Posted: September 18th, 2017

Essay

This essay should be a 600-900 word essay focusing on the assigned readings from Weeks 2 and 3. .
This should be a close reading essay, and should use as evidence primarily passages from the story or stories that you discuss. You may not use ANY outside sources without the instructor’s approval.
The essay should be in MLA essay format (see the sample essay attached below) and should have a self-assessment (which should answer these questions) as the first page. A works cited entry and in-text citations for each text discussed are required.
The essay should be focused on making a debatable claim about the work(s) in question; informational essays or essays consisting of summary are not appropriate. The claim should be supported with discussion of specific passages from the text(s) on which the essay is focused. The essay grading rubric can be found here.

DISCLAIMER: Originality of attachments will be verified by Turnitin. Both you and your instructor will receive the results.

Choose 1 of the following topics, and write a thesis-driven essay in response to that topic:

Duty in Different Cultures: our readings in Weeks 2 and 3 show a concern for duty and responsibility. Choose one character from The Iliad OR a character from The Sakuntala that was not discussed on the forum, and make a claim about how duty affects that character in the text. Be sure to explain the cultural expectations shown by the text in regards to that character’s duty, and analyze how that character does or does not fulfill those expectations.

The Role of the Supernatural: The works that we read in these two weeks have elements that take us beyond realism; in The Iliad, there is the intervention of the gods, and in The Sakuntala, a number of supernatural elements, from curses to flights to the heavens, feature in the story. Discuss either The Iliad or The Sakuntala and analyze how the addition of supernatural events/figures affects the presentation of the story. How would the narrative’s use of various themes change (or not) if particular events were not attributed to supernatural agency?

Heroes in the Ancient World: In our discussion of these works, we have talked a bit about how they all reflect elements of their cultures, particularly through the way that heroes are depicted. Choose 1 story (The Iliad OR The Sakuntala) and make a claim about what this tale shows us about heroic figures in this culture. Discuss no more than 2 characters from your chosen story in order to support your claim.