LATIN RESEARCH DOSSIER HELP/FAQs

As an IB SL Latin student in your senior year, you will be expected to produce a Latin SL Internal Assessment Research Dossier, where you will collect information on a subject, properly document it, and draw conclusions to questions you have asked at the start of the assignment. The word limit is 800-1200 (sources/quotes are not counted in word count) and it will count as 20% of your overall IB Latin SL grade. TOPIC What can you write about? Anything related to the classical (Greece or Rome) world. It could be an historical person (Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great), an event in ancient history (Battle of Marathon or the gladiator shows), something mythological (Daphne and Apollo or the use of Romulus in Roman culture) or societal issues (women in politics or slavery). The choice is yours, but you can always come and ask for advice and get suggestions. Dont make it too wide, but also keep it from becoming so narrow that your sources are limited. Topics included according to the IBO are Ancient History, Ancient Literature, Ancient Art, Archaeology, Architecture, Ancient Mythology, Ancient Religion are all permitted. Anything beyond this scope may be assessed by the IBOs point person for Latin IAs. Your topic of research should be a question you hope to answer during the research. Note that the questions are not to be simple Who were the children of so-and-so? or When was the Circus Maximus opened? Questions should require digging for answers and are probably best with words such as how and why. Think research question or argument. If in doubt, email me ASAP. Your thesis statement can make or break your IA, so be sure that it is well crafted. TABLE OF CONTENTS/TITLE PAGE You will need both a title page and a table of contents set up as follows: I. Introduction to topic with strong thesis statement. II. Sources with annotation Primary sources should be boxed and Secondary sources should be used within your annotation paragraph. III. Conclusion IV. Bibliography

SOURCES You will be expected to use 7-12 different sources for your research. (Note: 10 are recommended by other IB instructors.) And they should be a mixture of both primary and secondary sources. Ancient sources- writers from roughly 500 BC to AD 500 who wrote about your topic. Note that many are online in translation, while the FSU library has many books, including sourcebooks on subjects like games, the army, and politics. Also, for locating ancient texts, try using http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/. Online reading is perfectly acceptable, but be sure you can cite your exact source- some sites are not good with this/for this and I STRONGLY recommend using books!!! Archaeological/artistic sources- This could be a painting of your topic, an ancient coin, or an artifact relating to your topic. Note that the image must be given as part of your dossier- I need to see what you are writing about. Modern sources- Books are an excellent place to start. For example, the Cambridge Ancient History, covering events from around 400 BC to AD 324. JSTOR, an online source for journal articles, is also very helpful. All other websites must be approved by me. Many sites (including Wikipedia) are not academic sources. A helpful hint: look for .edu. BIBLIOGRAPHY You will need to provide bibliographic entries for all of your sources as the last page of your IA. See examples given for bibliographic entries below. Put everything in alphabetical order, based on author or title of the book/article/web page. There are many acceptable forms for doing these, but your key as a scholar is to be consistent. The most often used versions in Classics are called AJA or APA style, but any respected form (MLA) is acceptable. http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/ is a very helpful site for creating bibliographic entries. o Examples for Books: Authors name, last name, first name. Title of book in italics Publisher, place of publication, date of publication.

Andrade, Travis. The Roman Army on the March Sturgis Press, Boston, 2005. o Examples for Articles: Authors name, last name, first name, Title of article, Journal title in italics (volume number, year of publication), page numbers. Stewart, James, Queen Cartimandua and Claudius, Sturgis Storm (9, 2008), 1-9. o Examples for Web pages: Give the title of the web page and the URL, separated by a comma. Put the title on one line, the URL on a second line. Classical Myth: The Ancient sources, University of Victoria, http://web.uvic.ca/grs/department_files/classical_myth/in dex.html ANNOTATING OF SOURCES Once you choose your sources and have created your bibliography, you will need to annotate those sources in order to show how they answer or support your central thesis. To annotate is to give justification for your choice of a source. It should be able to answer the question Why is this important to your topic? Each annotation should be about 80-90 words. Primary Sources are sources created by people of the ancient world. Cicero, Ovid, works of ancient art are all primary sources. You will need to show primary sources/quotes within a box. Secondary Sources are sources which discuss primary sources. For example a modern book which discusses the life of Cicero or a commentary. These should be used within your annotation paragraphs and should not be offset in a box. When giving a quotation from a primary source, you need to show the specific part of the book you are quoting. For ancient sources, use the notations that are in the source books. There are different things depending on the type of book- poetry requires line numbers, histories need chapters etc. If this is not given with your source, see me. o Ovid you will recall has both book numbers and line numbers, so an entry for Ovid should look like this: Ovid Met. 2, 345-365

CONCLUSION You should have a well crafted conclusion which explains how you think your thesis statement has been proven by your sources. This should be a paragraph. GRADING CRITERIA Quality of Ideas 10 pts. Knowledge and Understanding 10 pts. Coherence and clarity of argument 10 pts. Total: 30 pts. SOME MORE HELPFUL WEBSITES Mythology http://webpages.ursinus.edu/classics/Myth/index.htm Check relevant links page- lots of information about gods University of Victoria- gives sources and images for individual gods http://web.uvic.ca/grs/department_files/classical_myth/index.html Classical Mythology from Temple University http://www.temple.edu/classics/mythdirectory.html Ancient History sourcebook http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ancient/asbook.html Click on Greece and Roman- many texts are given in translation.