Too often students will read sources that significantly disagree with one another but do not recognize that fact. This assignment is intended to test your ability to identify disagreements and differences in the material you read as you enquire into the development of modern theatre over its first 2000+ years.
For this assignment you are to pick a topic from any of the time periods we are studying up to around 1650 CE and write a critical report on how reference sources deal with this topic. In other words, you are to check the topic in at least three recognized reference works and two web sites and report on any contradictions or differences you see in the information provided. Do any of the sources disagree with any of the other sources? Do some sources provide more information that other sources? Which of the sources seemed most informative and reliable? You will present your report as a 500-600 word essay on this topic, answering the questions asked above and any others that seem relevant to you. Your essay should follow Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers and must cite sources properly using either in-text citation or footnotes. Turn the paper in as a Word document. Do not submit a PDF.
In lieu of an in-class presentation, your Project I papers will be shared with your classmates online via ELMS. You will be assigned to do a peer review of a classmates paper and someone in class will also do a peer review of yours.
By reference sources I mean, encyclopedias, companions, guides, annotated bibliographies, and dictionaries, or textbooks and the introductions to plays, etc. These are valid whether you find them online or in the reference section of our library. In the case of textbooks and introductions to plays, they can be online or in the library stacks. By websites I mean any information that does not fit one of the categories above. That includes blogs, online class notes, travel guides, and information sites provided by individuals or groups that do not have a published equivalent. Wikipedia counts as a reference source. Fan of Ancient Greek Tragedy Chorus at https://kosmossociety.chs.harvard.edu/fan-of-ancient-greek-tragedy-chorus/ (Links to an external site.) is a website.