Writing Papers

You will write papers of various kinds in Classical Studies courses at DePauw, but here are key guidelines and resources, even as you pay heed to specific instructions in your syllabus. See also the writing requirement for senior majors.

CONCEPTS:

  • Writing is a conversation. This conversation begins with reading. Reading widely and thoughtfully informs you and introduces you to high-quality writing models (in terms of structure, mechanics, and style). So … consider and evaluate what others have said, and then respond with your own ideas, evidence, arguments, and insights. Make yourself an interesting part of the conversation.
  • Writing is a process. This process is recursive—moving from an initial idea, through a gathering and sorting of evidence, to a rough structuring of the main points you want to make, towards a meaningful conclusion. To wit:
     - get an idea;
     - collect information;
     - propose argument (thesis);
     - build argument, citing evidence;
     - summarize the point of your paper and consider ramifications;
     - edit: focus and improve.
    You must go back and work through that process multiple times before you can refine your thoughts into a clear, coherent, final expression. Write outlines and drafts. Edit, edit, edit. And leave time-gaps between your editing sessions so your brain can work on the paper subconsciously while you are doing other things. Like any skill, the more you work on it, the better you’ll get. If you try and write it the night before it’s due, it won’t be any good.
  • Writing is communal. Ask for help; talk to your professor; consult guidebooks on style (copies are on the top shelf of the Reference bookshelf on the south wall of the Asbury 115 suite); visit the Writing Center:
    • DPU’s Writing Center (in R.O.W. library).
    • DPU library lib guide on Citations.
    • Graff, G., and C. Birkenstein. They Say / I Say. The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W. W. Norton, 2018 (5thed.).
    • Williams, J.M. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. New York: Pearson, 2009 (3rd ed.). That book is summarized in this outline.
  • Writing confers responsibility. Your writing is a public claim of your ideas, arguments, opinions, and selection of evidence. Therefore it comprise your words, not someone (or something, e.g. AI) else’s. Plagiarism is pretending that you conceived or wrote something that you did not; it is academic fraud. We expect you to know and follow the Rules for Academic Integrity at DePauw.

PRACTICALITIES:

  • Have a clear thesis somewhere in the first two paragraphs. Make sure the thesis is not just observational (e.g., “There are a lot of murders in Aeschylus’ Oresteia.”) but rather argumentative (“the many murders in Aeschylus’ Oresteia serve to shatter familial structures and social customs based on blood allegiance so that they can be replaced by more democratic obligations to society as a whole.”)
  • Always argue from the specific to the general—never the other way around. Never start any paper with the word Throughout, as in: “Throughout… (the book, the Roman Empire, history, etc.).”
  • Cite your modern scholarly sources (use the style your professor instructs, such as: Chicago or MLA), and include an alphabetized bibliography (by author last name) at the end of your paper.
  • When citing ancient sources, abbreviate as listed in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, e.g.: Hom., Od. 14.145-67 is the proper citation for: Homer, Odyssey, Book 14, lines 145-167. Cite book and line numbers, NOT page numbers, because page numbers differ for every edition and translation.
  • When encountering abbreviations in Epigraphy or Papyrology, see this Guide on Brill.com.
  • Use the active voice (i.e., “Hercules tricked Atlas”) rather than the passive voice (“Atlas was tricked [by Hercules]”). It is less wordy, and it makes clear who is responsible for an action.
  • Keep consistent tense. Don’t bounce around between present, past, and future tenses.
  • Use apostrophes correctly. Maria’s basket; Moses’, not Moses’s; 1980s, not 1980’s; it’s = it is; its = a possessive. An apostrophe gaps a missing letter and does not make something plural. It also can indicate possession because it gaps a missing ‘e’ which used to indicate the genitive case (possession) in Old English.
  • Beware of anachronisms. Try not to retroject the understandings, cultural norms, and viewpoints of a later time (e.g., “now”) onto an earlier time. The Ancient Mediterranean world was different from ours. Don’t assume things about it.
  • Avoid logical fallacies, like ‘straw man’, ‘red herring’, or ‘slippery slope’, because they undermine your credibility. Review the lists from Purdue OWL, UNC, or (comprehensively) the Fallacy Files.
  • You don’t need a “title page,” but title your paper and put your name on the first page.
  • When you submit your paper as an electronic file, include your name and other key info in the file name, e.g.: “Jones_Paper2Draft_CLST154_Fall2024.pdf”. Pay attention to the file format your professor requires; most of the time it will be .pdf