CCIV 272: Reading Roman Decadence

objectives and format

schedule

assignments

on-line resources

further reading

Roman Decadence
homepage

MPP's homepage

e-mail MPP

Classics homepage

Wesleyan homepage

Major assignments and grading:

My grading of your papers will be based on the following:

• Appropriateness of topic to assignment: Have you chosen a topic sufficiently complex for the assigned paper length, and one that lends itself to the constraints of the assignment? I intend to be pretty strict about the paper length-- tailoring your thoughts to the constraints of an assignment is a skill that will serve you well in the world.
• Originality of thought: Are you working to think about these texts on your own, or are you simply rehashing what we’ve said in class?
• Ambitiousness: Are you pushing yourself to ask challenging questions? Are you giving complex answers and tolerating a certain level of necessary ambiguity in the answers you give? If your writing is organized around a question with a simple, easily demonstrable answer, you're not using the process of writing as a tool for thinking through a problem.
• Clarity of organization and expression: Is your discussion clearly and logically structured? Is it expressed so that I can understand it without struggling?
• Support from texts: Do you clearly define your topic by drawing from the texts, and do you use the texts to support any suggestions or conclusions you make? Do you cite the texts using proper form (see below)?
• Grammar and spelling: I am not a maniac about this, but I will correct bad grammar and spelling: clear, correct writing is, after all, central to academic communication. If I have to correct a lot, it will affect my general impression of your paper. DON’T BE SLOPPY!! Use a dictionary (or a spell checker, at least) and consult a style manual if you have questions about punctuation or grammar. Reading your paper out loud will often help you catch bad grammar, misspelling, and unclear expressions.

All papers for this course should use the Chicago style of citation, which involves footnotes or endnotes. Complete guidelines for this style are available in The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993). The following online resources will give you the basics:

• Duke University Library guide to "Turabian" style, which is basically a simplified Chicago style. This gives citation models for most of the sorts of sources you're likely to use.
• A guide to citing online resources in Chicago style from University of Minnesota.