CLAS 1P97: Myths of the Heroic Age

Assignment for Essay #2: Comparative Analysis of Epic and Tragic Heroes

Thanks to Dr. Greene who developed the original form of this assignment, used with permission and modification.

Due to your TA before 5pm Friday 3 April.  Late assignments will be penalized at 5% per day, and no essays will be accepted after 4 PM on Monday 6 April. All papers must be submitted to Sakai (with a checkmark from turnitin.com) prior to being handed in to your TA.

This assignment consists of two parts: (1) close-reading essay, and (2) pre-writing assignment. See below for detailed descriptions of each assignment. The essay and prewriting assignment are worth 25% of your final mark; the two items will be marked together.

Comparative Analysis Topic

For this essay, you will analyze concepts of heroism in epic and tragic poetry. How are the heroes of Tragedy different than those of Epic (even when it is the same hero)? To answer this question from a comparative perspective, your task is to analyze the heroism of a single tragic character from any of the plays we have read this semester by Aeschylus and Euripides (Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Oedipus, Theseus, Odysseus, Hecuba, Polyxena, and eventually Heracles) by means of comparison to a single heroic character from Homeric epic (Iliad and Odyssey).

In particular, you will develop this essay by performing two close readings – one from Epic and one from Tragedy (see the list of allowed passages in a separate document). Once completed, you will then embark on a thorough comparison of the two passages. This will be the bulk of your essay. Then, in your conclusion, you will show how the difference you noted applies more widely to all of the Tragic sources which we have read.

Making specific reference to the texts to support your argument, explain the ways in which your selected tragic character can be described as a hero through traditional epic conventions and epic concerns but also the ways in which the definition of heroism needs to be revised. A thesis statement for this essay should explain the degree to which epic and tragic heroes are comparable and the notable differences upon which you will focus and will likely address changes in genre, style, presentation, themes, audience, performance context, history, or ideology. Of course, you will need to consider and make clear what it means to be an epic or tragic hero using your own definitions or our course and seminar definitions. Your first paragraph must also include mention of the texts and characters that you will analyze in your essay and must have a clear and well-defined thesis. Your final essay should be 5-6 pages in length (1500-1800 words). 

Goals of the Essay

With this essay, you will continue to work on the goals you had with Essay #1: develop and state a clear thesis, support your argument with textual evidence and analysis, structure your essay in a logical, non-repetitive way, and orient your reader. If any of these were points of significant penalty on your first assignment (especially developing a thesis), this is your opportunity to revisit and improve those skills! This time around, we will refine these skills and add a few others:

• Produce a successful comparative analysis, one that does more than list similarities and differences. The key, of course, continues to be developing a thesis. The handout on “How to Write a Comparative Analysis,” posted on the course Sakai page, may be helpful.

• Structure your argument well, making clear connections and distinctions between the different heroic figures and between different parts of your argument.

• Document sources parenthetically and using line numbers. Follow the line numbers used in the translations of epic poetry and tragic drama found in your translations of the epic poems and tragic drama. You should cite the text according to the following format: Iliad 1.276, Odyssey 18.276-82, Agamemnon 300, Medea 475, Heracles 322-37.

If you are using the abridged texts (as assigned), your citations will look like this:

For the Iliad: (Il. Abr. 1.276)

For the Odyssey: (Od. Abr. 18.276-282)

If you are using the unabridged texts, your citations will look like this:

For the Iliad: (Il.1.276).

For the Odyssey: (Od.18.276-282)

For plays:

Agamemnon: (Ag. 218-230)

Oedipus the King (OT. 890)

Hecuba (Hec.) (Please note: the online version of Hecuba has no line numbers, so paraphrases should include enough information about where the relevant passage is located

Philoctetes  (Phil. 1-15)

Herakles (Her. 305)

Citations of primary and secondary sources should be parenthetical, e.g. (Medea 475) or (Morales 22) at the end of the line. You may also utilize seminar readings and your textbook for aid in defining heroism in epic and tragic poetry, or for thinking about the two works you have selected. A “Works Cited” section should be included at the end of your essay, on which, see below.

• Successfully incorporate quotations from primary and secondary sources into your prose. Effective utilization of quotations includes: selecting appropriate passages for quotation, as well as introducing, contextualizing, and interpreting those passages in the context of your own argument. Quotations should never stand alone. Please see the Sakai handout for some tips about incorporating quotations into your prose.

_________________________

Bibliography: No sources other than your textbook, seminar readings, and the primary texts assigned for class (plus relevant introductions or supplementary essays) are allowed for this essay.

Permitted sources for Essay #2

• The primary texts in question, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey; Aeschylus’ Agamemnon; Sophocles’ Oedipus and Philoctetes, Euripides’Heracles and any introductory or supplementary material included in these texts or that has been posted to Sakai or by your seminar leader (e.g. Foley’s introduction to the Oresteia).

No internet sources are permitted for this essay. In addition, these essays are not collaborative or group assignments– you are not to work with your classmates at all, not even to brainstorm material, discuss, or read each other’s papers – but you are allowed and encouraged to visit your seminar leader or instructor (or any Brock sponsored tutoring or writing help, including the Classics Peer Mentors).  Lecture material may be regarded as “in the general domain” and need not be cited.  In other words, anything the professor or teaching assistant has said in lecture or seminar constitutes material you are free to draw upon as part of your argument. Be careful, however, in using lecture and seminar material; professors often refer to specific material from your readings, in which case you must cite that reading in your essay.

Primary versus secondary sources

• Note the distinction between primary and secondary sources. Primary sources consist of the ancient Greek sources you are analyzing. Secondary sources consist of modern scholarship on this material.
• For example, the translation of Homer’s Iliad by Ian Johnston is a primary source; the discussion of the Iliad by Sheila Murnaghan in the introduction to Lombardo’s translation is a secondary source, as are the definitions of heroism offered by Bernard Knox in your seminar assignment.
• The Iliad is a poem attributed to the blind bard Homer; Ian Johnston offers an abridged version of this poem.

For full information on MLA formatting for all aspects of your essay, see:

MLA handbook for writers of research papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2009 .

Several copies are in the Brock Library, at the Help Desk and in the Reference area.

You will also find the information about MLA formatting with numerous examples on the following link: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

(note, continued on the next page)

________________________

Pre-writing Assignment for Essay 2: Two Characters in Two Texts: Epic and Tragedy

This assignment is to be handed in to your TA with your essay. It should not be submitted to turnitin.com, nor does it need to be typed if you prefer to write by hand (but it must be sufficiently legible for your TA to mark). There are no length or formatting requirements for this assignment.

You have two tasks.

1. Perform a close reading of two passages as on the first assignment (one from Epic, one from Tragedy – choices on the final page).

2. Prepare a list comparing the two characters in their works

1. First, choose an issue or theme which appears in both of your passages. Start with your Tragic passage: (possible ideas include honor, vengeance, violence, moral action, statesmanship, respect for one’s elders, respect for the gods, familial duty, parental responsibility, quest for heroic memory, etc.) and list the ways in which your character grapples with your issue both within the passage at hand and throughout the text. . For every characteristic you mention in your list, make a note of specific passages from the text (line citations alone are enough—you need not copy the text) that support your statements. This list will be of critical use in your essay, as you may use this issue as a means of defining heroism.
2. Next, consider how epic poetry grapples with that same issue. Make a list in which you detail the similar and different traits possessed by your characters. Your list need not be equal, i.e. there may be more differences than similarities For example, you might consider an argument that suggests: While both Achilles and Clytemnestra take extreme measures to avenge the death of another, Achilles’ methods fall within the rules of the heroic code, but Clytemnestra’s violate the natural order as she takes the life of a warrior in a context other than the battlefield.

________________________

Drafts and revisions

The essay you hand in should not be the rough first words you tap into your computer.  Rather, it should be your best possible effort at getting your ideas on paper and shaping those ideas into a coherent and readable whole through multiple drafts and reworking.

A friend tells the story of a young newspaper reporter who wrote her first story and handed it in to the editor.  “Is it as good as you can make it?” the editor asked.  “No, it isn’t,” the reporter answered, and so the editor handed it back.  After a day of revising, the reporter handed in a new version.  “Is it as good as you can make it?” the editor asked again.  “Well, no, it isn’t,” the reporter found himself replying again.  Once again, the editor handed it back.  More revising ensued.  When, for the third time, the reporter handed in the story and the editor asked, “Is it as good as you can make it?” the reporter replied, “Yes.”  “I’ll read it, then,” said the editor. Your essay should be as good as you can make it.

________________________

General guidelines for writing

Writing Style

• When referring to events in the passage you have chosen, use the present tense even if the text narrates them in the past tense, e.g. Angry about his slaughter of Iphigenia, Clytemnestra kills her husband toward the end of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon.
• Avoid colloquial expressions, slang, and contractions (e.g. “do not” instead of “don’t”).
• Do not refer to yourself. If you want to qualify a statement you are unsure of, instead of writing “in my opinion,” write something like “it appears that.” Better yet, explain why the statement needs to be qualified.
• Avoid trite introductions and conclusions such as those that claim that the classical world and the modern world are similar or that certain aspects of heroism have been the same throughout the history of time. Your essay is about two heroes in two particular literary works, not an endless continuum of space and time.

Mechanics of Writing:

• Keep the paper within 1500-1800 words (5-6 pages).
• Double space and use standard margins (1-1.25 inches), font (e.g. Times or Times New Roman), and font size (that is, 11 or 12 point).
• Put all identifying information (e.g. your name; your seminar leader’s name; your seminar section number; and the date) on one or two lines at the top of the first page. Do not use a title page. Staple pages together; do not use a paper clip. Tip: buy a stapler.
• The title of your paper should clearly convey the topic on which you are writing. This said, please be creative. “Essay 2: Comparative Analysis” is not a good paper title.
• Number the pages of your paper in the top right-hand corner. Note that no page number is necessary on page one.
• Most importantly, check your paper thoroughly for grammatical errors, spelling, and typographical mistakes. It is even better to ask a classmate to proofread your paper after you yourself have proofread it carefully.
• The most common errors include the following: sentence fragments, dangling modifiers, misuse or omission of possessive apostrophes, confusions between “it’s” and “its.” The former is a contraction not to be used in this formal writing assignment. The latter is possessive. Note also that a shield belonging to Achilles is Achilles’ shield; the camp of the Achaeans is the Achaeans’ camp.
• Be sure to italicize consistently all titles of poems and plays (Iliad, Odyssey, Agamemnon, Medea) and all foreign words (dikê, kleos, nostos). Articles are not part of the formal titles of ancient works (i.e. you might write about Homer’s Iliad or the Iliad, but would not write The Iliad).
• Quotations of primary and secondary texts should follow MLA conventions, available here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/03/. Short quotations (fewer than four typed lines of prose or three lines of verse) should be included double-spaced in your text, set off by quotation marks. For long quotations (more than four lines of verse or prose), place quotations in a free standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Line breaks in verse should be indicated with a slash for short quotes and line divisions in block quotes.

General Spelling and Spelling of Classical Names and Terminology

• Spelling counts. Remember that your spell-checker will not catch everything.  Print your essay and proofread it carefully, especially to ensure that you have spelled the classical names and terminology properly.
• If more than one spelling exists for a character, choose one standard spelling and stick with it throughout your paper.
• The spellings of classical names vary in this course as they do in our language in general.  Some spellings are influenced by the literary transmission through Latin, while others attempt to transliterate Greek spellings directly. You can certainly use in your writing any spelling that appears in our course material, so long as you are consistent. As rules of thumb, remember that C=K (Heracles/ Herakles; Akhaian/ Achaean), OI=OE (Oidipous/ Oedipus), AI=AE (Aiskhylos/ Aeschylus), and OS = US (Ouranos/ Uranus).

Humanities Context Credit courses provide an excellent opportunity for you to work on your writing skills. If you or your TA believe that you might benefit from additional assistance, please take advantage of the various learning skills workshops offered by Brock’s Student Development Centre: https://brocku.ca/learning-skills. Their essay writing manual provides many helpful tips for students at all levels.

________________________

Grading Standards (a more detailed rubric will be posted in the following weeks)

An A-range essay is both ambitious and successful.  It presents a strong, interesting argument with grace and confidence.

A B-range essay is one that is ambitious but only partially successfully, or one that achieves modest aims well.

A C-range essay has significant problems in articulating and presenting its argument, or seems to lack a central argument entirely.

D- and F-range essays fail to grapple seriously with either ideas or texts, or fail to address the expectations of the assignment.

*For more information on how to write a successful comparative analysis essay, please feel free to consult the Sakai document titled, “How to Write a Comparative Analysis.