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Interpretation essay

#	Due Date	Pts	Activity	Time
4	Friday 11:59 p.m.	20	Interpretation Essay Unless it explains, history is trivial. Write a short persuasive essay agreeing or disagreeing with a common interpretation about the topic and expressing your own view	60 min.

Before reading further, make sure you are familiar with the general description of the Interpretation assignments and with the description of the various suggested writing styles. Information on these pages will not be repeated here.

Sic et Non

Write your interpretation in a 1200-1800 word essay.

It’s time to put on our thinking caps and interpret the significance of what we’ve been exploring! Unless it explains, history is trivial. Did you discover anything unexpected this week that needs to be explained? What surprised you this week? Did you make any unexpected discoveries? What was the most meaningful part of your explorations this week?

Note: Consider giving your essay an interesting title at Confluence... More people will reply to an essay on "#1. The Presocratics invented particle physics" than "Week 3 Interpretation essay." Also be sure to indicate which question you are addressing, so that those who are writing on the same question can choose to reply to your essay.

1. In the Odyssey, Homer wrote that Helen of Troy learned how to use "cunningly good drugs" from physicians in Egypt. In an important article,* historian Heinrich von Staden points out that the Greeks themselves, from Homer to late antiquity, identified treasured parts of their own scientific traditions as non-Greek (e.g., Egyptian) in origin. Given the numerous cultural interactions between the ancient cultures of Egypt, the Near East, and Greece, and the recognition by early Greeks that their knowledge of nature was in part derived from other cultures, why do you think the view has become so entrenched today that the Greeks invented science, without reference to earlier and contemporaneous cultures?
   (*Heinrich von Staden, "Affinities and Elisions, Helen and Hellenocentrism," Isis, 1992, 83: 578-595.)
    
2. Aristotle taught that a tradition of natural philosophy or physics began with the discussions of matter and motion established by the Presocratics. Today many historians of science agree, and suggest that the Presocratics outlined many of the fundamental questions, and suggested important concepts and categories, that have guided physicists ever since. What are these fundamental questions? What are these important concepts and categories? Why are the presocratics important for the development of physics? How do they show different conceptions of nature and how nature is known? Conclude with an explanation of why you agree or disagree with Aristotle and modern historians on the importance of the Presocratics.
      
3. In what ways did the theories of the presocratics involve religous beliefs consistent with contemporary reform movements, or in what ways did their theories represent a repudiation of religion in favor of a fundamentally different way of knowing? Provide specific examples involving several figures. For example, of what significance is it that Parmenides claimed divine revelation for the knowledge of truth he received through logic and reason? Is this evidence of science “replacing” religion, or of their complex coexistence and continued interaction?
    
4. Based on optional reading: Lindberg raises the much-debated question whether there was a pre-logical “primitive mentality,” and notes that some have supported this idea with the observation that oral cultures often simultaneously accept incompatible alternatives -- e.g., two conflicting stories to account for the same circumstances. Evaluate this view by considering the following questions: First, what purposes did these stories serve, according to Lindberg? Second, are there ever occasions when the modern, rational, “scientific mentality” simultaneously accepts incompatible alternatives? If so, discuss the significance of this for attempts to distinguish between these “mentalities.”
    

Instructions for Interpretation assignments: Go to Janux and watch the Interpretations video prompt. Comment on your initial reaction to the video prompt in the discussion stream at Janux. Take one of the questions or points of view listed here and consider how it relates to the assigned readings for this week. Consider both Context and Evidence assignments, whenever applicable. Write a short essay defending your thesis and/or refuting competing interpretations. An Interpretation essay must express a point of view, supporting that argument with specific evidence gathered from the assigned readings. Your Interpretation essay should be at least 1200 words long, and not more than 1800 words (you can do a word count at Motionnet.com). This word count does NOT include the original question you are responding to, any quotations from assigned readings, or the two notes at the end of the essay. Spellcheck, word count, and proofread your essay. Since this is a longer writing assignment, you will probably want to use the spellcheck and word-count features in your word processor. In a one or two sentence note at the end of your essay (not part of the word-count), indicate why you chose to respond to that issue and how you came up with the interpretation. In a one-sentence note after your essay (not part of the word-count), identify which style or genre you selected (analytical, narrative, dialogue, etc.) and explain why you thought that would be the most effective way to convey your interpretation. Include reference citations or links to any textbook, website, course page, or Exhibits Online that are closely related to your Interpretation (e.g., "For Redondi's view, go here: insert link"). Additional reading beyond course assignments is not required, but you must include at least two citations or links to assigned readings that provide evidence and relevant historical context. These two sources must be either primary sources that pertain to the topic and come from the period being discussed or secondary sources (e.g., one of our textbooks or assigned web pages) written with demonstrable knowledge of the relevant primary sources (for example, in addition to the assigned background readings, professional historians of science may be assumed to be familiar with the sources they write about; see guidelines for evaluating sources). An argument that is not supported with documented evidence does not meet the minimum requirements for an Interpretation essay. For citations and links, use the forms described in the bibliographical guidelines. (For example, a citation to our text could be "Lindberg, Beginnings, p. #." ) Cut-and-paste your completed essay, with notes and links, and post it in the Interpretation forum for this week at the Confluence discussion board. After you have posted your Interpretation, complete the Gradebook Declaration in Desire2Learn. (Your Gradebook Declaration is subject to the Honor Code.)

	HSCI 3013. History of Science to 17th century Kerry Magruder, Instructor, 2004-14 Brent Purkaple, TA Report typos or broken links	Go to this course at Janux spellcheck.net | wordcounter.net Many thanks to the pedagogical model developed in Mythology and Folklore and other online courses by Laura Gibbs, which have been an inspiration for this course.	Academic Calendar
	This course is currently undergoing major reconstruction to bring it into alignment with the new version of the course at Janux