Paper Guidelines

Due date: This is flexible. You may hand the paper in at any point in the quarter, but no later than Wednesday, June 4. You may give me a hard copy, but please also send me the paper electronically (alain@uw.edu).

Length: 5-6 pages, typed, double-spaced. Your papers may well end up being longer…but they should not be shorter than this.

Aim: This is not intended to be a research paper per se (though you may make it that if you wish), but rather an essay in which you discuss something about your readings in Books 6 and 7 that has piqued your curiosity. Thucydides wants his reader to think critically about the matters he narrates, and this essay is simply a way for you to express in writing what T. has made you think about – and to dig a little deeper into what about the narrative (its emphases, stylistic tricks, word choices, etc.) has made you think that way. I will suggest a few topics along the way, but you’re encouraged to choose your own. Please clear your topic with me before you begin writing.

Grading: What I am chiefly looking for is sustained and thoughtful engagement with the topic…which is to say, evidence that you have read the text carefully and thought through your argument with equal care. Make sure your observations are grounded in or supported by the text. It’s an essay….but it’s not a free form thought experiment!