Advice on Reading, Looking At and Writing About Ancient Sources The task of the classical scholar is twofold: to master the evidence (material as well as literary), and to interpret it in a convincing, and ideally new and/or interesting way. Communicating that interpretation can be awkward, especially in the rushed and stressful circumstances of the once- or twice-weekly tutorial essay. These notes are intended to give some guidance about what this tutor thinks essays should be and do; they are a work in progress, and comments, additions etc. are extremely welcome! The Reading List Reading lists vary enormously from tutor to tutor, course to course, and week to week. Most of them will have some primary and some secondary bibliography. Concentrate primarily on the former and only second(ari)ly on the latter. Sometimes an essay question will be provided which may help you to focus your reading and note-taking; 'prompt' questions are also common, a series of issues and problems to think about while reading, not all of which need to be answered in the essay. Reading ancient texts, even in translation, requires care and attention. Use a commentary, and use maps (i.e. photocopy or trace them, then annotate them, draw on them, make your own, etc). Visual material can be ‘read’ in a similar way to texts. Students tend to be less used to working with art and artefacts at the beginning of the course, but practice will quickly close the gap, as will going to lectures on art-historical and archaeological topics – even those outside your own courses, if you find ones that look interesting. One method of training yourself to read images is to practice a ‘picture question’ approach (see below) on as many as possible. Don't succumb to the temptation to summarize secondary literature in your notes (though this can be a useful tactic with primary sources): note only what you think you will need to use, either in the long term (for the exam, or a dissertation), or in the short term (for your essay). Think about what study methods work for you: room or library? morning or afternoon (or middle of the night)? written notes or diagrams? Try out different ways of working. Presentations (for texts and contexts) There are two kinds of presentation that you will be asked to make in this class: brief responses to prompt questions on the literary material, and short presentations of archaeological material. In both cases the idea is to lead off discussion on the text or artefact or topic, so keep your comments concise (certainly less than five minutes) and use the opportunity to bring up problems or questions as well as (or instead of) suggesting conclusive answers/interpretations. It’s easier to follow presentations given from notes than talks that are formally written out. Using the following format will help to structure your presentations of visual material, and will be useful practice for picture questions (on which see further below):

1. Description. What kind of thing is it? What is it made of? What is the date? Where was it found? Can you say anything about how or where it was used, and by whom? Describe features or iconography as clearly as possible (no expertise needed here!).

2. Significance. What is interesting about it? Tell us 2 or 3 things that are interesting about the object

in itself, in the context of its genre, and/or in the context of this week’s topic/literary texts.

3. What problems or questions does it raise? End with 1 or 2 questions or issues for discussion.

Picture Questions in the Exam NB THESE ARE NOT IDENTIFICATION TESTS! The faculty guidelines say: Examiners want to see you bring wide knowledge of the subject to bear in assessing a single specific example, and to see how you can use a specific example to make telling general points. Answers to picture questions should be organised under the following headings: 1. Title: You should give your answer a basic descriptive title, which could include such things as its name (if you know it), material, description (ie what is it?), date, and (if known) provenance, current location. An ideal title would be: Artemision Zeus, Bronze statue, c. 470-460 BC, from Cape Artemision. National Museum, Athens; but such detail would be unusual. 2. Object: What kind of object or structure is it? What was its function? What contexts was it used or found in? 3. Subject (iconography): What is represented? (This category does not always apply.) Describe what you see (scene, pose, action, clothes, hair, attributes, decoration, and subject, if it is a mythological or historical narrative scene). Are there any particularly interesting details? [4. Style: How is the subject represented? How is the object made? Is there anything to be said about the technique, craft or manufacturing? This can lead to an estimate of (or explanation of other scholars’ estimate of) date and provenance, especially if you can cite parallels. NB this section is more for people doing picture questions in dedicated archaeology papers; if you have something to say under this heading in Texts and Contexts then so much the better, but it is not required.] 5. Significance: Things to think about: date, function, contexts of use or viewing, interesting or unusual details of the subject or style, to what extent is it a typical example of its type? Who (or what sort of person) would have commissioned or bought this, and who is supposed to be looking at it? How does it illuminate the ideas and values of the people who used it? If you know about them, you could also discuss scholarly interpretations of the object. You could also talk about links with the set texts or topics for this course (not necessarily the one it seems to be attached to!) Essays A very useful mnemonic to remember when writing essays is TESS. This stands for Thesis - Evidence - Structure - Style, four important components of any decent essay in that order of priority. Good style cannot compensate for poor use of evidence in argument, nor is a beautifully structured essay much good if it doesn't have anything in particular to say. Thesis The reader shouldn't be in any doubt as to what the central contention of the essay actually is. You will probably be answering a specific question (your tutor's or your own), though you may be conducting a more general examination of a topic – in either case you should have one argument which frames and propels the essay, and is firmly based on the sources. Evidence The primary evidence forms the meat of the essay: the material you select and present in order to develop, substantiate or defend your thesis. Summarise it, dissect it, interpret it, analyse it, but do so selectively. If you're interested in a passage in the second book of the Odyssey, don't spend half a paragraph telling me what Homer says in the first, unless that is somehow terribly important for understanding the claim in question. Avoid narrative at the expense of argument, and avoid making claims without supporting them with primary evidence and/or examples. You are trying to persuade your reader of the validity of your

argument, not just tell them what it is, and the efficient and effective marshalling of evidence is a key part of that endeavour. Page (or book, or chapter…) references are good. Use footnotes if you like footnotes. Structure A well-laid out paper, with an obvious beginning, middle and end and a thoughtful organisation of paragraphs is important. A clear structure helps organise your own thinking, and makes it easy for a reader to find her way through your thoughts. If the topic requires a complex organisation, or a distinctively peculiar structure, then spend a bit more time at the beginning telling the reader in advance how the essay is going to work. Rule no 1: ALWAYS plan your essays before you begin (whether in list or diagram form). The plan may well change once you start writing, which is the reason for Rule no 2: ALWAYS reread your essays before you submit them, not only for mistakes, but also for the clear and logical development of the argument. Style Style comes last, which is not to say that it is unimportant. Reading good, fluent prose is one of the great joys in life, and being able to write it is a marvellous gift to possess. But contrary to the beliefs of some, good style is not the be all and the end all, and style without substance is quickly found out. The most important aspects of writing style are the basics. Write clear sentences. Use the right words, and not too many of them. Spell words accurately. Follow the conventions of English grammar. Avoid cliché. Don't let your writing become stuffy, pompous, or bureaucratic. An excellent guide to writing style is Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. A fine, fine little book, packed with good advice. Introductions In many ways the introduction is the most important part of the essay. This is where you can capture your reader's imagination, and convince her that you have something interesting to say. All sorts of contextual comments can be made in an introduction, but there are certain things that ALL introductions should do, viz: 1. Define the question or problem (either that assigned, or that discovered during reading). 2. State the central thesis of the paper. (Some people prefer to construct the essay to lead inexorably to a concluding thesis rather than explaining and arguing one already stated in the introduction: this is a tricky route to negotiate, especially under time pressure, and if you do, be sure to be very clear in the introduction about what kind of argument you will be making and towards what sort of conclusion you are aiming). 3. Summarize the structure of the essay: a road-map of your argument, if you like. This will make the essay easier to follow - and it will also ensure that it has a clear structure! Conventions In my opinion, the ideal tutorial essay is 2000-2200 words long. 2500 is too long, and 1500 is almost certainly missing something important or interesting. It is double or 1.5 spaced if it is word-processed – though handwriting essays can be useful both for constructing a disciplined argument and for exam practice. Pictures, diagrams, maps and tables all add colour and clarity.

J. C. Quinn, October 2004