Identifications are short paragraphs that describe a term and its importance. You will be required to produce identifications on both examinations. It is strongly recommended that you write out identifications for the indicated terms on a weekly basis.
Your identification should demonstrate that you have a clear factual grasp of who or what the term to be identified is. While specificity is always to be desired, answers that are simply a list of facts about a person will garner fewer points compared to answers that demonstrate an understanding of the relative importance of those facts.
More importantly, your identification should demonstrate that you understand the legacy, i.e. the impact, of the term in question. Answers that do not address the legacy of the term in some way will receive no more than one out of a possible four points. Answers that discuss both the ancient and modern legacies of a term will receive the highest marks.
Additionally, identifications are not the correct venue to express your opinion about the term in question. Your identification should be purely factual. The venue to express your (well reasoned, supported) opinion will be the essay.
Examples of identifications that would earn the full range of marks, from zero to four points, are given below. If you have any particular questions about what makes a good identification, please do not hesitate to ask.
Thales of Miletus, who lived in the fifth century B.C. was a philosopher and part of the Ionian Enlightenment. Rather than supernatural explanations, he suggested we seek for natural explanations of events. Consequently, he (reportedly) was able to predict an eclipse and a bountiful olive crop. His ideas influenced the other pre–socratic philosophers and laid the groundwork for Aristotle’s Physics. Even today the discipline of physical science continues the project begun by Thales.
Thales was an ancient philosopher who lived in the fifth century B.C. He thought we should try to find natural explanations for things, which led him to learn to predict things like eclipses. He started science, which we are still working on today.
Thales was a Greek who made up science, which we still do today. He thought everything was made of water, which is wrong. He predicted an eclispe.
Thales was a Greek scientist who worked out eclipses and crops. He found natural explanations for things. He lived in Greece.
Thales was a philosopher who did stuff with science. He thought everything was made of water. I think Thales was dumb for thinking this because obviously things aren’t all made of water. What about fire?