Topics for the 2nd essay
Essay topics choose one:

1. Describe the eruption of Vesuvius in August 79AD and what happened to Pompeii over
   the 40-plus hours it lasted.
2. Discuss the characteristics and chronology of The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Styles
   of Pompeian wall painting. (See The World of Pompeii, pp.302-320.)
3. Create a power point presentation on one of the following: one of Pompeii’s baths, the
   House of the Faun in Regio VI, one of Pompeii’s temples, the theatrical district in Regio
   VIII or the Amphitheater/Palestra in Regio II. Include 6 or so slides in your presentation.
4. Describe the contents of the official Pompeian Archaeological Society’s website:
   Archaeological Park of Pompeii.
5. Create a topic of your own choosing or reformulate one of the topics listed above.
   Upload your essay on Canvas. It must be single spaced and at least 400 words in length. Please
   do not add a title page, but do include a bibliography. Put your name in the upper right-hand
   corner and in the upper left-hand corner the title of your essay. You will be graded on a scale of
   ten points: seven points for content, and I will take off up to three points for misspelled words,
   typos, improper English usage, and other grammar mistakes. Points lost on your essay will
   usually be due to errors noted below as well as grammar errors.
   Organizing Criteria (to be exhibited in your essay):
   You must have a thesis sentence at the beginning of the essay.
   Think of the five paragraph essay format, with an introductory thesis paragraph, supporting
   paragraphs, and a brief concluding paragraph. (Remember: In an essay you are arguing a point,
   trying to prove a point, or elucidating a point. Your thesis statement states what the point is.)
   Make sure your sentences make sense. Clumsy phrases and incorrectly used words will cost you
   points.
   Keep to the same verb tense.
   Stylistic Points (I will not mark off for style, but keep the following in mind):
   Avoid split infinitives.
   Avoid passives.
   Avoid wordiness; make your statements direct.
   Vary your sentence structure: a simple sentence, a compound sentence, a sentence with
   subordinate clauses, etc.
   Common Errors to avoid:
   Iliad or Iliad, not Iliad: underline or italicize titles of books and poems. Titles of articles are
   enclosed by quotation marks.
   it’s = it is
   its = possession
   their = possessive vs. there
   punctuation: “…store.” “…store,” “…store”; “…store”: (Single punctuation marks are placed
   within the quotations, while double punctuation marks are placed outside.)
   Avoid run-on sentences: He wanted to go home as soon as he finished, however he stayed
   behind. A complete sentence ends with a period or semi-colon, except when you string several
   very short sentences in a row: I came, I saw, I conquered.
   Avoid fragmentary sentences: Since he lived in the South for over ten years during the 1960s
   and experienced many facets of country living in those years.
   Use commas properly. End a subordinate clause beginning with such words (called subordinating
   conjunctions) as “when,” “since,” “although,” “as long as,” “while,” “as” with a comma. When
   he finished the assignment, he handed it in. “But” usually has a comma before it as in: I went
   home, but no one was there. Words or phrases in apposition have a comma before and after.
   Similarly, such words as “however” in the middle of a sentence has a comma before and after.
   Capitalize proper nouns and adjectives: Greeks. Do not capitalize the word ancient: ancient
   Greece, not Ancient Greece