This semester we have read a number of assigned primary sources, sources produced during or close to the period of time they describe. These included a range of types of sources: law codes, political histories, and biographies (e.g. Code of Hammurabi, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars, and Josephus, The Jewish War). For the essay, you will write a critical analysis of one of one of the following listed primary source documents: Thucydides, Suetonius, and Josephus. This assignment involves you engaging in the critical evaluation of a historical writing (a primary source) as evidence about the society and period in which it was produced. Depending on the source and individual preference, students can approach the analysis by addressing one of the following: · what the source reveals about the political systems and conflicts of this society or about political change · what the source reveals about the organization and purpose social relations and hierarchies (e.g. family, marriage, class, rank, etc.) · what the source reveals about religious beliefs and religious innovations; or · what the source reveals about social values, attitudes and assumptions. Be sure to define your research focus in the introduction. Likewise, keep in mind that some of these sources were written decades after the events and people they describe, so you need to be aware of the historical context of the author. Although this essay is not a research paper, students will engage in directed research to effectively understand and evaluate the primary source. In addition to using relevant information from the textbook, students will locate pertinent information from an additional secondary source about the society and time in which the author lived. Secondary sources can include journal articles, encyclopedia entries, scholarly books, and reliable websites.
