One of the reasons ancient literature is so compelling is that it gives us the actual voices and thoughts of people who lived in faraway times. ….
Please answer THREE of the following FOUR questions in essays of approximately450-600 words (1.5 or double spaced; 11 or 12 point type font; no excessive margins; all in ONE document—not three separate word documents). You must submit your exam to our UBLearns page as a single documentby 11:00pm on Friday, June 13, 2014. The submission window will shut promptly at 11:00pm, so do not be late. Give yourself a bit of a cushion, even, in case you have technical difficulties at the last minute.
Your document MUST be a .doc or .docx. If you use Open Office or some other software, save your file as a .doc or .docx
Make sure your name is at the top of every page of the document (make a header).
When you are ready to submit your exam, go to our UBLearns page and click on “Assignments.” You will see the “Midterm” assignment, and you should click “View/Complete.” From here follow the instructions on the page to upload your exam document. NO RESUBMISSIONS ALLOWED. Do not submit your exam until you are DONE.
Links to ALL Primary Sources eligible for the exam are in the syllabus. “Primary Sources” are original written documents (not videos) listed in the syllabus. Please only use Primary Sources assigned on the syllabus between May 27, 2014 and June 11, 2014.
WE ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR ORIGINAL IDEAS AND OPINIONS. This is not a research assignment. Demonstrate that you have done all the reading, actively listened to lectures, and thought about the questions you answer. One question does encourage some further exploration of outside sources. For that question, identify clearly sources that you use.
DO NOT PLAGIARIZE OR ATTEMPT TO CHEAT. We are using the SafeAssign tool, which recognizes material copied and pasted from ANYWHERE on the internet, and compares your exam to every exam that your classmates are submitting.
QUESTIONS
Answer THREE of the following FOUR:
1. One of the reasons ancient literature is so compelling is that it gives us the actual voices and thoughts of people who lived in faraway times. Think about the different voices we have encountered from the past thus far–in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Book of Exodus, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Histories of Herodotus, the Antigone of Sophocles, Livy’s History, and Augustus’s Achievements–and write an essay in which you compare how TWO writers of different eras and cultures talk about the same themes. Choose THREE of the following themes, and choose TWO different authors. You cannot choose a writer whom you discussed in a Response Paper. You cannot compare any Greek writer to another Greek writer, nor can you compare Livy to Augustus.
Possible themes (choose 3):
–Political leadership or Conflict (don’t use both, either as one theme or separate themes)
–Belief in Gods
–Courage
–Injustice
–Pride
–Outsiders/Others
2. Redman-Childe. Choose one of the civilizations we have studied thus far in the course and evaluate it , using material from lectures and texts, in terms of the different primary and secondary characteristics of a civilization as defined by G. Chide and C. Redman. How well does it exemplify and fulfill each of the different characteristics. What have you learned about the civilization, other than religious behaviors, that makes you want to add an additional primary or secondary category to the R-C list? You can NOT write about a civilization that was a major focus of a Response Paper.
The Redman-Childe list of characteristics:
Primary Characteristics:
–Presence of cities
–Full-time specialization of labor
–Concentration of surplus
–Class-structured society
–State-based organization
Secondary Characteristics:
–Monumental public works
–Long-distance trade
–Standardized monumental artwork
–Formal systems of information recording and storage
–Formal systems of abstract knowledge (science/math)
- The ancient world and you! Write an essay on what it would be like to live in one of the civilizations we have studied this semester working in a job that is as close as you can imagine to the profession you are hoping to enter yourself. What elements the profession remain unchanged? What elements are completely different? Identify THREE objects/behaviors we have seen in our course materials that have impressed you because of their connection to your area of study. How have they impressed you? For this answer you might well want to do a bit of further exploration at good web sources, but you mustmustmust cite your sources diligently.
4. The many different faces of religion: Using examples from 5 different civilizations we have studied, identify and discuss 5 different and important ways that you see religion/religious practices/religious beliefs manifesting themselves in ancient cultures. With each of your examples, explain why you think it is important, backing up your argument with lecture/text material. Discuss whether the practice or object or belief seems unique to the civilization you are using, or does it have parallels in other cultures? Do you see each example as having positive force, or negative force, or some of each?
GRADING RUBRIC
Keep this grading rubric in mind:
Working principle #1: the better you integrate material from my lectures with material from the readings in the von Sivers textbook and primary sources, the better your essay’s grade.
IF YOU CANNOT CONVINCE US IN THE COURSE OF YOUR ANSWERS THAT YOU HAVE READ THE ASSIGNED MATERIAL AND LISTENED TO/WATCHED LECTURES—AND THOUGHT ABOUT ALL OF THEM—YOU WILL GET NO BETTER THAN A C-.
Working principle #2: The better you back up your statements of analysis and opinion with clear references to material evidence and recognized fact, the better your essay’s grade.
Working principle #3: Grammar and writing are part of the package in the course as a whole and in the exams. The cleaner and clearer the writing, the better your grade.
Working principle #4: The less fluff the better.
Point values:
A thoughtful and coherent essay with some interesting threads of argument, with precise references to back up ideas, and good integration of backup references to McGuire/vonSivers/Primary Sources will receive 30-33 points (A level).
A thoughtful essay with just a couple of lines of argument, backed up with a couple of good examples, with some minor integration of backup references to M/vS/PS will receive 26-29 points (B level).
A flatter and linear essay with mechanical itemization of points and few references, with thin integration of M/vS/PS will receive 22-25 points (C level).
An essay that contains a limited set of points and references, and no integration of backup references to M/vS/PS will receive 18-21 points (D level).
An essay that contains no discernible points or references, and/or that is written unintelligibly or abominably will receive between 0-17 points (F).
Plagiarism (cutting and pasting of text from websites; the use of the ideas or arguments or words of others wi
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