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CLAS 1270:

Assignment 2:

Sophocles’ Electra

Weight

This assignment is worth 25% of your course marks.

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is twofold. First, this assignment will give you the opportunity to explore Greek tragedy, and specifically Sophocles’ Electra, in greater detail. Second, this assignment will sharpen your writing skills.

Grading

Your paper will be graded on the quality of your critical thinking skills, your use of evidence, and your communication.

For further details please consult the Grading Rubrics, below.

How to Proceed and Assignment Details

1. Read Sophocles’ Electra.

2. Choose one of the essay topics below. (You may alternatively propose your own essay topic; but be sure to consult with your instructor on the feasibility of your proposed topic.)

   1. Discuss the role of the Chorus in Sophocles’ Electra. Do they represent the Athenian audience? Why or why not?

   2. The play is called Electra, not Orestes. In what ways, besides the title, does Sophocles make Electra, and not Orestes, the focus of his play? Why might Sophocles have chosen to make Electra the focus?

   3. Sophocles’ Electra has an exceptional number of important female characters (including the Chorus of Mycenaean women). Choose one of these female characters. How does your chosen figure conform to, or stand out from, the Athenian cultural norm?

3. Write a paper on your chosen topic. Your paper should be written in essay format, with a clear introduction and thesis statement, body paragraphs supporting your position (as given in your thesis statement), and a conclusion. The paper should include a title page and bibliography; it should be double-spaced, use a standard font and font size (e.g. Times New Roman 12 point), and have 2.54 cm (1 inch) margins all around. The length of the paper (excluding the title page and bibliography) should be 700-800 words.

4. Submit your Assignment to the Dropbox for Assignment Two, as a DOCX, DOC, or PDF file.

Be sure to have a single argument (thesis).  Relate every body paragraph clearly to the thesis statement, and sum up your position again in your conclusion.

Your writing should be clear, concise, and focused. You do not need to cite any outside sources for this assignment (cite any source that you use). As with the first assignment, the focus is very much on the primary source. You should cite the play copiously; choose what you wish to quote judiciously: long block quotes do not belong in a short paper such as this.

Cite Sophocles’ Electra by author, title, and line number. For example: “But as things are now, I think it best to sail with lowered sail” (Sophocles, Electra 335).

As to the corresponding Bibliographical entry, in Chicago Style, the general format is:

Author-name [Last, First—if applicable]. Title. Editor-name, role. Series-name. Place-of-publication: Publisher, Year-of-publication.

If you are using the assigned version of Electra, the bibliographical entry would therefore look like this:

Sophocles. Electra. Hanna M. Roisman, trans. and ed.. Focus Classical Series. Indianapolis, In.: Focus, 2008.

As with Assignment One, please note that students of the Classics, and of the Humanities more generally, should be made aware that the best student guide to Chicago Style is:

Turabian, Kate L.. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students & Researchers. 9th ed.. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 2018. [ISBN: 9780226430577]

In the past, some students have wanted to cite Roisman in their papers (Roisman is the translator and editor of the assigned edition of Electra). Using Roisman's notes (or her essays) is by no means a requirement. Still, in case it is helpful, please note the following:

Cite any editorial material as an element separate from Sophocles' work. For example, Roisman composed a number of essays (titled "Introduction", "Interpretive Essay", and "Afterlife"), and each of these could be cited in your paper (with their own bibliographical entries as well). Most commonly however, students appear to wish to refer to her Notes. A Bibliographical entry (in Chicago Style) for her Notes might look like this:

Roisman, Hanna M.. "Commentary Notes". In Sophocles, Electra, trans. Hanna M. Roisman, 18-93. Indianapolis, In.: Focus, 2008.

A corresponding footnote (this is just an example) would look like this:

Hanna M. Roisman, "Commentary Notes", in Sophocles, Electra, trans. Hanna M. Roisman (Indianapolis, In.: Focus, 2008), n. 165 [p. 25].

If you want to cite the course notes (again, this is not required), here is the method that I recommend (I am basing this on Chicago Style):

An initial (full) footnote would look like this, e.g.:

Dina Guth, Introduction to Ancient Greek Culture [CLAS 1270 D01] course notes (Winnipeg, Man.: University of Manitoba, Winter 2020), "Unit 6: Greek Tragedy", Performances at the City Dionysia, para. 2.

A subsequent (abbreviated) footnote, referring to the same work, would look like this, e.g.:

Guth, Ancient Greek Culture, "Unit 6: Greek Tragedy", Sophocles and Sophocles' Electra, para. 1.

The bibliographical entry would reproduce much of the content of the first footnote, but with the usual changes (e.g. author last name, first name; use of periods rather than commas as separators; publication information not enclosed in parentheses; no passage location information; hanging indent); on the format of bibliographical entries, check a style guide like Turabian (see above).

I would consider the url to be optional (it would come at the end, if you do include it). What is crucial is to list enough information so that your reader easily can locate the specific passage to which you are referring in each case. Thus I have included not only the Unit name, but also the relevant sub-heading and para. no. under that sub-heading. Counting paras. is something that you have to do for non-paginated sources (like the course notes).

Grading Rubrics