Download The Daily Athenian A Greek Newspaper Project Introduction When

The Daily Athenian
A Greek Newspaper Project
Introduction
When the government of Athens became a democracy in 507 BC, it set in motion a chain of events that would
revolutionize not just the city, but the entire Greek world. Inspired by the freedom and openness of Athenian society,
people from all over the known world traveled here to discover more about the city and its people.
Working individually, students will work to produce sections of a historical newspaper or journal for publication in
democratic Athens.
Lesson Objectives
Students will have the opportunity to:
 Use the resources of the Internet to research news or feature stories.
 Analyze, research and prioritize information.
 Gain an insight into some of the processes involved in producing a newspaper or magazine.
 Discover more about the everyday lives of the ancient Greeks and the similarities and differences they share with
the lifestyles of people today.
 Students will gain an understanding of key events in the development of democracy in Athens as well as gain an
understanding of the culture in which those events occurred.
Newspaper Topics
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News and Current Affairs (e.g. Pericles Dies - Popular Assembly in Uproar!)
Editorial Section and Letters to the Editor (e.g. letters for and against Pericles or Socrates)
Entertainment & Arts Section (e.g. a review of a famous/prize-winning tragedy)
Sports Section (e.g. report from the most recent Olympics)
Advertisements (e.g. pottery, seafood, shipwrights, masons, etc.)
Weather Report (e.g. Zeus causes yet another terrible storm!)
Gossip Column (e.g. Who will succeed Pericles as leader of Athens?)
Astrology Column (e.g. latest prophesies from the Oracle of Delphi)
Obituaries (e.g. invent an obituary for a hoplite infantryman who excelled at the Battle of Marathon).
Students should use their books and information from websites listed below to gather information about their subject and
make 'journalistic' notes. From these they should write their column, ideally on a computer using a word processing
package that allows them to alter fonts, type size, and column widths. These can then be amalgamated into one
newspaper on the computer, of if preferred, printed out individually and assembled by hand by cutting out and sticking
the articles on to cardboard 'templates'.
Greek Newspaper Grading Criteria
News Story
 Answers basic information questions "what-where-when-why-who-how?"
 Interviewed eye-witness
 Background information given
 Accurate, well researched
 In the style of a newsreporter Editorial & Letter to the Editor
 Gives two distinct points of view
 Gives reasons for point of view and has convincing arguments
 Related to the main news article Entertainment Review
 Accurate according to the time
 Describes event with good detail
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Gives a point of view/opinion in the style of a critic. Sports Report
Accurate according to the time
Describes event with good detail
In the style of a reporter Want Ads / Advertisements
Identifies objects for sale appropriate to that time
Describes object/gives qualities
Uses techniques of persuasion
General Writing Skills:
 Spelling
 Capital letters
 Punctuation (periods, commas quotations)
 Paragraphing
Article Ideas
What the Olympic Games were actually like
The Olympic Games - The Events
The Oracle at Delphi (c.1400 BC: Oracle of Delphi founded)
Hoplites
The Tactics Used At Marathon
The Tactics Used At Marathon/ continued
Ostracism
The Different Types of Greek Drama and Their Importance
The Great Playwrights of Athens' 'Golden Age'
Delian League (Event Page: 454 BC - Delian League's treasury moves to Athens)
The Buildings of the Acropolis
The Parthenon (Event Page: 438 BC - The Parthenon Completed)
Inside the Parthenon
The Sophists (Event Page: c.460 - New thinkers arrive in Athens)
The Streets of Athens
The Populace of Athens
The Populace of Athens - Slaves
The Populace of Athens - Metics
Sources
The Populace of Athens - Women
www.pbs.com
The Populace of Athens - Freemen
www.historychannel.com
The Houses of Athens
www.nationalgeographic.com
The Agora
www.bbc.co.uk/history/
The Colonus Agoraeus
www.ipl.org/div/subject/
Leisured Life: The Gymnasia
Leisured Life: The Theatre
www.factmonster.com
Pericles' Funeral Oration in Depth
www.ancientgreece.com
Intellectual Life in Athens during its height
The Historians
Greek Women: Marriage and Divorce
Women and Myth