Familiarity with and intelligent use of both primary and secondary sources - and knowing the difference between them - is crucial to a good research paper (even if you don't actually write out the paper).Each student must verify the topic with me in advance.
Nothing Else. Do not write a narrative. Depending on how successfully you narrow the topic, and thus how successfully you trim the size of the bibliography, your project will be 2-3 pages long.
Rules concerning ancient sources:Bibliography must use an accepted standard (social science or other) consistently.You must find all of the sources pertaining to your topic, except any (e.g., inscriptions) which do not exist in English translation.If you have difficulty finding translations of the sources, or even finding out what they are, ask for help.
Rules concerning modern scholarship:
There is no magic number of modern works which you must consult. Depending on your topic, the number may be small or very large.Modern works must include both articles in learned journals and, when possible, books (most topics will be discussed in some part(s) of books). Do not use encyclopedias, whether in print or online, except for Brill's New Pauly.
You must read and add to the bibliography at least one book review of any book that you are using.
Modern bibliography must include the most recently published items on the topic.
If you need help, ask for it in a timely manner.
Ancient authors (e.g. Thuc. 5.27) should be referred to by book and chapter, not by page number.
As a rule, on-line resources cannot be used (although they may lead you to bibliography in print): please consult with me if you find a site which seems to warrant attention. Some journals (e.g., Bryn Mawr Classical Reviews) appear only online. You may always use texts of ancient sources available online, although it is sometimes difficult to know how to refer to chapter and verse (e.g. Plutarch's Lives on the MIT site, which do not have chapter numbers).
Do not cite Wikipedia, other encyclopedias, textbooks, or class notes.
The Cambridge Ancient History has, at the back of each volume, an extensive list of primary sources and bibliography for each chapter. The CAH is available in the reference room of the library (D57 .C252) at the Classics Department (481 Main, room 207), and online
If you can find good scholarly books and journal articles about your topic, the ancient sources should be not only listed but discussed (sometimes ad nauseam).
How to cite ancient sources:
Thucydides 3.43 trans. Lattimore
Plutarch Life of Pericles trans. [whoever the translator is]; add the section number if you are using a printed text.
Look in the suggested bibliographies in the textbook at the end of each chapter.
Look in the most recent edition of the Cambridge Ancient History
Look in L'Année philologique, e.g. under the name of a person or place associated with or central to your topic. It is in the reference room of the library (Z7016 .A56); there is another copy at 481 Main Street room 302. I will be happy to help students use this. This bibliographical resource lists all articles and books published about classical themes, and where, if anywhere, the books have been reviewed. Many of the journal articles can be found in the UVM library. Instructions on use of the printed version of L'Année philologique.
The library also has a subscription to L'Année philologique online. Part of class October 2 will be devoted to how to use this database.
Try the UVM library for books,
after searching by subject.
Cruising the stacks: If your topic is regarded by the Library of
Congress as historical, you will find books on Greek history under the LC
heading DF. Religion is BL or BR, classical literature is PA. You can find
books about Thucydides under both DF and PA, depending upon the whim of
the cataloguer (or whether the book is concerned more with history or with
literary devices).
A very quick way to unearth lots of modern scholarship is to find a
good scholarly book or article, of recent date, on an appropriate topic
and peruse not only its text but its bibliography and footnotes. Scholars
borrow bibliography from each other all the time; it is fair to do this as
long as you actually read these other books or articles yourself.
How do you tell if a book is good? There are no guarantees, but some
or all of the following will give you an idea:
1. The book is by a refereed publisher (e.g. a university press)
2. The bibliography contains entries in a variety of modern languages
(thus indicating that the author has done the homework)
3. There are a lot of footnotes or endnotes
4. The author takes the trouble to describe what editions of the
ancient writers s/he is using
5. Reviews of the book are not uniformly hostile. You should read at
least two reviews, if they are available, of any scholarly book (this is
good advice for any field). You can find reviews in a number of ways; for
recent books you can try the Bryn Mawr Classical
Review on-line, and for both recent and older works look in the
bibliographical resource known as L'Année philologique, or
via JSTOR.
How to cite modern bibliography:
Book: Lateiner, Donald. The Historical Method of Herodotus. Toronto 1989.
Article: Stahl, H.-P. "Learning through Suffering?" YCS 24 (1975) 1-36. [YCS is Yale Classical Studies] Please use the same abbreviations that L'Année philologique uses.
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Last updated: 18 August 2013 Send Comments to: Barbara Rodgers, bsaylor@uvm.edu Copyright © 2013 Barbara Saylor Rodgers All Rights Reserved. |