Focus Paper 3 The Alchemy of Happiness · Due Sunday by 11:55pm · Points 100 · Submitting a text entry box or a file upload · File Types doc, docx, and pdf · Available Apr 19 at 12am Apr 25 at 11:59pm 7 days Focus paper on The Alchemy of Happiness. (Refer to the course schedule for the specific due date). This paper focuses on The Alchemy of Happiness written by the Persian, Muslim philosopher Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali. First, read about Al-Ghazalis?(Links to an external site.) background. Then, using specific examples from the website and the book, answer the following questions: 1. Who was Al-Ghazali, and why was he important in the history of Islam? 2. What is Al-Ghazalis message in the book? What does he have to say about knowledge, music, love, and marriage? 3. What might these teachings tell us about societies in western Asia during this period? 4. Why do you think these ideals were so appealing to some in this society? 5. What similarities and differences do you detect between Al-Ghazalis message and the messages of Buddhism and Confucianism from the other two books you wrote about this semester? Guidelines for Focus Papers Focus Papers should be written in essay format containing an introduction (with thesis statement), body p
aragraphs, and a conclusion. Papers should be a MINIMUM of 1,000 words but should not exceed 1,250 words. Papers that are significantly shorter will be penalized, and those that significantly exceed the limit are also subject to penalty. Students should be sure to answer the questions fully, offer historical context, be specific, and use plenty of examples from the book. Finally, a primary objective for these papers is to look more deeply into the histories we are learning about in the course. As such, students should consider information from other course readings to support their analysis when appropriate. Please do not do additional research, or use outside web pages, blogs, or wiki pages to complete this paper, the assignment is meant to be an assessment of your understanding of the materials offered in this course. Paper format Aside from Discussion Posts and Responses, all papers submitted for this course must be written in essay format, double-spaced, in 12-point font, and have 1 inch margins. PLEASE, NO TITLE PAGES. Quotations and paraphrasing must be properly cited USING CHICAGO STYLE FOOTNOTES. Warning: do not use long quotations to fill up space these will be penalized. Finally, I expect all formal writing to be thoroughly proofread: papers with more than three typographical errors will be marked down at least half a letter grade.