PLEASE READ THE PROMPT FILE I UPLOADED CAREFULLY!!!
This is an final exam question for a law course. The main focus is on analyzing some key characteristics of traditional Chinese law from a historical perspective, and then comparing those characteristics critically with modern Western legal principles.
You are provided with seven different characteristics of traditional Chinese law. Your task is to choose three of these characteristics to work on.
For each selected characteristic, you need to do two things:
- Assessment: Provide an objective and critical evaluation of that characteristic by comparing it with the corresponding concept in modern Western law (or Islamic law, since it’s considered part of the Western legal tradition for this task). This means you should explain how the Chinese feature differs from or resembles Western legal ideas. For example, you might compare the concept of “Monoistic Law” (where the emperor holds all powers) with the Western principle of separation of powers.
- Personal Opinion: After the objective assessment, give your own view about this comparison. You can express whether you think the Chinese or Western system is better in this regard, or whether you see problems or benefits in either system. The assignment encourages original and critical thinking, so you can share unconventional or bold opinions as long as they are well justified.
After you complete the three assessments and opinions, you must write a reflection paragraph. In this paragraph, you should:
- Summarize the main points from your three comparisons and personal views.
- Present a broader conclusion or idea that arises from your analysis. This is your overall takeaway or judgment about the relationship between traditional Chinese law and modern Western legal principles.
Additionally, the instructions ask you to:
- Clearly state whether you used any AI tools to help write your exam. If you did, you must provide the prompts you used to get credit for originality.
- Refer to any relevant class discussions or materials you remember from the course to support your arguments.
- Strive for originality, critical insight, and a coherent writing style.
- Include at least one “striking statement” — an interesting, original, and thought-provoking point that stands out in your essay.
The grading is broken down as follows:
- Each of the three characteristic assessments (including your opinion) is worth 20 points (10 for the critical assessment and 10 for your opinion).
- The reflection paragraph is worth 10 points.
- Referencing class discussions is worth 10 points.
- Originality (including AI usage transparency) is worth 5 points.
- The “striking statement” earns another 5 points.
- Overall writing quality and that special “X factor” counts for 10 points.