ANCIENT GREEK MYTH

UC Berkeley's Tebtunis Papyrus 693: fragment of Sophocles 'Inachus'
NOTE: this is the sole surviving witness for this part of Sophocles' play

CLASSICS 28: PAPER

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Here are details of the paper which is a requirement of this course.

PLEASE READ THROUGH THIS CAREFULLY...

I do not apply mechanical or formulaic criteria when assessing papers - but I do expect your paper to be written to the high standards appropriate for students attending UC Berkeley...

1. The Rubric

Write a paper around six to seven pages in length, on a topic of your choice (to be discussed with me), the subject to be one of central interest and significance for the study of Greek Myth.

The paper should be written in good English, should show good knowledge of the relevant primary texts and should demonstrate good, independent critical thinking.

2. Length

 

6-7 pages is a suggested length, not an exact prescription or requirement. If you aim at 6-7 pages, with regular double-spacing and font-size, you will probably find you have enough room to present your discussion. You will not be penalised just because you write a paper with fewer or more pages. I am not applying mechanical formulae (either to grading of papers or exams) - I am looking for content and comprehension and independence of thought, along with a true sense of discussion. Please bear in mind, though, that in my experience papers of less than 6 pages will probably be rather thin, since less than 6 pages is not much room to make a presentation and mount a real discussion. Conversely, if you really need more than 7 pages then take them: I encourage you to stay within sight of 8 to 10 pages just because if everyone wrote 20 pages we wouldn't get through reading until well into the fall!

3. Choosing your topic

Please think carefully about what you want to write on. Your topic should come from your own reading and thinking, and should be on a subject that you really want to write about; it should come from a passion, or interest, or concern that you develop in the course of studying Greek mythology. Your topic may be broad or specific, and it may draw on any area of knowledge, expertise or interest that you have (history, literature, philosophy, art, science, language etc. etc.) so long as the focus of the paper itself is clearly ancient Greek myth.

Even though I will not be handing out a set list of topics to choose from, everyone is required to check in with me to report the topic they have chosen and to discuss it. I will give you guidance and advice as needed. If you have difficulty choosing or deciding on a topic, please come and see me to discuss things. On no account put off (let alone omit) writing the paper: I must have a satisfactory, completed paper on record in order to assign a Final Grade for the course at the end of term.

4. Formal requirements

I do not have uniform formulaic requirements for style, form etc. for this paper: nor do I have a set minimum number of references or footnotes, or minimum number of bibliographical references or citations which you will be penalised for not meeting. I also do not specify a single stylistic system to follow, or uniform document formatting requirements (margins, font size etc.).

HOWEVER: you are expected to use your common sense and present a paper which is written to a high standard of English (including grammar, syntax, spelling, and general style), is clearly formatted and presented, is well organised, is internally consistent, and which uses citation, footnotes and bibliographical referencing as appropriate to the topic and as appropriate for a serious piece of independent work of quality presented by a student at the University of California. If you wish to adopt one specific convention (the Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA etc.) you may do so.

Please do not use any 'tricks' to make your paper appear more substantial, or longer, than it actually is! I.e. no extra-'double-spacing', super-wide margins, extra-large fonts etc..... (Remember, I've been an undergraduate myself, been there and done all that..... :-)

5. Due date

Papers are due by the last day of the Session, Friday 15 August at the latest. You are also welcome to hand in your paper before August 15 (earlier that week, or at the final exam on Thursday 14), if you finish it sooner.

6. Plagiarism, citation etc.

Plagiarism and cheating are extremely serious offences and will not be tolerated in any shape or form in this course. The penalties are severe and include an automatic F grade for the piece of work containing plagiarism and notification of the incident to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs (which keeps records of all such incidents). In the case of a plagiarising paper an F may also be given as the final grade for the course.

You might be interested to know that in the last few years, several students were suspended at the University of Virginia, and at Harvard several students expelled for plagiarism.

What is plagiarism? Here is how the College of Letters and Science defines it:

"All written work submitted for a course, except for acknowledged quotations, must be expressed in the student's own words. It must also be constructed upon a plan of the student's own devising. Work copied without acknowledgement from a book, from another student's paper, from the internet, or from any other source is plagiarized. Plagiarism can range from wholesale copying of passages from another's work to using the views, opinions, and insights of another without acknowledgement, to paraphrasing another person's original phrases without acknowledgement."

Here is the relevant paragraph from the General Catalog:

"Cheating or Plagiarism. Achievement and proficiency in subject matter include your realization that neither is to be achieved by cheating. An instructor has the right to give you an F on a single assignment produced by cheating without determining whether you have a passing knowledge of the relevant factual material. That is an appropriate academic evaluation for a failure to understand or abide by the basic rules of academic study and inquiry. An instructor has the right to assign a final grade of F for the course if you plagiarized a paper for a portion of the course, even if you have successfully and, presumably, honestly passed the remaining portion of the course. It must be understood that any student who knowingly aids in plagiarism or other cheating, e.g., allowing another student to copy a paper or examination question, is as guilty as the cheating student."

If you are uncertain exactly what constitutes plagiarism, or how you should go about citing and referring to other people's work in your own papers and exams, please consult me.

If you have any questions about anything - ask!