The Battle of Marathon
 

Here is a paper I'm submitting to a student journal named Studia Antiqua.


The Battle of Marathon was TOTALLY cool. Like, it was so cool that only ninjas could have won it better. Ninjas are awesome. They fight all the time, and do flips and kill people and stuff. Ninjas can kill anyone they want! Ninjas cut off heads ALL the time and don't even think twice about it. These guys are so crazy and awesome that they flip out ALL the time. I heard that there was this ninja who was eating at a diner. And when some dude dropped a spoon the ninja killed the whole town. My friend Mark said that he saw a ninja totally uppercut some kid just because the kid opened a window. Ninjas are sooooooooooo sweet that I want to crap my pants. I can't believe it sometimes, but I feel it inside my heart. These guys are totally awesome and that's a fact. Ninjas are fast, smooth, cool, strong, powerful, and sweet. That's why the Battle of Marathon should have been fought by ninjas.

Good job. Great stuff.

Nice work and a fun read. Good job blending the ancient sources.

FWIW, and just my opinion, but your best and most crucial sentence:

comes a little late. I don't want to tell you your business, but it would nave read better (IMO) to have this mentioned up front. Just my opinion, though.

I really like the emphasis you place on the Athenian psyche. Even though naysayers criticize the battle as inconsequential to a disinterested Persian empire, you're right to highlight the enormous impact this battle had on Athenian identity. Aeschylus chose his service in this battle for his epitaph, and those who fell were heroized by the state. Truly, this did usher in Athens' golden age.

Thanks for the read.

FYI, most journals will not print something that has put out into the public domain before.

So post your papers at your own risk.

Oh, that's actually a good point. I guess I should wipe this, then.

To be frank, I was a little scared to put this in front of actual classicists. If the worst criticism you've got for me is that I've put an important sentence too late in the paper, I feel pretty good about it. Thanks for your input-- I'll try to work something out to get the idea stated earlier.

we have a private section for getting feedback on writing, btw.

I concur Ninjas kick ass... the world needs more ninjas

I just got an email back from the journal's editor asking for clarification on a couple of footnotes and some info for a short bio. A pretty good sign, wouldn't you say?

That does sound like good thing. Did you include that you leap tall buildings in a single bound in your bio?