History 4A: Paper Assignment #4
Plutarch’s Parallel Lives
Plutarch’s Parallel Lives is a fascinating source, not only for details about the lives of famous Greeks and Romans, but also for his comparative method, which allowed Plutarch to analyze particular qualities about a person and determine whether and how they made someone “great.” Read the following short biographical comparisons from Plutarch with an eye to what values they reveal of Plutarch, and by implication, the society in which he lived. By what method does Plutarch measure greatness? What are the important qualities of a politician? What personal habits makes one better than another? What do these values reveal about ancient Rome? Use specific examples from the text to explain your answer.
Comparison of Aristides and Cato
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Aristides%2BCato_Major*.html
Comparison of Alcibiades and Coriolanus
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alcibiades%2BCoriolanus*.html
Comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Demosthenes+Cicero*.html
Typed, double-spaced, 600-800 words, formatted according to MLA style.
Please e-mail as an attachment to the instructor at crjackson81@gmail.com before midnight on the date due. Note: before sending the assignment, you must rename the file in the following format: LastnameFirstname-papernumber. Example: JacksonChristopher-paper1.doc. If the file is not properly named, it will not be accepted. If the file cannot be opened with MS-Word, it will not be accepted. Please put the course number and the file name in the subject line of the e-mail. For example: Subject: History 17B JacksonChristopher-paper1. That allows me to better keep track of the several hundred papers that I received during the quarter.
For help on MLA style, see the Purdue Owl website: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/11/
You must cite your sources, and list them at the end of your paper as a List of References. Please do not “borrow” material from the web without providing proper citations and enclosing direct quotations in quotation marks. Otherwise, it will be considered plagiarism, and the penalties will be severe.