.
The paper is well organized and although some sentences may not be elegant, the ideas in them flow well and thought naturally follows on thought. The paragraphs may be unwieldy now and then, but they are organized around one main idea. The reader does not have to read a paragraph two or three times to figure out what the writer is trying to convey.
The B paper is, for the most part, mechanically correct. There will be occasional spelling and grammar errors, but these are few in number and do not prevent the reader from following the ideas in the paper.
The A paper is very rare. It has all the qualities of a B paper, but in addition it is lively, well paced, interesting, even exciting. The paper has style. Reading this paper, the reader feels a mind at work. The sure mark of an A paper is that the reader continues to think about it after reading it, even wanting to tell others about it.
This paper may have a proofreading error or two, even occasional misspelled words or a minor error in grammar, but these errors are the consequence of the normal accidents all good writers encounter.