Assignments

Schedule of Assignments.

Syllabus here. Dates stated below are due dates for assignments. All assignments are due on or before the stated date/time. Readings and SWAs (short writing assignments) are to be done by the beginning of class, not during class or just after, on the due date in question. Papers, annotated bibliographies, and PowerPoints assigned for submission are due by midnight on the stated date. For online submission of assignments, go to Brightspace.

PART ONE
Introduction to Course
19-Aug No assignment. Introduction to course.
21-Aug Plato Gorgias pt. 1. Web reading plus Short Writing Assignment.
  • A crucial reading: Plato's Gorgias forms the basis of your first oral presentation and first paper.
Here's what to do:
26-Aug Gorgias pt. 2. Sections 481b-527e. Review the Study Guide; from which access the reading. Do the Gorgias 2 SWA. Brightspace assignment as per 21-Aug assignment.
  • Henceforward, all reading assignments to be done this way: read Study Guide, read assigned reading, complete SWA.
Theory 1
28-Aug Modern theory and related. Access the SWA 3 prompt and assigned reading links via the Study Guide.
2-Sep No class Mon classes meet. Add/drop deadline
Peithō: From Panhellenic Myth to Athenian Reality, part 1
4-Sep Persuasion reified, personified in cult, myth, art. Access to readings via Study Guide, which also read. Complete SWA 4.
Research Session
9-Sep Class meets in the Library Classroom, LN 1305, in the Innovation Lab, just across from the Tower Cafe. ASSIGNMENT: Read carefully the

No SWA this time.

Interlude. Oral Presentation 1. Gorgias paper pitch
  Before undertaking presentation 1, students will need to read the Oral Presentations page carefully. Ignoring directions will affect the presentation 1 grade, as will late submission.
11-Sep Paper pitch in-class presentation day 1.

Day 1 presenters: By 12pm, submit (upload) your PowerPoint and presentation as separate docs via the appropriate BrightSpace Assignments link.

16-Sep Paper pitch in-class presentation day 2.

Day 2 presenters: By 12pm, submit (upload) your PowerPoint and presentation as separate docs via the appropriate BrightSpace Assignments link.

18-Sep Paper pitch in-class presentation day 3.

Day 3 presenters: By 12pm, submit (upload) your PowerPoint and presentation as separate docs via the appropriate BrightSpace Assignments link.

23-Sep No class. Rosh Hashana.
Peithō: From Panhellenic Myth to Athenian Reality, part 2
25-Sep Aeschylus' Agamemnon (Fagles, Penguin). Study Guide.
30-Sep Read:

When you're done with the reading, do the SWA as per Eumenides Study Guide

2-Oct No class. Yom Kippur.
7-Oct Early Political Theory and Practice. Click here for Study Guide with access online to readings.
9-Oct TWO THINGS:
  1. QUIZ 1 on readings & lectures 21-Aug through 7-Oct.
  2. Plutarch's Themistocles (Penguin). Study Guide.
12-Oct Paper 1 due via BrightSpace by midnight.
14-Oct Thucydides. Study Guide and access to readings.
16-Oct Plutarch's Pericles (Penguin). Study Guide.
PART TWO
Democracy and its Discontents: Peitho in Crisis
21-Oct Theory 2. Carugati and Ober on Democratic Collapse and Recovery in Ancient Athens. Study Guide with text access.
23-Oct Readings in the sophists. Study Guide with readings access.
28-Oct Political oratory. Access via Study Guide.
30-Oct Aristophanes' Clouds (Focus). Study Guide.
30-Oct EVENING. Epideixis (oral presentation 2) topic proposals due via email. For instance:

"For my epideixis I want to talk about why Neapolitan pizza is far superior to American so-called pizza." As simple as something like that.

For more on everything related to the epideixis, including topic restrictions, see the Oral Presentations page > Second Presentation. Epideixis

Week of 3-7 Nov or earlier. Schedule ½-hour meeting with me to discuss/brainstorm Paper 2 topic. For what's needed for the Paper 2 topic as well as for everything else relating to Paper 2 and to papers generally, see the bingdev Papers page.
  • You will need to have read, and carefully, the Paper 2 section of the Papers page prior to meeting. Also, come in with ideas. Do not, however, panic — no need. This is for me to guide you toward something doable and interesting.
4-Nov Aristophanes' Knights (penguin) Study Guide.
9-Nov Aristophanes' Lysistrata (Focus) Study Guide.
12-Nov EVENING. Paper 2 topic proposals due via email. For what I need in that email as well as for everything else relating to Paper 2 and to papers generally, see the bingdev Papers page.
11-Nov Plutarch's Alcibiades (Penguin). + quiz #2 (on readings 2-Mar through 30-Mar). Study Guides:
13-Nov Epideixis day 1. You must attend class to deliver and / or hear speeches. More here.
18-Nov Epideixis day 2. You must attend class to deliver and / or hear speeches. More here.
20-Nov Epideixis day 3. You must attend class to deliver and / or hear speeches. More here.
25-Nov No class.
27-Nov No class. Thanksgiving.
2-Dec Plato Phaedrus.
4-Dec Final class, reflections

ascholtz@binghamton.edu
© Andrew Scholtz | Last modified 22 October, 2025