Author: Instructor Mellen

Quizzes

You will have four quizzes over the course of the semester. Each quiz will include multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and identification questions. The questions will be based on the reading and classroom discussions. The quiz will be given at the beginning of the class and will take no more than 30 minutes. I will provide a study guide in advance of each quiz. No make-up quizzes will be given unless documentation of an extenuating circumstance is provided.

Final Exam

The final exam is cumulative. There will be multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, identification, and short essay questions. I will provide a study guide and will arrange an optional review session before the exam.

Course Requirements

Attendance and active participation in class discussions constitutes 20% of your course grade. Each student may elect to miss up to three classes per semester. Attendance is taken at the beginning of the class period. Late arrivals will be marked as “late” 5 minutes after class has started. Three late arrivals counts as one missed class.

Email and Communication Policies

Please check your Brooklyn College email once a day. I will be sending you information regarding the readings, assignments, and announcements via email, Blackboard and the course website. 

Grading Policy 

Your grade is based on the following formula:

Attendance and class participation: 20%

Quiz average:  50%

Final exam: 30%

Classroom Guidelines

This class requires participation. The use of cell phones and other electronic devices for purposes other than accessing and recording information relevant to the class will not be permitted.

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Class Meetings: Monday & Wednesday 9:30 – 10:45

Location: Brooklyn College

Instructor: Elizabeth Mellen

Email: elizabethmellen@gmail.com

Office: TBA

Office Hours: By Appointment

Course website: https://tedspring.commons.gc.cuny.edu

Course Description

Introductory study of ancient cultures through close reading of a variety of texts; most sections will focus on Greece and Rome, but some may explore other classical traditions such as those of England, France, and the United States. Attention to such questions as literary genre, material and performance contexts, gender, political institutions, religion, philosophy, models of culture and the creation of a classical tradition. Practice in close reading and communication by means of critical writing, class discussion and other methods, such as collaborative group work. (Not open to students who have completed Core Studies 1, 1.1, 1.2, or CORC 1110.)  Prerequisite: None.

In this course, students will engage with some of the major works in Western literature that portray the tension between the ruled and the rulers. This relationship between the people and the king, queen, emperor, sovereign, or president is one that dominates Western political and cultural history. Over the course of the semester, students will read and analyze Greek tragedy and epic poetry along with works from the early Renaissance up to the modern era. The selection of readings is organized around the theme of the individual’s ability to exercise free will under a tyranny, democracy, or empire. The focus of the reading and writing assignments will be on the interaction between the ruled and the rulers and the ways in which these interaction bolster or undermine hierarchy.

Course Objectives

• to use with accuracy and precision basic terms of literary analysis relevant to the texts read in class

• to identify traditions and practices specific to ancient cultures and describe how they influence later authors including Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill.

• to write interpretive prose which is clear and cogent.

• to make articulate contributions to classroom discussion of texts.

Optional Texts (Selections from these texts will be made available to all registered students on the course website. Students are not required to purchase these texts.)

Hamilton, Alexander. “Federalist No. 70” in The Federalist Papers: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution. Coventry House Publishing, (2015). ISBN-10: 0692528318; ISBN-13: 978-0692528310.

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Introduction by C. B. MacPherson. Published by Penguin Classics, (1982). ISBN-10: 0140431950; ISBN-13: 978-0140431957.

Homer, The Iliad. Translated by Robert Fagles with Introduction by Bernard Knox. Published by Penguin Classics, (1998). ISBN-10: 0140275363; ISBN-13: 978-0140275360.

Locke, John. Second Treatise of Government. Edited by C. B MacPherson. Published by Hackett Classics, (1980). ISBN-10: 0915144860; ISBN-13: 978-0915144860.

Madison, James. “Federalist No. 10” in The Federalist Papers: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution. Coventry House Publishing, (2015). ISBN-10: 0692528318; ISBN-13: 978-0692528310.

Mill, John Stuart. ‘On Liberty’ and Other Writings. Edited with an Introduction by Stefan Collini.  Published by Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, (1989). ISBN-10: 0521379172; ISBN-13: 978-0521379175.

Robespierre, Maximillian. Selected Writings and Speeches. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, (2016). ISBN-10: 1539602087; ISBN-13: 978-1539602088.

Sophocles, The Three Theban Plays: Antigone; Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus. Translated by Robert Fagles with Introduction by Bernard Knox. Published by Penguin Classics, (1984, Reprint 2000). ISBN-10: 0140444254; ISBN-13: 978-0140444254.