We’ll have short, timed, in-person quizzes at the start of most classes to help gauge our relationship with the material in the readings.

Quizzes take place at the start of class, right at 6 p.m., so it is important to arrive on time and prepared.

Content. Quizzes are based on the material you’ve prepared for that class, including:

• the textbook assignment for that meeting as listed in the Schedule, and
• the assigned primary source reading or section from Clouds for that meeting.

If you did your reading for the class, you should be prepared for the quiz. Quizzes are always based on the materials assigned for that class meeting, even if I am slightly behind the syllabus in class. Make sure to always do the assigned readings.

Missed quizzes are not made up. If you miss a quiz, you’ll get a zero for that quiz. Therefore, please make sure you are prepared each week and take the quiz.

You’ll write two major essays for this course: a short one on the Athenian comedy Clouds, and a researched position paper due at the end of the semester.

• Clouds Essay. This is a 3-to-4-page interpretive essay on Aristophanes’s Clouds and its relationship with actual events in classical Athens.
• Position Paper. This is a 6-to-8-page researched essay discussing a turning point in Greek history of your choice. For this you will be examining the source material, causes, and effects of the event or transformation and drawing your own conclusions about its meaning. We’ll talk in class about what’s expected and work through the assignment in stages.
• Proposal. As part of the preparation for the position paper, you will turn in a proposal partway through the semester outlining what you intend to write about, so I can give you feedback on your plans.

Details for each of these assignments are on the Essays page. For how I grade written assignments, see the Requirements for All Papers page.

Optional Draft. You can submit a draft of the Clouds essay or the position paper to me up to a week before it’s due; I’ll give you some general feedback (but not a grade). Because I accept drafts, I do not allow students to submit revised versions of their final paper after the due date. To make sure I see it soonest, please email me your optional draft rather than uploading it to BlackBoard.

You’ll make two short presentations in class on one of the primary source excerpts assigned as class readings, one in the first half of the semester and one in the second half.

Your presentation will give the class your perspective on (a) what this reading means, (b) the author’s perspective on the topics, and (c) how it relates to the material being discussed in the course.

Sign-ups. Sign up for the first of these presentations on the Sign-up #1 page, and the second on the Sign-up #2 page. Your presentation will be given the day that reading is assigned on the schedule.

Write-ups. A 2-to-3 page written version is due by the next class meeting after your presentation. The requirements are given in the Essays page.

You will take an in-person final exam at the end of the semester.

The final will cover from the midterm onward—except for the essay portion, which will cover themes from the entire course. We’ll discuss the content and structure the week before the final, and a review sheet will be provided. The final exam lasts two hours and will take place on the day designated by the registrar’s office.

Review materials for the exams will be posted on the Exams page close to the exam dates.