CLST 273G: Classical Tragedy - Women and Gender Focus Fall Semester 2017 Dr. Jacqueline Long

Reading Journal

Goals

• To engage with current readings and class discussion, fulfilling goals of course work
• To practice critical thinking by reflecting on Classical tragedy and feminism
• To fix your real-time reflections, provisionally, in verbal form so they can be shared and to aid your reexamining them from perspectives you go on to develop
• To practice skills of written communication

When are journal-entries due? What do they cover?

• Journal-entries will be collected approximately every five sessions: see Schedule of Readings and Assignments. Please hand them in in person, on paper, at the start of class on the date assigned for the entry, or if it will be impossible to hand a physical paper in at that time please arrange an alternative plan with the instructor explicitly and in advance of the assigned due-date.
• If not more specifically directed by the instructor in the class-meeting before the journal entry-is due, each journal-entry should focus on a topic arising from assigned readings, study questions (or, after the midterm break, study questions), or discussions in class, since when the last journal-entry was due - journal-entries should stay current with current reading
• Follow the instructor's directions as given, if specific instructions for the upcoming journal-entry are given in the class-meeting before the journal-entry is due, or if the topic is left free pick one single topic on which to focus the journal-entry you hand in: by all means, carry your reflections further in your personal notes, but these "official" journey-entries will give you best value as a "best-of" collection rather than a minute-to-minute inquisition
• A journal-entry presents your response to our collective work, as it progresses over the semester, so for example you could
  • comment on assigned reading, along lines prompted by some study-question or lines of interest you are developing and pursuing otherwise
  • follow up and extend a line of discussion begun in class
  • connect an assigned reading or class discussion to other course material
  • respond to an argument in one of the optional ancillary articles or chapters linked with assigned readings
  • connect course material to other related material (e.g., other aspects of fifth-century Athenian life, other literary or visual sources for ancient Greek mythology, other plays or literature from Greek or Roman antiquity or from other periods and cultures, other elements of the experience of gender in Greek and Roman antiquity or in other periods and cultures - please indicate your sources so that I can follow up if it's appropriate)

What format do journal-entries follow?

• 1-1 1/2 pages, word-processed (12-point Times Roman): 250-400 words
• Think substantively about the concerns you're discussing
• Support your observations by referring to specific passages of the text and explaining how you form your understanding of them
• Indicate clearly all sources you use, with enough information that someone interested in your ideas can pursue them - you don't need a formal bibliography, but give pertinent information (line-number in our translation of the play you're writing about; playwright, title, and line-number in our translation of a play you're comparing; Wohl's name and page-number of the chapter we have assigned and to which we return periodically; Turabian-style footnote-reference to another secondary source)
• Communicate your thoughts clearly
  • Express your ideas well, without wasting words: the better you use language, the more you can achieve with it
  • Show where your reasoning currently brings your thoughts
  • Write correctly as to spelling and grammar: errors spoil your communication
• Proofread carefully and correct any errors - think of it as maintaining good habits, or think of it as avoiding embarrassing yourself, but do it
• Always observe Academic Integrity (of course)

Revised 15 August 2019 by jlong1@luc.edu
http://www.luc.edu/classicalstudies/