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171 Essay Topics
5. What can we learn about everyday life during the Archaic Age (700-550 BC) from Hesiod, the Lyric poets, and archaeology? 6. Book review of Barry Strauss’ book, The Trojan War: a new history (order through Amazon.com) 7. Discuss what you see as major themes in the Iliad and Odyssey. 8. A topic of your choosing. Your topic must be approved by me or your TA. Your essay must be single-spaced and at least 1400 words long (not counting quotations and footnotes). Please do not add a title page. Put your name in the upper right-hand corner; in the upper left-hand corner put the title of your essay and a word count. You will be graded both on content and form. Typos, misspellings, and grammatical mistakes will lower your grade by up to 30%. Depending upon the topic you choose, you may not have to use outside books nor consult the internet. If you do consult outsides sources, footnote them. If you quote a passage from the Iliad or Odyssey, provide the book number and line numbers: (Iliad 6, 12-16). All essays need a bibliography. Organizing Criteria (to be exhibited in your essay): You must have a thesis paragraph at the beginning of the essay. As a model, think of the five paragraph essay format, with an introductory thesis paragraph, supporting paragraphs, and a brief concluding paragraph. (Remember. In an essay you are arguing a point, trying to prove a point, or elucidating a point. Your thesis statement states what the point is.) Keep to the same verb tense as much as possible. Make sure your sentences make sense. Clumsy phrases and incorrectly used words will cost you points.. Stylistic Points (I will not mark off for style, but keep the following in mind): Avoid split infinitives. Avoid passives. Avoid wordiness; make your statements direct.
Vary your sentence structure: a simple sentence, a compound sentence, a sentence with subordinate clauses, etc. Some Common Errors to look out for (I find these mistakes a lot in essays.): Iliad or Iliad, not Iliad: underline or italicize titles of books. Titles of articles are enclosed by quotation marks. it’s = it is its = possession to show possession: boy’s book (a single boy), boys’ books (multiple boys) their = possessive vs. there punctuation: “...store.” “...store,” “...store”; “...store”: (Single punctuation marks are placed within the quotations, while double punctuation marks are placed outside.) Avoid run-on sentences: He wanted to go home as soon as he finished, however he stayed behind. (however needs a semi-colon in front of it) A complete sentence ends with a period or semi-colon, except when you string several very short sentences in a row: I came, I saw, I conquered. Avoid fragmentary sentences: Since he lived in the South for over ten years and experienced many facets of country living. Use commas properly. End a subordinate clause beginning with such words (called subordinating conjunctions) as “when,” “since,” “although,” “as long as,” “while,” “as” with a comma. When he finished the assignment, he handed it in. “But” usually has a comma before it as in: I went home, but no one was there. Capitalize proper nouns and adjectives. Greeks - and not greeks. Do not use contractions in formal writing