5.18.2006
T-minus 14 days and counting
Oh good lord...
Today at noon marked the two-week deadline to handing in six assessed essays valued at 5,000 words a piece, and a thesis, valued at 25,000 words. Total liability: 55,000 words.
Of course, my essay on Ostracism and the Democracy is currently 7,500 words, but my advisor swears that this is OK.
The essays on the table are as follows (two per course option):
For the option in Greek Religion:
• Gods Represented In The Assembly: an analysis of the use of divination in civic decisionmaking.
• Retreat from Rationality?: A study of whether the Greek state of the 4th century was actually more irrationally superstitious than the 5th century golden age of Pericles.
For the option in Thucydides and Greek History 479 - 403:
• Constitutional Amendments: charting the history of the Greek democratic reforms and the subsequent oligarchic reforms to those democratic reforms down to the institution of the oligarchy in 404 BC.
• All Politics Is Local: An examination of Spartan foreign policy as it was dictated by domestic policy during the first Peloponnesian War.
For the option in The Greek Democracy:
• Ostracism and the Democracy: The development, history, and mechanism of the Athenian ostracism.
• Power to the People: The shift in power from the plenary assembly of the people (5th century) to the legal courts (4th century).
And then there's my thesis.
Conducting Lawsuits in Athens after the Amnesty of 403 BC. Following the massive civil war over the oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants, the Spartans, led by Lysander, institute a reconciliation agreement which, among other things, declares an almost total amnesty over the crimes committed during the civil war. This is a study of the different ways that orators work their way around the amnesty in order to argue their cases. While focusing heavily on the orator Lysias, this also has elements of political theory and history via Aristotle as well as heavy reliance on Thucydides, Aeschines, Demosthenes, and Isocrates.
So you'll forgive me if I haven't been posting and do not post for a while. On the plus side, my computer's back and going strong. Also, one of my friends in the choir has agreed to proofread my thesis. For the second thesis in a row (OK, so there have only been this one and the undergrad one), I've gotten a cute blond frosh (they call them freshers here) to be my proofreader. I am very thankful for Sarah and all of the help I got in college. She's awesome. And as for my friend Esther, she's graciously agreed to proofread in return for the promise of dinner some time after my exams are over. Cute blonde freshman proofreaders are awesome.
Finally, had a great Mother's Day with my Mom. She and Dad came to England to watch Matthew in his production of Godspell at Eton. It was a really pleasant surprise (the musical - Mom and Dad coming was pleasant, but not exactly a surprise) as I am not a musical theater (theatre?) person and had my misgivings. I liked it so much I went back for seconds. Matt did a great job, and I'm so proud of him. Lunch was at a lovely country inn with fantastic Anglo-French food. Delicious, though a bit pricey. It was great to see my parents, and to take a weekend off from work. Well, not really - I did bring all of my work with me and averaged about 4 hrs. of sleep per night that weekend. Anyhoo, back to work. Matt's going home tonight to attend the wedding of one of our family friends. I'm absolutely gutted that I can't attend - especially since she's a friend of Diana's and is, as far as I know, unaware that we are dating again. It'd be so much fun to freak her out. :)
Today at noon marked the two-week deadline to handing in six assessed essays valued at 5,000 words a piece, and a thesis, valued at 25,000 words. Total liability: 55,000 words.
Of course, my essay on Ostracism and the Democracy is currently 7,500 words, but my advisor swears that this is OK.
The essays on the table are as follows (two per course option):
For the option in Greek Religion:
• Gods Represented In The Assembly: an analysis of the use of divination in civic decisionmaking.
• Retreat from Rationality?: A study of whether the Greek state of the 4th century was actually more irrationally superstitious than the 5th century golden age of Pericles.
For the option in Thucydides and Greek History 479 - 403:
• Constitutional Amendments: charting the history of the Greek democratic reforms and the subsequent oligarchic reforms to those democratic reforms down to the institution of the oligarchy in 404 BC.
• All Politics Is Local: An examination of Spartan foreign policy as it was dictated by domestic policy during the first Peloponnesian War.
For the option in The Greek Democracy:
• Ostracism and the Democracy: The development, history, and mechanism of the Athenian ostracism.
• Power to the People: The shift in power from the plenary assembly of the people (5th century) to the legal courts (4th century).
And then there's my thesis.
Conducting Lawsuits in Athens after the Amnesty of 403 BC. Following the massive civil war over the oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants, the Spartans, led by Lysander, institute a reconciliation agreement which, among other things, declares an almost total amnesty over the crimes committed during the civil war. This is a study of the different ways that orators work their way around the amnesty in order to argue their cases. While focusing heavily on the orator Lysias, this also has elements of political theory and history via Aristotle as well as heavy reliance on Thucydides, Aeschines, Demosthenes, and Isocrates.
So you'll forgive me if I haven't been posting and do not post for a while. On the plus side, my computer's back and going strong. Also, one of my friends in the choir has agreed to proofread my thesis. For the second thesis in a row (OK, so there have only been this one and the undergrad one), I've gotten a cute blond frosh (they call them freshers here) to be my proofreader. I am very thankful for Sarah and all of the help I got in college. She's awesome. And as for my friend Esther, she's graciously agreed to proofread in return for the promise of dinner some time after my exams are over. Cute blonde freshman proofreaders are awesome.
Finally, had a great Mother's Day with my Mom. She and Dad came to England to watch Matthew in his production of Godspell at Eton. It was a really pleasant surprise (the musical - Mom and Dad coming was pleasant, but not exactly a surprise) as I am not a musical theater (theatre?) person and had my misgivings. I liked it so much I went back for seconds. Matt did a great job, and I'm so proud of him. Lunch was at a lovely country inn with fantastic Anglo-French food. Delicious, though a bit pricey. It was great to see my parents, and to take a weekend off from work. Well, not really - I did bring all of my work with me and averaged about 4 hrs. of sleep per night that weekend. Anyhoo, back to work. Matt's going home tonight to attend the wedding of one of our family friends. I'm absolutely gutted that I can't attend - especially since she's a friend of Diana's and is, as far as I know, unaware that we are dating again. It'd be so much fun to freak her out. :)
5.04.2006
lonely
Gosh... As I said in my last post, I'm really busy this term. Made busier by the fact that I have no computer at the moment. I've, in fact, been without a computer for the better part of two weeks. It's killing me. I mean, certainly, there's plenty of stuff I can do without it. But it's really starting to hurt that I'm without...
Derek, one of my best friends at Oxford left today. He's gone to play professional baseball in Louisiana, and he'll be finishing his Master's in Classical Archaeology on the road. He'll go to law school next year, and then onward to a life of protecting art. He doesn't want to be Indiana Jones: he wants to be Indiana Jones' lawyer. I wish him the best of luck.
Still, part of me can't help but feel really sad that he's leaving. Many of my very good friends have moved on. Jess and Ted left at the end of last year. Dan is still in London, but I never see him. And really, Jess and Derek were my pool playing buddies. We were obnoxious and American and jingoistic. We were all from the northeast, and were unabashedly argumentative and intellectually curious and we got along great. I miss Jess a lot. I know I'm going to miss Derek too.
On the upside, it's, like, 90 degrees out and sunny. Gorgeous weather for working outside.
Derek, one of my best friends at Oxford left today. He's gone to play professional baseball in Louisiana, and he'll be finishing his Master's in Classical Archaeology on the road. He'll go to law school next year, and then onward to a life of protecting art. He doesn't want to be Indiana Jones: he wants to be Indiana Jones' lawyer. I wish him the best of luck.
Still, part of me can't help but feel really sad that he's leaving. Many of my very good friends have moved on. Jess and Ted left at the end of last year. Dan is still in London, but I never see him. And really, Jess and Derek were my pool playing buddies. We were obnoxious and American and jingoistic. We were all from the northeast, and were unabashedly argumentative and intellectually curious and we got along great. I miss Jess a lot. I know I'm going to miss Derek too.
On the upside, it's, like, 90 degrees out and sunny. Gorgeous weather for working outside.
