Classical Studies 3102F: The Ancient Novel

Research Essay (due Monday Nov. 30, 2009)

 

Classical Studies 3102F: The Ancient Novel Library Course Page

Due Date

Essays handed in after Nov. 30 will be penalized at the rate of 3% per day, including weekends.

Length

Essays should be at least 2500 words (approx 10 pages in length), excluding footnotes or endnotes and bibliography. 

Formatting

Either MLA or Chicago Style is acceptable, but the formatting must be consistent.  If you are uncertain of the styles, handouts are available at the Weldon Library, or at http://www.lib.uwo.ca/help/index.php?id=35#3.

Consultation

By October 16, students must submit an initial proposal, including:

1.     Tentative Title

2.    The principal question you will address. This should be well defined and should lead to a thesis statement in your final draft.

3.     Research method (how will you investigate your topic?)

Evaluation

Initial proposal :                                                          10%

Content, including analysis and argument:                  40%

Spelling and Grammar:                                               10%

Writing style, including structure:                               10%

Research, including use of sources:                            30%

 

Suggested Topics.

These are general topics. You will need to refine them considerably.

1. Examine the influence of historians on Chariton.

2. Discuss Daphnis and Chloe as a part of a pastoral tradition.

3. Consider the role of religion in one or more of the novels studied.

4. What is the effect of the 1st person narrator in Apuleius' Metamorphoses and/or Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Clitophon?

5. Examine the relationship between New Comedy and the ancient novels.

6. What is the influence of epic and/or tragedy on Heliodorus?

7. Explore and explain the differences between Ps.-Lucian's The Ass (in Reardon) and Apuleius' Metamorphoses.

8. Discuss the function of the story of Cupid and Psyche in Apuleius' Metamorphoses.

9. Discuss the role of satire in the Roman novels.

10. Compare the heroines of two or more of the novels.

11. Examine the role of slaves in two or more novels.

12. Discuss the function of ekphrasis in one or more of the ancient novels.

13. Who were the main audience of the ancient novel?

14. Discuss the influence of rhetorical training in the ancient novels.

15. To what extent should our knowledge of Petronius' or Apuleius' biography influence our reading of their novels?

16. What are the virtues of the ideal man in the ancient novel?

17. Consider one or more of the novels as a product of the Second Sophistic.

18. Discuss the representation of sexuality in one or more of the novels.

19. How is ethnicity represented in the ancient novels?

20. A topic of your choice, subject to approval.

Plagiarism

Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea or a passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offence (see Scholastic Offence Policy in the Western Academic Calendar). All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity to the commercial plagiarism detection software under licence to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between the University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com). ine the influence of historians on Chariton.