CLST 295 / WSGS 295: Women in the Classical World Fall Semester 2011 Dr. Jacqueline Long

Study Guide for the Final Examination

Format

• cut-and-dried identifications: basic factual information (small credit per item, and a small component of the exam)
• passages from the primary sources (ancient texts) that we've read: identify context, and discuss briefly but concretely a couple of the trends in our study-material that the the passage illustrates most prominently -- for the discourse from which the passage comes or for Classical societies and cultures more generally (each passage-essay earns a medium-small quantum of credit, but they add up to a major component of the exam)
• essay: discuss an interpretive question, drawing for support of your contentions on specific, concrete evidence from several primary sources, explaining what the sources illustrate, and demonstrating how they support your interpretation (the largest single item of credit; a major component of the exam)

Things to study

• the evidence we have considered, who produced it, when, for what audience: be able to set primary sources we have used firmly in the historical and cultural context to which they relate
• literary traditions, or other cultural traditions, in which our sources participate, and conventions of these traditions: historical anecdotes, biography, epitaphs, funeral eulogy, jokes, laws, legal pleading, love-poetry, honorific monuments, narrative history (the narrative covering either legendary or verifiably-historical events), passion-narrative, political speeches, portrait-statues, private letters (real correspondence and literary epistle), wall-painting and other decorations of private homes
• major figures -both individuals (e.g., Tarpeia, Hortensia) and social categories (e.g., matron, martyr)- in the evidence we've considered
• concepts and terminology of Classical culture and its scholarship that are especially relevant to our material, e.g., Augustus/Augusta, catechumen, freedman/freedwoman, gens, honestior, humilior, marriage "in manus" or "without manus", martyrdom, paterfamilias, patria potestas, patrician, pietas, plebeian, princeps, proscription, Republic, "right of three children," Triumvir, tutela, univira, Vestal Virgin
• concepts and terminology of social and cultural criticism conventionally used in feminist inquiry, especially into the Classical world, e.g., androcentrism, anthropocentrism, chastity, diversity, fertility, gender, homosocialism, intestacy, norm/normative, patriarchy

Strategy: think of specific passages that illustrate important points, so you can back up your arguments with concrete evidence on the test. Be sure you explain clearly how the passage helps demonstrate your point. Helpful elements: What does it say? What does that mean? Why does it mean that? How do you know?

Apology and reassurance: this list looks long because I'm trying to think of as many possible dimensions of study in our material as I can -- and succeeding! What I'm really trying to do is to remind you of possibilities and to encourage you to open the doors of inquiry wide to your own interests.

General-purpose reflection: we are about societal and cultural understanding, not memorization of minutiae. It is convenient to be able to identify major figures swiftly, by name, but it is far, far more important to demonstrate, by explaining clearly, that you recognize and understand how details of our sources, the actions and relationships evoked in them, and characteristic associated imagery, reflect concepts and values relating to women and gender in the Classical world.

• categories of existence conventionally recognized in the Classical world (particularly, for purposes of this exam, in its various Roman periods), qualities conventionally associated with individuals in each category, expectations for interactions across categories - consider both within particular locations or periods, and how these ideas shift from place to place or over time
  • groups by order of being, e.g., gods, humans, animals
  • groups by gender, e.g., male, female
  • groups by life-stage, e.g., child, maiden/youth, adult, old person
  • groups by familial relationship, e.g., father, mother, daughter, son, widow, employee, slave
  • groups by class and social power, e.g., rulers and ruled (under Royal, Republican, and Imperial systems of government for citizens, and provincial government by Romans over subjugated territories), slave and freed and free, rich and poor
  • groups by ancestry and occupation, e.g., kings and emperors, Senatorial nobility, the equestrian class, merchants, soldiers, peasantry, slaves
  • groups by location and relationship to location, e.g., native and foreign
  • groups by civic participation, e.g., magistrate, citizen, resident alien, non-citizen
  • groups by religious participation, e.g., priest/priestess, participant in public cult (in rituals either open or closed to general participation), initiate in private cult, deacon, bishop, martyr
• occupations typically of women, e.g., fabric-making, child-care, house-keeping
• women's participation in activities perhaps less typically identified with women, e.g., poetry, commerce, public benefaction
• how social and cultural conceptions are envisaged and experimented with in historical legend
• how social values are read onto and from women's roles so as to distinguish communities
• in what ways women are associated with the household
• in what ways women participate in communities beyond the household
• in what ways women practice religion
• in what ways women are associated with life-giving
• in what ways women are associated with the end of life
• what understandings were applied to women's minds
• what understandings were applied to women's bodies
• how social transitions are negotiated
• social honor and dishonor
• women's affections - to whom they are directed, under what circumstances, and how representation presents them to wider audiences
• why and how women's sexuality is important
• ideals of feminine desirability

And yet more strategic advice

• Identifications come across especially clearly and convincingly when you back them up by mentioning a specific, concrete detail in one of our sources that illustrates your idea.
• Both passage-essays and topic-essays want to address the question, "So what?" More formally, "What does it mean?" and "Why does it matter?" Show how the source works to support your insights.
• Explain your reasoning clearly, logical step by logical step. Take your reader with you, in order to persuade.
• With passage-essays, you've got text right there in which you can anchor your discussion very specifically. Take advantage of this resource for concreteness and detail.
• Connect the dots: when you want to add a source to your discussion, in support of your interpretations or for comparison, show what makes it relevant - then when you explain what's going on in it, it will also help support your central argument.
• Building on discussions we've had in class and taking even further the understanding we've established together of Classical society and culture and the discourses of gender, makes exam papers truly exciting. Education aims above all for you to develop your knowledge, skills, confidence, and the interest to claim an inquiry for yourself. Go for it!

Revised 14 December 2011 by jlong1@luc.edu
http://www.luc.edu/classicalstudies/