1. Homer, Iliad. Translated by Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1990. (ISBN 0140445927)
2. The Trials of Socrates. Edited by C.D.C. Reeve. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2002. (ISBN 0872205894)
3. Sophocles, Antigone and Oedipus the King, in The Three Theban Plays. Translated by Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1982. (ISBN 0140444254)
4. Virgil, Aeneid. Translated by Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2005. (ISBN 0872207315)
5. Anonymous, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Translated by J.R.R. Tolkein. New York: Ballantine Books, 1975. (ISBN 0345277600)
6. Judges, 1-2 Samuel from The Bible. Any reasonably accurate translation will do.
7. John Milton, Samson Agonistes. Edited by F.T. Prince. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1957. (ISBN 019831910X)
8. William Shakespeare, Henry V. New York: Viking Penguin, 1968. (Any edition will do.)
9. Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince. Edited by Quentin Skinner and Russell Price. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. (ISBN 0521349931)

First, a word about attendance. Because of the small size of the class and the infrequency of our class meetings, your attendance at each session is very important, and is therefore required. Further, since this is a seminar, your insights and participation are essential -- by not attending you're cheating yourself and your classmates. Consequently I expect you to be present, both physically and intellectually, for every class. Your attendance and participation will count as 25% of your grade for the course.

Second, a word about cell phones and related technologies: turn them off when you come to class, and leave them off unless you're on a break. These devices are very distracting, and they interfere with the class. This should not need saying, but in the past few semesters there have been students who needed to be told that this was not appropriate.

There's an e-mail reflector for HONR 218C, which allows us to keep in touch with each other by e-mail. By sending a message to honr218c-0101-fall08@coursemail.umd.edu you send it to everyone in the class. I'll use the reflector to disseminate course materials, but also to promote ongoing discussion of issues raised in class. I'll periodically post questions or topics for discussion to the reflector, and your contributions will be taken into account as part of your class participation.

The written component of your grade will be determined on the basis of your performance on three of four writing assignments. Everybody must take the final exam at the end of the course (see below). In addition, there will be three paper assignments, and you may choose the best two grades you receive on papers. (Or, if you like to play the odds, you can write only two papers and just use those grades. I will caution you against this, however.)

The papers will require you to pay close attention to a passage or passages from one of the texts you will have read for class. I'll ask you one or two fairly specific questions about issues raised in the passage(s), and you will articulate and defend your answers in the body of the paper. The papers should be 4-5 pages in length (ca. 1000 words), double-spaced, with suitable margins. Be sure your pages are numbered and in the right order, and that your name is on the paper you turn in.

It is important to proofread your papers for mistakes of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. These are very distracting, and it is very hard to keep them from interfering with the judgment of the overall merits of what you are trying to say. How you say what you say matters. How you spell what you say matters, too. In this era of spell-checking and grammar-checking word processors, these sorts of mistakes are pretty close to inexcusable.

It's a good idea to do at least two drafts of your paper, giving yourself time to reflect and reconsider between them. It may be useful to have another person who knows something about your topic read and comment on your first draft. He or she may pick up something you have missed.

Your papers should be your own work and your own words. The prompts are designed to get you to focus on the texts, and you shouldn't need to consult secondary sources. But if you owe any of the ideas you incorporate in your papers to something you read, be sure to indicate this. If you quote someone's ideas, indent the quotation or put it in quotation marks, and in either case cite the source. Not to do these things constitutes plagiarism. The consequences of plagiarism can be serious.

Finally, I recommend that you keep a photocopy of the paper you turn in, since papers sometimes get lost.

I'll try to return your papers to you by the following class period. Since the class is scheduled to meet only once a week, and since our schedule demands that we move quickly through our texts and authors, no late papers will be accepted. The due-dates for the papers are firm, and it is up to you to see to it that your papers are handed in on time. (I'm happy to accept your paper by e-mail, if you'd prefer not to have to print it yourself.)

In addition to the three short paper assignments there will be a comprehensive final exam, scheduled at the beginning of exam week (December 18th). The questions will be handed out well in advance of the 18th, and the exam will be open-book.

Since I'm just an adjunct member of the faculty and do not reside on or near campus, I don't have scheduled office hours. But I'm available either before or after class meetings, and can always be reached by e-mail.

All University of Maryland course syllabi are required to include information about Academic Accommodations, Religious Observances, and Academic Integrity. That information is available here.