Your task is to write a 4-5 page analytical essay in response to the following prompt: Choose two of our first four readings and write a paper in which you compare and contrast the Weltanschauung (worldview) represented by these texts. To do so, you will need to focus on a particular theme (or set of related themes). These could be (but are not limited to):
Nature Religion Politics Art Gender/Sexuality Race
For example, you could compare the role of women in Gilgamesh and Sophocles’ Antigone. What do these texts tell us about the way each culture viewed the position of women in society?
Don’t just list similarities and differences. You should have a solid point to make, articulated in your introduction in the form of a thesis. Each section of the essay body should then explore a particular sub-topic or sub-thesis. Your evidence should be concrete, specific, and textual. Provide MLA citations with page numbers for reference.
Some Helpful Advice:
Your discussion should be analytical, not summary. Assume that your reader has read the text. Stay focused. It’s a short paper. Explore the details, subtleties, and nuances of your topic. Organize your paper according to a certain logic. In other words, there should be a reason for why you discuss your sub-topics in a particular order. It should not be random. Use effective transitions and topic sentences. Don’t argue through abstractions. Use key quotes and describe specific moments in the texts. Avoid long, block quotes like the plague. Only use them when absolutely necessary and devote roughly the same amount of space to analysis. Don’t leave me asking: So what? Be bold. Take risks. Use your intelligence and imagination. Revise and proofread. I’ll say it again—revise and proofread.
ENG 309: Midterm Paper Instructions Page 2 of 2
Essay Requirements:
Approximately 4-5 pages (no cover page) 1-inch margins, double-spaced (2.0), 12-point Times New Roman MLA style with in-text citations and a “Works Cited” page (not included in the page count)
