Special Issue Journal Publication

The Big Assignment

January 29 Đ March 7

Introduction

Phase 1: Topics and Groups

Phase 2: Writing the Paper

Phase 3: Writing the Responses

Phase 4: Writing the Introduction

Phase 5: The Panel Presentations

 

Introduction: What's a Special Issue Journal anyway?  I'll talk about this in class, and you can check out a couple of recent Special Issues of the journal Arethusa at

http://www.press.jhu.edu/press/journals/are/information/special_issues.html

Generally a Special Issue is a collection of separate articles, or essays, which all address a unified theme: either one text (the Iliad) or set of texts (Greek tragedy) or perhaps a particular theme (marriage or the family).  The separate essays within the journal either draw on different evidence, or argue conflicting theses, or emphasize different contexts, so that they function together to offer a fuller view of the topic than any one article could give.  But they do not in any significant way overlap each other in material.  Sometimes the journal publishes not only the individual essays, but also reactions to those essays by other authors, and even responses to those reactions by the first authors.  There is always a general introduction which synthesizes the various views given in the essays included, and situates each in the larger context of the general topic.

 

For the rest of the term, you will be working in groups to produce such a journal, to be published electronically and linked to our web syllabus.  This will involve:

á      determining the general topic;

á      determining how individual essays will address that topic without overlapping each other;

á      writing the essays (including drafting, peer editing within your group, and revising);

á      writing responses to the essays written by your group;

á      presenting your papers in a panel discussion format to the class; and finally,

á      collaborating on an introductory essay that places in the larger context each of the essays published in the journal.

 

 

Phase 1: Topics and Groups

This is going to be the messiest part of the process; we have a week to engage in the negotiations that should result in (ideally) 8 groups with broad topics, each consisting of (ideally) 4 students with specific paper topics that address the broader area.  Below I have generated some suggested topics, each followed by suggestions about sample papers that might work within those topics.  I will post these on Caucus, and this can serve as a forum for preliminary discussion about who is interested in which topics.  If you have a specific paper topic in mind you might post this as well, to see if others have related topics that could appropriately be grouped.

 

NB: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: All journal topics, in addition to each individual paper topic within each journal, MUST be cleared with me.  Finding a suitable topic is not always easy.  If you are having trouble formulating specific ideas, PLEASE come see me.  I'd be happy to talk ideas through with you until we come to a satisfactory topic.

 

Sample Journal Topics:

 

Eros and Aphrodite: Models of Love

 

Erotic love was considered a dangerous and transgressive, as well as a positive and pleasurable force in the ancient world.  Papers might consider the different models of love evident in lyric love poetry, Plato's Symposium, tragedy, comedy, and the legal texts. In addition papers might make comparisons across genres of texts, or between genders.

 

Coming of Age in Classical Athens

 

The passage from childhood to adulthood, both for boys and girls, was a carefully managed process and one fraught with risk.  Papers might examine the cases of Hippolytus or Neoptolemus from tragedy; the education of Ischomachus' wife in the Oikonomikos, the Hippocratic notions of the transition to adulthood for girls in On Hysteria in Virgins or other medical texts, or the educational notions for boys discussed in Plato's Symposium.  In addition papers might make comparisons across genres of texts, or between genders.

 

Marriage and the Household

 

Marriage is the prototypical meeting place for male and female citizens in the polis; marriage and the household are crucial sites where the city's gender systems are produced and reproduced.  Papers might explore the ways in which marriage (and its attendant crises) is depicted in tragedy (Women of Trachis, Alcestis), comedy (Lysistrata), or legal, philosophical, or didactic texts (Works and Days). In addition papers might make comparisons across genres of texts.

 

Crossing Gender Boundaries

 

Although we think of the sexes as being radically different, many texts indicate a fascination with the possibility of blurring the boundaries between male and female.  Papers might consider the analogies between young male and woman that underlie the medical texts and the Hippolytus, or consider instances of the "masculine" woman or "feminine" male in medical texts, the Symposium, or Aristophanes' comedies.

 

Text or Genre-Centered Topics

 

It is possible also simply to designate "Plato's Symposium" or "Lyric Poetry" as topics.  You need to be careful with this approach, though.  Completely unrelated papers, even if they address related texts, may not cohere into a satisfactory journal.  You will want to make sure that a good range of material is covered, and that there is a recognizable relationship between the papers, either of methodology (e.g. all papers use non-literary texts to illuminate tragedies) or theme (e.g. all papers concentrate on female sexuality, but each in a different play).

 

 

Phase 2: Writing the Paper

The paper should be 4-6 pages long.  It must focus principally on one or two texts.  It must state a thesis about the text(s) and make an argument for that thesis.  It will be evaluated on: the strength of its thesis (convincing, but non-obvious); the strength of its argument (logically laid out, with one part building on the next); the use of textual evidence (fully and specifically supporting each point; conflicting textual evidence acknowledged and explained rather than ignored); and overall mechanics (editing for spelling, punctuation, etc.).

 

The paper is due in class on February 12.  You should bring two copies.  Within your group of four, you will sub-divide into two pairs; each pair will swap papers with the other, and collaborate on providing feedback.  In class on February 14 we will conduct a peer-editing workshop, during which your group will meet to discuss the papers, provide some suggestions for revision to the authors, and start thinking about how the four of them work together.  Using the suggestions (and, if you like, those from our class Writing Assistant Christina Kimball or from me), you will revise your papers.  The final drafts are due February 19.  These should be submitted as e-mail attachments to me, if possible in HTML format.

 

 

Phase 3: Writing the Responses

With the four papers complete, you now have a good start at the journal.  The next step will be to write one response to each paper, in which, if possible, you incorporate some of the Roman material you will now have been reading and learning about.  Within your group you should determine who will respond to whose paper (donŐt write the response to your own). 

 

There are several positions possible to take in a response (as, in fact, you have been practicing all term on your CAUCUS responses).  You can agree with the position and amplify it, incorporating different evidence (this is one chance to deal with Roman material).  You can disagree with the position and offer a different interpretation of the same material.  Or you can agree with the position in its Greek context, but show how the Romans saw the same issues in different ways (again allowing you to incorporate Roman material).

 

The responses are to be only one to two pages in length, but they also must stake out a position and make an argument for it.  The requirements and evaluation criteria are the same as for the longer papers.  Responses are due in class February 26.  Again, you should submit them as an e-mail attachment, in HTML format if possible.  I will post them with the rest of your journal issues.

 

 

Phase 4: The Introductions

With the papers and responses complete and posted, your journal will be nearly complete.  The final phase involves considering the full work (all four papers and the four responses to them), and integrating the different papers into a coherent whole.  This will result, finally, in the collaborative introductory essay your group provides for your journal.

 

The purpose of the introductory essay is to articulate the journalŐs topic in the much broader context that is now available to you at the end of the term, and then to situate the individual papers within that context.  The introductory essay should be two to three pages in length, and is due on March 7, the last day of class.

 

 

Phase 5: The Panel Presentations

While you are thinking about this integration, your group will stage a panel presentation on the material you have produced for the class as a whole. 

 

You should plan for your presentation to last about 15 minutes.  This means you need to rehearse and time it carefully!  Everyone must speak at some point.  While you will want to briefly sketch for the class (perhaps in 1-2 minute talks) what the positions of your original papers were, the purpose of the panel is NOT simply to present those papers, but, as with the introductory essay, to situate those papers in a broader context.  As you consider how the Greek material compares to the Roman, you might want to consider also how these attitudes, assumptions, or systems compare to our own, and what the implications are of similarities or differences.   The presentations will be evaluated on the quality of oral presentation (clarity of speech; eye contact with audience, etc.); the degree to which the separate presentations are integrated with each other; and the overall quality of the ideas/comparisons/conclusions presented.