This was really popular last week, I was really impressed with how many hardworking hobbyist type people we have here. It got me motivated to do some of my own things.
As a reminder, this thread is for anyone working on personal projects to share their progress, and hold themselves somewhat accountable to a group of peers. We can coordinate weekly standup type meetings if their is interest.
Post your project, your progress from last week, and what you hope to accomplish this week.
Also naming the thread. Tinker Tuesday or taskmaster Tuesday, or something else? I switched the thread to Tuesday instead of Monday because the culture war thread refreshes on Monday.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
The Ancient literature plan seems like a solid list, although I'm curious if you will just be doing readings from some of the longer works. Even for me as a fairly motivated reader, I found the Republic to be quite daunting just to get through, let alone begin to comprehend. At least for a intro class, a collection of Plato's shorter dialogues seems more optimal and a better introduction. Hard to go wrong with the classic Trial and Death sequence (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo). Lots of good discussion to be had in those four.
Also interested to know why you went for Antigone instead of starting with Oedipus Rex.
Here are a couple cool websites for Dante specifically; commentary and illustrations that might be helpful for students: http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/ (this one has study questions at the bottom of each section) https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/ (commentary, side-by-side Italian/English)
Second the recommendation of the trial and death sequence. The Republic is a very daunting text, whereas those are more engaging and comprehensible. I'd suggest, if that frees up space, to add Xenophon's Apology alongside Plato's. That can start a discussion about how to read Plato's portrayal of Socrates critically - e.g. Xenophon's Socrates is much funnier, explicitly making jokes. A couple possible questions that could get students reading critically, particularly regarding the dramatic framing of the dialogues (which often goes unquestioned, but is extremely important):
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