In the first essay, given what you learned in this course, please share your perspective on the fate of friendship and how you believe contemporary ethics will impact it. Be sure to refer to the five following components, summarizing what you learned about the influences of these factors:

• Online social media
• Different abilities, disabilities
• Class
• Diversity
• Race
• Gender
• Sexual Preferences
• Work environment
• Spirituality
• Politics

Politics

For the second essay, discuss how the five following philosophers can be utilized to discuss issues of friendship. The emphasis here is on discussing the specific philosophies of three of the:

• Cicero
• Aristotle
• Augustine
• Aquinas
• Socrates

For each essay, please cite at least one or more credible sources, such as the textbook, a newspaper, journal article, or book.  Wikipedia, websites, or any similar online reference sites where the content may be authored by anyone are not considered credible sources for scholarly writing.

To assist you in your research, the library has the following tutorials and links for you to use:

1. Getting Started with Your Research
2. Frequently Asked Questions
3. Research Databases

Each essay should be 300–500 words in length, single spaced, and in APA format. Submit your essay in a Microsoft Word or Open Office document (freeware found on the website, Open Office) and place it in the appropriate assignment dropbox.

Be sure to proofread your essay for spelling and grammar before submitting it. Smarthinking is available to assist you with your writing. To access Smarthinking from your course website, click on the link on the course sidebar for Free Tutoring.

Evaluation Criteria

Keep the following points in mind:

• The essay should be well organized and logically structured.
• The hypothesis should be clearly stated and arguments should be  presented logically to support the hypothesis.
• The essay should integrate key concepts from the readings.

Part 2 of the Final Exam will be graded using the SLA Multi Essay Assignment Rubric [226.6 KB PDF File].

Compose your work using a word processor (or other software as appropriate) and save it frequently to your computer. Be sure to check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors before you upload it. When you are ready to submit your work, click “Browse My Computer” and find your file. Once you have located your file, click “Open” and, if successful, the file name will appear under the Attached files heading. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Submit.”

Before you submit this assignment to the dropbox below, be sure to upload a copy to the “Final” dropbox for this assignment on Turnitin.com.  A “Draft” dropbox is also available so that you can use the originality report provided as a learning tool to improve your work prior to final submission