History 205A

Summer, 2007

Writing Assignments

1. Lysistrata – Due June 15 – 3-5 pages, typed, 12 point Times New Roman Font

Imagine that the playwright Aristophanes has been charged with treason and public corruption, stemming from his play Lysistrata. Write a paper in which you either 1) have been assigned to defend Aristophanes from these charges, or 2) you are assigned with assembling the evidence that will prove him guilty.

What this assignment asks you to do is to write what’s called a ‘position paper’ – where you take a side, and prove that your side is the correct side with evidence from the book. In order to do a good job you need to think about what things about Lysistrata might have been worthy of censure in the climate of 5^th c BCE Athens during the tensions of the Pelopponesian War (431-04 BCE). Use information from lecture and textbook to imagine how people (esp. the government) might have reacted to the play – what elements might have been considered dangerous during a time of war. Does war time emergency justify censorship of creativity?

For this and all writing assignments, you will be graded equally on your argument, and your presentation (style).

2. King Harald’s Saga – Due June 28 – 3-5 pages typed, 12 point Times New Roman Font

The year is 1066. You are a literate, educated resident of England. Within the year, your homeland has been invaded by Normans (William the Conqueror) , and Vikings (Harald Hardradi of Norway). You must choose who to support and then convince your neighbors. Write a paper in which you 1) discuss the qualities King Harald possesses that would make him a good king of England or 2) reasons why he should not be king of England. What are his qualifications?

This assignment is another position paper, that asks you to consider what people of the eleventh century might have been looking for in a ruler – what was important to them? In monarchies, is it still possible for people to ‘choose’ their leaders?

Writing Tips:

Please keep the following in mind as you write.

A good paper supports its main argument or thesis with examples. The best way to do this is to quote from the book. Each time you quote (or paraphrase), you must follow your quotation with a citation (author’s last name, page number). Failure to provide an accurate citation for all quotations and paraphrases amounts to plagiarism. Do not block quote except when absolutely necessary.

You must also follow your quotation with explanation or analysis – what does this example tell us? I am grading looking for your interpretation, so outside sources (especially encyclopedias and Wikipedia) are unnecessary!

History papers should be written consistently in the past tense.

Try to have one idea per paragraph.

Avoid the following mistakes: use of personal pronouns (I, we, and especially you, except in specific cases); confusion of possession (indicated with an ‘) and plural (indicated with the letter s).