This essay is due on November 30. Late
papers will be marked down one grade level for each class the paper is
late (e.g., A to B+, B+ to B, etc.).
Choose one of the following topics:
1. A Comparison of Pericles as a Leader and Plato's Ideal Ruler in the Republic1
2. A Comparison of Oedipus and Medea as Tragic Protagonists
3. A Comparison of Jocasta and Medea as Female Tragic Characters
4. A Comparison of Oedipus and Plato's Socrates
5. An Evaluation of Human Behavior in Thucydides in Terms of Plato's View of Justice
6. A Dialogue between Oedipus and Socrates on the Nature of Truth2
7. A Dialogue between Jocasta and Medea
on their Husbands2
Follow the directions as given on your first writing assignment sheet concerning paper size, gathering evidence, direct quotations, paraphrasing etc. References to The Peloponnesian War should be to book number & paragraph number in the margin of the text while citations of the Republic should be accompanied by book and paragraph number at top of page (e.g., 5.480). For the Apology and Republic, only a page reference is necessary unless your translation has paragraph numbers in the margin of the text. References to the Oedipus the King and the Medea should be to line numbers. If your translation does not have line numbers, use page numbers instead (in this case be sure to identify the translations you have used at end of your paper). Underline or italicize titles of works like Oedipus the King, Medea , The Peloponnesian War ), Apology, and Republic whenever you mention these works in your essay. Along with your numerical references in parentheses use the following abbreviations for the above works: O.K. , Med., Thuc., Ap., and Rep. Note that when giving numerical references to The Pelopnnesian War, an abbreviation of Thucydides name is used (Thuc.), rather than the modern name for the work.
If you choose to do a comparison, be careful that your essay does not break down into two separate papers, one on each of the two individuals or views you're comparing. In gathering your evidence, note in what ways the two individuals or views are similar and in what ways they are different. Organize your paper around these points of contact (similarity and/or contrast) by making each a topic sentence of a paragraph. In the rest of the paragraph give specific examples from the two works to illustrate each point of contact.
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1. See Pericles' ideals and actions as a leader and Thucydides' estimate of him on pages 39-46 and 52-58 in the Woodruff translation.
2. It is not necessary to give references
to the texts in this assignment. On the other hand, your dialogue
must reflect a close and careful reading of the text.