All presentations should last about one hour. During this time you should cover at least the following points:

• What were Ovid's sources (tragic or otherwise) for your episode, and what do we know about them?
• To what extent does Ovid assume or exploit the reader's familiarity with these models?
• What is inherently "epic" about Ovid's treatment?
• What is inherently "tragic" about Ovid's treatment?
• How do the synergies or tensions between these genres color the reading experience?

You may of course add to these points.

You should now be in the process of gathering references and reading your episodes in Latin. I will expect you to be thoroughly familiar with Ovid's text by the time of your reports.

About two weeks prior to your presentation you should make an appointment to see me to go over your preparations to date.

One week before your presentation you should select a portion of your episode (about thirty lines) to translate in class. You will lead the translation that day. Furthermore, you should also provide one or two helpful articles on your topic for your peers to read. (Tell me your choices at our two-week meeting.)

Each presentation should be clear, well-informed, informative, and confident. I will be grading you on both style and substance. The manner in which you deliver your report is up to you. You may offer a standing lecture, for example, or you may sit down and take your audience through a complicated problem or text. Whatever you decide, I will be looking for a well put together seminar.

Feel free to augment your presentations with visual aids, web pages, and so on, but bear in mind that such extras enhance, but do not replace, content. At very least you should provide your audience with a handout / outline of your report.

A word on articles and books: I have given suggested starting bibliography for each topic, but you should go beyond this in your actual papers, if not the presentations. I have many of the secondary sources on our large bibliography, but you will need to order certain items from Interlibrary loan, along with anything else you discover in your preparations. To expedite ILL orders you may want to attach my name instead of yours, as the Library gives preference to Faculty.

Finally, remember that one or both of your reports will serve as the genesis of your research paper. The more work you put in now, the better the presentation, but also the richer the paper.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.