Download II. Hints on Reading an Historical Document

Fall 2009
HISTORY 411: HISTORY OF GREECE
Professor: S. Burstein
Office: KH B 4024
Office Hours: MW 9:00-9:30, 12:30-1:20
Phone: 323-343-2032
Email: [email protected]
Class Room and Time: KH B4015
MW: 1:30-3:10 PM
Final Examination: Monday, December 7: 1:30-4:00 PM
Texts:
S. Pomeroy, A Brief History of Ancient Greece (Oxford)
Homer, Odyssey (Oxford)
Plutarch, Greek Lives (Oxford)
Thucydides, On Justice, Power and Human Nature (Hackett)
Herodotus, On the War for Greek Freedom (Hackett)
There is a website for the textbook which contains study aids as well as links to
numerous other websites dealing with Greek history. The URL for the website is:
http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195372359/student/?view=usa
Requirements: Two examinations--a midterm held on the last day of the sixth
week of the quarter and the final. The midterm is a short answer identification
examination in which students are required to identify ten of twenty items.
Identification items are drawn from both lectures and readings but with the
emphasis being placed on the lectures. The final examination consists of two
sections: a set of identifications drawn from the second half of the course and
an essay question. The essay portion of the examination will be in the form of a
take home essay 5-7 pages long due on at the time of the final on the day of the
final examination. The essay questions for the final examination will be
distributed at the midterm. The essay counts 70% of the final examination
grade.
Grading: This course will be graded on a Plus/Minus basis in accordance with
the information provided in Winter Class Schedule. The examinations are
weighted as follows: the midterm counts 35% and the final examination 65%
toward determining the course grade.
Withdrawal from class will be in accordance with the guidelines published
in the Schedule of Classes.
I. COURSE OUTLINE:
1.
Introduction
Pomeroy: Introduction
2.
Prehistory: Minoans and Mycenaeans
Readings:
Pomeroy, Ch. 1
3.
Dark Ages
Readings:
Pomeroy, Ch. 2
Homer: Odyssey, Books 1-12
4.
Polis: Colonization and Tyranny
Readings:
Pomeroy, Ch. 3
Homer: Odyssey: Books 12-24
5.
Sparta
Readings:
Pomeroy, Ch. 4
Plutarch, Lycurgus
6.
Athens: I: Early Athens to 500 BC
Readings:
Pomeroy, Ch. 5, 126-139
Plutarch, Solon
7.
Athens: II: Democracy vs Persia
Readings:
Pomeroy, Ch. 5, 139-155
Plutarch, Themistocles
Herodotus, 1-51, 90-190
8.
Athens: III: Imperial Democracy
Readings:
Pomeroy, Chs. 6-7
Plutarch, Pericles
Thucydides, 1-39
9. The Peloponnesian War and the End of the Athenian Empire
Readings:
Pomeroy, Ch. 8
Plutarch, Alcibiades
Thucydides, 40-160
II. Hints on Reading an Historical Document
Reading an historical document and understanding its implications
requires that the reader complete a step-by-step analysis of the document and
its contents. The steps involved in the analysis can be thought of as a set of
questions that the reader has to answer. The possible questions that can be
asked of any document are endless, but most can be reduced to the following
three groups.:
Group One: Basic Facts
A. Who wrote this document?
B. When and where was written?
C. What kind of document is this?
Group Two: Contents
A.
B.
C.
D.
What is this document about? What is its story?
Who was it written for?
Why was it written?
What are its author's underlying assumptions?
Group Three: Evaluation
A. Is this document credible?
B. What does this document tell me about the topic I am studying (for
example, the society that produced it, a war, law, etc.)?
C. What impression does this document make on me? Does
it persuade me to adopt its point of view or not? In either
case, why does it have this effect on me?