As per my long term plan (see planning for Gantt charts) today is the day that I need to start my contextual research so that when it comes to going more in depth into Alexander's character I will understand the context that it is in and hopefully not interpret any sources using modern standards which would misrepresent them.
So far today I have come up with some topics that I would like to research and know more about to make me able to complete my project in the most depth:
To get me started with trying to find resources for these I have looked through the LRC Moodle page with the key words "Alexander the Great" to see if they have any books or articles to get me started and found the following:
From this brief foray into the resources available to me I would say my first step would be to borrow the Atlas from the library and make some notes so I understand the context of the time that Alexander lives in and it should leave me better prepared to read and understand more specialised resources as I will understand more of the history of the time. I also think that finding a biography of Alexander the Great's life would be useful so I have something that tells me all the dates and events I could look at within my project as well as possibly citing some good sources I may want to make use of.
My next step after today would therefore be to borrow that Atlas on Ancient Greece to give me context and then find a biography of Alexander the Great to give me more specific context.
I also need to conduct primary research as the above is all secondary, for this I would like to find some academics that specialise in or know a lot about Alexander the Great or Ancient Greece. However this creates a lot of potential problems as I don't know how to start looking for such people or whether I would be able to obtain their email addresses or if they would reply to me. My next step in this contact of academics would be to find some and then come up with some specific questions to ask them - perhaps things I am not sure on or their opinions on something. I think the use of correspondence with academics would be better off being used for more specific, rather than contextual, research though I should start looking and contacting potential candidates much earlier on.
I also want to look at some ancient artefacts such as physical (statues etc.) or written ones (texts from the time such as from Ancient historians) concerning Alexander or his time in my completion of this project, hopefully such things should be mentioned in the books/articles etc. that I read and I can go from there.
My plan, therefore, for tomorrow is to borrow and begin reading/researching with that Atlas which is available to me and begin a bibliography and literature review which both need to be in a decent stage of completion (have roughly 10 sources) by the time I leave for Summer and I also need to have done enough research to enable me to do a practice presentation by the time I leave so these are my goals.
So far today I have come up with some topics that I would like to research and know more about to make me able to complete my project in the most depth:
- Who was Alexander - his heritage, where he came from etc.
- Ancient Greece in that era
- The Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon
- His family & heritage
- Overview of his life
To get me started with trying to find resources for these I have looked through the LRC Moodle page with the key words "Alexander the Great" to see if they have any books or articles to get me started and found the following:
- The Mask of Command : A Study of Generalship by John Keegan - from the title (obviously not a reliable way of assessing a source) it sounds good for assessing his military career and how it has influenced other generals and wars in the future although it doesn't sound like it will be exclusively about Alexander which suggests it may not go into much depth. This book probably wouldn't come under the caption of contextual research as it sounds quite specialised
- The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece - Atlases are very useful for getting an overview of a period and this would be useful for finding out about Ancient Greece, Macedon and the world at the time of Alexander's life so should be a very good source for contextual knowledge
- Into the land of bones : Alexander the Great in Afghanistan by Frank Holt - not quite sure what to make of this title, however it suggests quite a specialised look into Alexander's life and may again be good for the military conquests side of things
From this brief foray into the resources available to me I would say my first step would be to borrow the Atlas from the library and make some notes so I understand the context of the time that Alexander lives in and it should leave me better prepared to read and understand more specialised resources as I will understand more of the history of the time. I also think that finding a biography of Alexander the Great's life would be useful so I have something that tells me all the dates and events I could look at within my project as well as possibly citing some good sources I may want to make use of.
My next step after today would therefore be to borrow that Atlas on Ancient Greece to give me context and then find a biography of Alexander the Great to give me more specific context.
I also need to conduct primary research as the above is all secondary, for this I would like to find some academics that specialise in or know a lot about Alexander the Great or Ancient Greece. However this creates a lot of potential problems as I don't know how to start looking for such people or whether I would be able to obtain their email addresses or if they would reply to me. My next step in this contact of academics would be to find some and then come up with some specific questions to ask them - perhaps things I am not sure on or their opinions on something. I think the use of correspondence with academics would be better off being used for more specific, rather than contextual, research though I should start looking and contacting potential candidates much earlier on.
I also want to look at some ancient artefacts such as physical (statues etc.) or written ones (texts from the time such as from Ancient historians) concerning Alexander or his time in my completion of this project, hopefully such things should be mentioned in the books/articles etc. that I read and I can go from there.
My plan, therefore, for tomorrow is to borrow and begin reading/researching with that Atlas which is available to me and begin a bibliography and literature review which both need to be in a decent stage of completion (have roughly 10 sources) by the time I leave for Summer and I also need to have done enough research to enable me to do a practice presentation by the time I leave so these are my goals.