In this course we have looked at a number of different ancient cultures from the perspective of origins, cultural and intellectual development, how they flourished and how they went into decline. We have also studied the parallels between these various civilization and have used modern parallels to make these things more ac- cessible. In spite of the differences in time, language, beliefs and economies, many of the ideas we have seen are still with us. As I said in class, the more things change, the more they stay the same. This final assignment is going to be your opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge you have gained and how you connect that to the world we now live in: you will use your knowledge of the ancient world to explain some aspect of the modern world in an effort to help us all understand better how things develop, what makes them go into decline and perhaps how to change that trend.
As such, the assignment will proceed along the following lines: Instructions:
Decide what aspect or theme you want to focus on and gather your information about it from of each of the traditions you want to incorporate into your essay.
Formulate a thesis about how you think that might help us to understand/explain/make sense the modern issue you want to direct that focus to.
Then decide how you will integrate the three traditions, how you want to use and what aspects of them are to be drawn on.
Explain the scope of the topic as you have formulated it, what exactly is in-volved and how that relates to the modern.
You should then be in a good position to explicate (describe and explain) your thesis.
After you have given that explanation you should then make your comparison (s) each with the modern in order to make clear how it can be brought
together with the ancient under your thesis.
Having completed that preparatory work, you are now ready to write your paper.
Remember, you are writing an explanatory and comparative essay and while there is a degree of interpretation involved, this is not merely an opinion paper. In any work such as this you need to base your position on the material we have studied and so be careful not to offer an interpretation that you cannot defend or support.
You can complete this assignment using only the material provided in the course, but if you have other relevant sources for your topic (especially where the modern is concerned) you are welcome to bring them in as supportive of your position.
