Your goal when reading the scholarship to find assertions from the writer– the scholar’s ideas, opinions, and analysis–and respond to them.
Your goal when reading the scholarship to find assertions from the writer– the scholar’s ideas, opinions, and analysis–and respond to them
Find and evaluate one article from Google Scholar concerning the material from the Aeneid that is on our syllabus (Books I, II, IV, or VI). The article must have a named author or you cannot use it.
Step One:
Begin by citing the complete bibliographic entry for the work in MLA format. Be sure to include the URL so that I can look up the article if I need to. You can copy/paste this citation from the article. See the sample scholarship responses posted.
Step Two:
Find three quotations in the article–minimum of one complete sentence, maximum of three for each quote–that you think are particularly insightful/relevant. Quote the passage in its entirety, and title these Quotation #1, Quotation #2, and Quotation #3.
After each quotation, give a close reading to the words of the scholar. What are the key words and phrases in the quotation that you thought were particularly important in terms of theme or characterization with regard to the Aeneid? Quote short bits and phrases from the scholar in your response as you explain the relevance of the important phrases.
Transition from the scholar’s ideas to the text of the Aeneid. What specific examples or scenes from Virgil’s poem prove or illustrate the point of the scholar, in your opinion? Or disprove them?
Be sure to engage the specific wording of the scholar as you transition from his/her assertions to an examination of the Aeneid in each response. You can quote relevant passages from the Aeneid or offer specific paraphrase of the scenes.
Each response to a quotation is a minimum of 50 words, maximum of 200.
Use the scholarship as means of conveying your own insights about the characters and/or the themes in the work.
Note: You are looking for assertions from the writer, not facts about the work. You don’t want to quote mere plot summary. Do not quote a sentence that has a direct quotation from the Aeneid in it, unless that quotation is very short and surrounded by ideas/analysis from the scholar.
Once again, make sure the scholarship relates to the books of the Aeneid we are covering: I, II, IV, and VI.
Step Three:
Have a section called Final Thoughts, where you assess how has the scholarship influenced the way you view this text. This section is a minimum of 50 words.
