Dates to Schedule:

Bring a topic description and outline to class on February 1, 2006.

You must bring THREE copies of your rough draft of at least seven pages (around 2000 words) to class with you on February 22, 2006 for our peer-editing workshop (with pizza).  Failure to bring a rough draft to class with you will result in your final grade being lowered one-half grade. 

The first draft of your paper is due on March 1, 2006.  I will hand the paper back to you the following week with my comments and suggestions for improvement. 

I am happy to read a second draft of your paper and in fact all of you will be required to sign up for a time to meet me at my office for a writing conference the week of April 5, 2006 where we will go over your revised draft before you hand in the final copy.

I urge you to begin working on your paper sooner rather than later, as the opportunities for paper rewrites come before the final due date, not after you hand in the final copy.
You must hand in your final paper by April 12, 2006.  No late papers will be accepted.

Paper Requirements:

This paper should be a minimum of 10 pages and a maximum of 15 (3000+ words, regardless of the font and format you use).

In addition to using the primary sources we have been reading in class, you will need to make use of and cite secondary scholarship in your paper.

Paper Topic:
Part I: Choose a location within the city of Rome  (e.g., the Forum, a temple, the Colosseum. a marketplace, etc), and describe how the place was used by the community and what kinds of activities occurred there (e.g., religious ritual, business, entertainment), what kinds of people frequented the site (e.g., toga-clad orators, merchants, women, slaves, children, freedman?)
Part II: Explain what this site you have chosen tells us about Roman culture.  (For example, is there anything about this site that provides evidence of cultural elasticity (influence of other cultures affecting a Roman ritual or event)?  Or what do you learn about Roman society from the kinds of people who frequent the site?  What do the kinds of activities that take place at the site tell you about the values of the culture?