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