Roman Biography Research Project
Selection of Roman Figure: Each student will write a 3-5 page analytical biography based on sound research skills. Students will choose one figure from Roman history and research according to the steps below. Students must use a minimum of six sources, three of which must be books and one of which must be a primary source. The other two (or more!) may derive from the Web as long as the sources are reputable. Students are encouraged to search for periodical sources as well either in the form of hard copy or using an internet service such as Infotrac or Proquest. Students may also benefit from investigating the biography section in the Student Resource Center found on the Novell Applications screen. Students should first peruse the list below for Roman figures for the project. Alternative choices should meet the approval of the instructor before the research process begins. Make your choice with the following important question in mind: How does the figure meet or stray from the cultural ideals of ancient Rome?
Remember that the goal of the project is not merely to list the achievements or tragedies in the life of the figure. Instead, students should research with an eye toward answering the research question and interpreting the material. It is the goal of the writer to make the reader care about the figure in meaningful ways. Republican Figures Scipio Africanus Gaius Gracchus Sulla Pompey Cleopatra Catullus Terence Julius Caesar Hannibal Cicero Cornelia Gracchus Crassus Marc Antony Lucretius Brutus Tiberius Gracchus Cato the Elder Polybius Spartacus Livy Plautus Cassius
Imperial Figures Augustus Claudius Julia Sejanus Pliny the Elder Tacitus Diocletian Horace Titus Tiberius Nero Agrippina the Elder Zenobia Vergil Suetonius Trajan Marcus Aurelius Constantine Caligula Livia Agrippina the Younger Helena (mother of Const.) Ovid Elegabalus Hadrian Domitian Alaric
Attila the Hun Theodosius Caracalla Seneca St. Augustine Valens
Justinian Septimius Severus Marcus Agrippa Vespasian Tertullian
Theodora Commodus Paul Juvenal Dio Cassius
Biography choice must be made by _______________________________________ Background Research: Use this step to establish important factual evidence about the figure. Consider the following questions for this step: Who was the figure? When did the figure live? Where did the figure live? What did the figure achieve or endure? What is the family background of the figure? What is the social background of the figure? Who were the figure’s contemporaries? What important events were occurring during the figure’s life?
Include this information on at least 25 notecards taken in the proper format. Remember that one of your sources should be a primary source. Students will be graded on library behavior including productive use of time, visible progress, appropriate questioning, initiative, and respectful use of library materials. The background research will be checked on ____Thursday 4/10 in class (10pts.) Hypothesis: After conducting the background research, each student must develop a hypothesis (a tentative thesis statement) to answer the research question. Consider strong verbs in your statement (try to avoid forms of “to be”). They will help make the hypothesis more meaningful. The hypothesis must be handed in on __Friday 4/11 end of class_______(_10pts.) Further Research: Students should now continue research with an eye toward developing a final thesis statement from the hypothesis. This research should test the hypothesis, so do not be afraid to change the language of the hypothesis in order to fit the evidence you have found. At least 50 notecards will be checked on _Tuesday 4/15 ________________(10pts.) Thesis Statement: Given your further research, manipulate your hypothesis as necessary to create a thesis statement that your evidence can support. Thesis statement is due on __Wednesday 4/16 end of class____________(10pts.)
Outline: An outline is a “road map” of your paper. Outline your paper using interpretive and analytical topic sentences and specific examples from your research. Write out completely both introduction (to begin the outline) and conclusion (to end the outline. Use proper indenting format leaving space between each section. Include citations in the proper format at all at appropriate times. Outline is due on _________Thursday 4/18 end of class________(20pts.) Writing the Biography: After completing the research (and each step along the way), you will need to write the biography itself. Throughout the research, you will have found information from many different sources. Anything that is not your original work MUST be cited using parenthetical citations (author’s last name and page number with no comma between). Organize the biography in a manner that fully develops your thesis statement. The biography will be evaluated on performance in these key areas: Hypothesis and thesis statement Use of evidence to support thesis Organization and appropriate topic sentences Correct use of English grammar and spelling
Final paper must be word-processed, double-spaced, and in 12-font type. Please include an illustrated cover page with an original title that helps inform the reader about the direction your biography will take. Julius Caesar is not an acceptable title for a biography of Julius Caesar (or anyone else for that matter). Final paper due on ____Thursday 4/30 beginning of class______(100 pts.) Total points for assignment: 160 pts
Cultural Ideal Hypothesis Worksheet
Definition of Cultural Ideal: An aspect or standard of a particular culture by which members judge each other. Example: During the Roman Republic, Romans regarded service to Rome as honorable. 1. List at least ten of the cultural ideals of Rome. _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________
2. List below the three ideals that best fit your person. Then provide facts about the person that relate to the ideals.
Cultural Ideal
Supporting Evidence (Specific Facts)
3. List below any ideals your person either challenged or failed to meet. Cultural Ideal
Supporting Evidence (Specific Facts)
4. Write a sentence (your hypothesis) that expresses the relationship between your person and the most important cultural ideals. Sample hypothesis: Ptolemy was an unsuccessful pharaoh because he failed to learn the Egyptian language, maintained a stronger loyalty to Greece than to Egypt, and refused to worship the Egyptian gods. Remember that the research question is as follows: How does the figure meet or challenge the cultural ideals of ancient Rome? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ The sentence above is your tentative thesis or hypothesis. Its purpose it to direct your research and to discover whether your statement is the best one you can make. Of course, you may discover that some ideas you have now are not accurate. You may want to add other factors or change the relationship of factors as you discover more information or think more about your question.
DOCUMENTING YOUR RESEARCH Much of the information you found during your research must be documented when you use it in your research paper. To document a piece of information is to show the reader where you found it. What kinds of information must be documented? 1. Every direct quotation: quoted material should always be written word for word and put inside of quotation marks. 2. Another author’s ideas or interpretations in paraphrased form. 3. Facts not of common knowledge: for out purposes, these are facts found in only one source. How do you document information in your paper? Use the MLA style of parenthetical references to document your research. The name parenthetical comes from the use of parentheses. All information is cited by placing the author’s name and the page number where you found the information in parentheses directly in the text of your research paper. Please review the first three pages of the MLA hand out before you begin the documentation process. However, here the critical guidelines: 1. Insert the appropriate information (usually the author and page number) in parentheses after the words or ideas borrowed from another source. 2. Place the parenthetical reference where a pause would naturally occur in your writing. This is usually best done at the end of a sentence, but before the period. 3. Make sure that all of the sources cited in your paper are included in your workscited page. The works-cited page only included bibliographic entries for the sources directly cited in your paper. Some important things to remember: 1. When there is no author listed, give the title or a shortened version of the title. 2. Leave a space between the author’s last name and the page reference. No punctuation is needed. 3. No page number is needed for single-page articles or non-print sources. 4. Turn your paper in with both a works-cited and a bibliography of all the sources you’ve consulted during your research.
WRITING AN OUTLINE
Your final outline should be a formal sentence/topic outline. Follow the steps here to create your outline. Be sure to allow enough time for this task—you need to do some challenging thinking as you develop the best way to put together your ideas and your evidence. By completing this challenging task, however, it will successfully prepare you to write the final biography.
Omissions and Additions: Keeping the Focus Clear 1. Once your thesis has been checked and you are satisfied that it is the best expression of the central ideas you are trying to prove, you are ready to begin your outline. 2. Be careful as you go back over your cards to leave out what does not fit into your paper. This can be painful, but it is crucial to keeping your reader focused on your thesis argument. Some of your information won’t fit, and in other places you will need to add more information (even at the last moment).
Rough Draft Outlining: 1. Reread your note cards and arrange them in groups by topics. Your topics should reflect the important elements of your thesis statement. 2. Arrange the groups in a logical sequence. What cards contain background information that the reader will need to know first? What is the best order to present the evidence in support of your thesis? 3. This is a rough draft of your outline. Don’t be afraid to make new combinations of cards. Experiment.
Formal Outline Your introduction and conclusion should be written in paragraph form. Remember that your introduction should grab the reader’s attention, acquaint the reader with your topic and background information, as well as present your thesis. Underline your thesis sentence, which will probably come at the end of your first paragraph. Designate major sections of your paper (topics that will be covered in multiple paragraphs) with Roman numerals. Designate paragraphs with capital letters. Write the full topic sentence for each paragraph next to the appropriate capital letter. Indent clearly (5 spaces) and write the actual information you will use in each paragraph in outline form below the topic sentence. You should also include any direct quotes you intend to use. Include citations where you need them.
Outline Format I. Section Title (“Offensive Weapons”) A. Topic Sentence Written Out Here 1. Detail a. Detail of detail here i. Further detail here
DUE ____________________________
MLA Citation Models: Who? What? When? Where? The FOUR critical models: Book Author. Title. City: Publisher, Year. Article from a periodical Author. "Article Title." Publication Title Date published: Pages. Webpage Author. "Page Title." Site Title. Date posted. Sponsor. Date accessed . Article from a Database Author. "Article Title." Periodical Title. Date published. Pages. Database Title. Database publisher. Subscriber. Date accessed . If information is unavailable, skip to the next item in the entry. Do not, for example, write "No Author" or "No Sponsor" Date format is always # Month # - for example 4 April 2005 NOT 4/4/05 NOR April 4, 2005 Webpage sponsors are often evident in URL - . . . ksu.edu Kansas State University - . . . loc.gov Library of Congress - . . . pbs.org Public Broadcasting System - . . . psychologytoday.com Psychology Today Citation in text always uses the first item in the Works Cited entry: "Babe Ruth." American Memory. 5 June 2000. Library of Congress. 10 May 2004 . Smith, Terry. "Bill Russell's Genius." Smithsonian. Sept. 2000:36-40. Biography Resource Center. Infotrac. ARHS Library. 10 May 2004 . Halper, Jeff. "A Palestinian Prison State?" Boston Globe. 11 April 2005: A23. "Attention Deficit Disorder." Psychology Net. American Psychological Association. 12 March 2005 . is cited ("Babe Ruth").
is cited (Smith).
Name_________________
Roman Biography Outline
You may need more paragraphs or more space for evidence in some paragraphs. Remember to include the specific ideals in each paragraph. I. Introduction Attention Grabber/Hook: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________ Background/introduce topic: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________ Thesis: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________ II. Body A. Topic Sentence: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________ 1. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________
2. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________ 3. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________ 4. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________
B. Topic Sentence: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________ 1. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________
2. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________ 3. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________ 4. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________
C. Topic Sentence: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________ 1. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________
2. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________ 3. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________ 4. Example/evidence _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________ D. Topic Sentence (perhaps contrast some ideals they met/didn’t meet depending on topic) __________________________________________________________________ _____________ __________________________________________________________________ _____________ __________________________________________________________________ _____________ 1. Evidence/Example
__________________________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________________________ _______ 2. Example/Evidence
__________________________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________________________ _______
3. Evidence/Example ____________________________________________________________ _____________ ____________________________________________________________ _____________ ____________________________________________________________ _____________ 4. Example/evidence ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ __________________________ ____________________________________________________________ _____________
III. Conclusion A. Restate/rephrase thesis (Summary statement)
__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________ Review/summarize evidence __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________
Connections to overall historical picture of Republic/Empire. ________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _________________________________