1. Essay on Epic of Gilgamesh
Use three moments from Gilgamesh to take a position on the culture, beliefs, and social expectations of ancient Sumer.
What you need to do:
Review the Requirements for All Papers. This page has important guidance and videos on formatting your document, structuring your essay, and using evidence.
The overview video explains what I want you to cover in the essay and what I’m expecting in terms of arguments, evidence, and structure.
Another resource you may find helpful is the Elephant Pamplet, which gives step-by-step guidance on preparing for and writing a position paper.
Option A
The mortal and the divine
Choose any of the mortal characters from The Epic of Gilgamesh and discuss his or her relationship with the gods. (Note: your best bets are either Gilgamesh or Enkidu; Utanapishtim is also a possibility.)
What does the Epic show us regarding Sumer’s take on religion and the gods, and what it means to be human?
Option B
Gender in Sumerian society
Choose any of the female characters from The Epic of Gilgamesh and discuss her relationship with the other characters and Sumerian society. (Note: your best bet is Shamhat; Ninsun and Ishtar are also possibilities.)
What does the Epic show us regarding gender expectations and the roles of women in Sumerian culture?
Option C
Life and death
Mortality is one of the major themes of The Epic of Gilgamesh, but what is the epic saying about it?
What does the Epic show us regarding Sumerian ideas of death and legacy, and how Sumerian culture thought about death?
Option A
For the “mortal and divine” option, find three moments from The Epic of Gilgamesh showing your character interacting with or contemplating the gods.
Option B
For the “gender” option, find three moments from The Epic of Gilgamesh showing your character’s actions or behavior and how it relates to her role as a woman in Sumerian society.
Option C
For the “life and death” option, find three moments from The Epic of Gilgamesh that involve death or mortality—either an actual death, or discussion of death and mortality.
State what you believe the Epic shows us about the culture, beliefs, and social expectations of ancient Sumer in a way that answers the question in the prompt you chose. (This is your thesis statement.)
Describe and discuss, one by one, each of the three moments you found from the Epic. For each section, discuss what the evidence tells us about ancient Sumer.
Tie your examples and assertions together and show how they support your overall thesis.
Make sure your evidence is cited and that you include a bibliography. For how to do citations and bibliographies, see the Research and Citation Center. You will be marked down drastically if your paper is not properly cited.
You may email me an optional draft two weeks before the final due date. It should include most of your paper (at least two thirds of the final content, with sections to be written described in square brackets). I’ll give feedback, but not a grade, to help you refine your final paper.
Make sure your essay meets the Requirements for All Papers for formatting, structure, and evidence, as well as the specifications given above for what’s expected for this assignment.
Once you’re sure your essay meets the requirements, upload it as DOCX or PDF to BlackBoard.