What is your view of Athenian democracy?
You should give your own view and defend it. Specifically, you should discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of Athenian democracy. But it is not enough to describe them respectively. You have to give an overall assessment, addressing the benefits in light of the costs.
Note that you should write an analytical summary, not a descriptive one. You should organize information logically around a contested claim. For more detailed requirements and grading criteria, please refer to the Grading Rubric in the syllabus.
Things are often complex and cannot be understood in simple black-and-white terms. You should try to give a historically informed, ideologically unbiased, and logically coherent answer. The historical context cannot be overemphasized. It is easy to dwell on generalities out of context. It is also easy to see things from one’s own ideological perspective and rush to condemn alternative ones without trying to understand them. You can always disagree but should show respect. It is more important to help contribute to a greater understanding of the question at issue. Finally, it is easier to speak coherently, but a lot more difficult to write coherently. Make sure that you move logically from sentence to sentence and consistently from paragraph to paragraph. Do not deviate from your focus. Whatever you write should be directly relevant to the prompt
