GUIDELINES FOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT 02 Deadline: Thursday, December 20, by 11:59pm The main objective of this assignment is provide students with an opportunity to develop the skill of critical thinking

Continued on the next page  GU IDELINES FOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT 0 2 Deadline: Thursday , December 20 , by 11:59pm The main objective of this assignment is provide students with an opportunity to develop the skill of critical thinking, which, according to the Montclair University General Education Program website, 1 includes: “the ability to correctly evaluate their own arguments as well as the conclusions of others. This skill involves the application of healthy skepticism, determination of factual errors, and the detection of problems and /or inconsistencies in logic and reasoning .” In a 1 250 -word essay, student s will analyze the core ideas of an influential ancient Greek text (in translation), evaluate it s significance, forms of reasoning employed in the text, validity of the logic, ideas and concepts presented in the text. Students will form their own opinions and conclusions about the ancient Greek text based on such evaluation. Instructions: Consider a n excerpt from the History of the Peloponnesian War of Thucydides (choose one of the options below). Analyze the main concepts and ideas presented in the text according to the specific guidelines in Options 1 and 2 below. Evaluate the validity of the argum ents presented in the text. Support your arguments with concrete examples from the text. OPTION 1: Pericles’ funeral oration: What is democracy? Reread Pericles’ funeral oration in Thuc ydides 2.3 5-46, and answer the following question: W hat specific cultural values, lifestyle choices, and forms of social and political organization and functioning does Pericles consider an integral part of a democracy? In your answer to the question above, be sure to also address the following questions (not necessarily in the same order) and support your answer with the evidence from the text : (1) If modern criteria of evaluation were applied to Pericles’ view of democracy, would ancient Athens still be considered a democratic state? (2) Are there gaps and/or flaws in Pericles’ characterization of democracy? (3) Do the main principles of democracy outlined by Pericles correspond to the modern (or your own) understanding of equality and justice? (4) In what specific ways, according to Pericles, is Athenian democracy able to favor both individual rights and the interests of the community? 1 https://goo.gl/MgYeJ6 OPTION 2 : The Realpolitik 2 of the Melian dialogue: Justice vs. Expediency . Reread the Melian Dialogue in Thuc ydides 5.84 -116. Imagine that you are an Athenian who attended a popular assembly in 416 BCE. The Athenian envoys have just reported on the course and results of the negotiations with the Melians. Imagine yourself going to the podium to defend one of the two opposing claims : either The Athenians’ demand that Melos should become a part of the Athenian Empire is fully justified, it is the right course for the Athenians to force Melos into submission ; or The Athenian arguments explaining their right to establish dominance over the Melians are flawed; it is not proper for the Athenians to force Melos into submission. Be sure to refer to the specific arguments made by both parties, as presented in Thucydides. What are these arguments exactly? Are they valid or flawed in some way? Do the Athenian deman ds bear witness to disintegration of morals and democratic values of Athens or are they justified (at least to some degree), considering the circumstances? Remember, there is no right or wrong choice here. Formal requirements: (1) You must choose one of the options provided above . If you would like to work on another topic connected to these two fragments in Thucydides, you must consult with me in advance. (2) Read this carefully. Do not quote extensively to use up space. This will lower your g rade. Rely on paraphrases or brief quotes, only where appropriate. When quoting, provide references not to the page numbers, but to the specific places in the text, e.g., Thuc. 2.40 (this means: Thucydides, book 2, section 40. Sections are numbered in the text that I have provided. We have only one work of Thucydides, so specifying “History of the Peloponnesian Wa r” is not necessary every time. ) If you are working on the Melian dialogue (it’s taken from book five of Thucydides’ work), your references will look like this: Thuc. 5.84 . (3) Minimum: 1250 words; maximum: 1300 words. (4) Deadline: Thursday, December 20 , by 11:59pm . No further extensions will be granted. (5) Early deadline: Monday, December 3. You will receive comments and will be able to resubmit your work, if needed. (6) Submit a .docx or .pdf file on Canvas. (7) Read this carefully. You must demonstrate a close familiarity with one of the assigned fragments in Thucydides. No other research is expected. I encourage you to express your own ideas rather than rely on somebod y else’s interpretations. For this particular assignment, using any type of outside sources will negatively affect your essay and your grade . Grading criteria are in accordance with the requirements of Montclair University’s GenEd prog ram and are outlined at the bottom of this document: https://goo.gl/uFyqyy . Note on plagiarism. I shall watch very closely for any attempts at plagiarism. All borrowings must be acknowledged. If you borrow ideas from printed or Internet resources, please acknowledge such borrowing, even if you are not quoting them directly. Please be aware that writing down the words narrated in a documentary or any other digital media without proper acknowledg ment is still considered plagiarism. Please note that if you borrow someone else’s work without proper acknowledgment, it is still considered plagiarism even if you now and then change the original words for their synonyms (=the words with the same meaning ) or change sentence structure. 2 According to Merriam -Webster dictionary, a system of politics based on a country’s situation and its needs rather than on ideas about what is morally right and wrong.