HISTORY 135E

SPRING QUARTER, 2006
Department of History
University of California, Irvine
 Instructor:    Dr. Barbara J. Becker

 

Essay 1.  Reading the Past

 

The Assignment:

The distinction between historian and poet is not in the one writing prose and the other verse ... it consists really in this, that the one describes the thing that has been, and the other a kind of thing that might be.

--Aristotle, On Poetics, Ch 9.

Take the opportunity afforded you by the library's online resources to investigate an early book (15th or 16th century) written on a subject related to inquiry into the distinctions between living and non-living things:

Go to the UCI Library Home Page
  • Click on:
    • "Online Resources"
    • "E-Books and E-Texts"
    • "Early English Books Online" (EEBO)
    • "Search"
  • To get started, type in a subject (anything you think might yield some interesting results:  alchemy, stones, travels....)
  • Select a book from the results of your search
  • Select at least two pages from your chosen book to work with for your project....

Here are some possible project ideas:

  • Find a foreign language book, or one written in early English:
    • transcribe the text in a neat hand on unruled paper, or
    • translate the text into modern English
  • Find two different editions of the same text published several years apart:
    • compare the texts, or
    • compare the title pages, prefaces, tables of contents, illustrations...
  • Find two books on the same subject by different authors:
    • compare the texts, or
    • compare the title pages, prefaces, tables of contents, illustrations...
Submit your product in class on Thursday, April 27.

NOTE:  I'm not particular about the format you use for citations, but you should include the following basic information organized in a methodical and uniform manner:

  • author (who)
  • title of the work (what)
  • date written/published (when)
  • relevant pages, lines, paragraphs, chapters, books ... to clearly lead the reader to the source (where)

Keep in mind that the purpose of the citation is not only to credit the original source, but also to lead interested readers to a place where they can learn more.

Please be sure to proofread and correct your work before submitting it.

 
Go to:
Readings for Week
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Lecture Notes for
4-4
4-11
4-18
4-25
5-2
5-9
5-16
5-23
5-30
6-6
4-6
4-13
4-20
4-27
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5-11
5-18
5-25
6-1
6-8