Core Studies 1.1 Classical Civilizations

Professor John Van Sickle

 

FIRST ESSAY ASSIGNMENT

 

PURPOSE: to help you to REread what you have read for the class & begin to form

some ideas & express them in an effective manner. 

Since you are expected to REread assigned material, think about it & express

yourself effectively, you do NOT need to seek out & report the opinions of

others in books not assigned.

 

PRACTICAL HINTS: in order to think carefully & express yourself effectively, you

need to find & present evidence. For this you will want to do three things: 

 

1) look for themes that are related to your subject,

2 ) quote the words accurately & identify them in the regular way

that is illustrated in the course web site [click here].

3) analyze the quoted words carefully.

For guidelines to reading & taking notes, review the PROTOCOL. 

For the actual technique of effective writing and for the length and format of

the essay see the web site [http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/jvsickle/cs-write.htm]

 

Some Possible Topics

  1. Music & Dance in Greek Culture: differing contexts & practices as illustrated by Homer in his ecphrasis of the Shield of Achilles
  2. Food Production in Greek Culture: evidence from the Shield, Odyssey 9, Prometheus.
  3. How does the cultural range attributed to Prometheus resemble the cultural features represented in Homer? What features is Prometheus said to add?
  4. When a Greek, Herodotus, goes to visit Egypt, what does he recognize as similar to his own culture & what does he emphasize as MOST DIFFEERENT?
  5. Read again Homer, Odyssey 9.116-141: what features of the off-shore island does Homer emphasize? What uses does he imagine them having? How do these uses relate to the culture described on the Shield of Achilles (Iliad 18.478-607)?
  6. What features have you remarked & noted in the readings that you would cite in an essay to inform & entertain another reader like yourself?
  7. In what ways have the methods practiced in this course affected the way you read/write/think elsewhere?