PROMPT: How does the belief in a pantheon of gods compare to the concept of a
single God as expressed in the Abrahamic myths? Use examples from The Enuma
Elish, the Myth of Osiris, Isis and Horus, The Epic of Gilgamesh and the readings
from the Old Testament/Islamic Hagar and her Family to support your argument.
This essay must be three to five pages in length. This means it must be three full pages,
part of a fourth page and no longer than five full pages. There is a sample of how to
structure your essay on page two of this document.
Use MLA format as described on page three. Print your essay on paper and compare it to
the sample (page three). If your essay doesn’t look like the sample page, make
corrections before submitting the paper for review. Read your work on the printed page
with a pen in your hand. You will be surprised at how many errors you find that way.
Use examples from the reading assignments to support your argument. You must include
a narrative citation for each example, especially if you quote from the source. An
explanation of how to write narrative citations is on pages four and five of this document.
Write your essay as an MS Word document and submit it through Canvas. Click on the
link in this week’s module called ESSAY.
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Tropf 2
HOW TO STRUCTURE AN ESSAY
An essay is an opinion piece. You must establish your point of view on the topic, and
then find examples that support your point of view. Your evidence can be anecdotal,
which means “taken from general public knowledge,” or fact-based using specific
examples from related literature. Fact-based specific examples build a stronger argument.
1) THESIS: A thesis is a single sentence that clearly states the point of view that you will
prove with your argument. It should appear as the final sentence of the first paragraph:
Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a story of white privilege and domestic
terrorism.
2) FIRST PARAGRAPH: The first paragraph should start with a “grabber,” that is, a
sentence that immediately captures your reader’s attention:
She entered their house with no malicious intent, unaware that she was
committing an act of burglary.
Then, outline the argument to come. This should be two to four sentences:
She was hungry, and saw nothing wrong with eating the food in the house…
The first paragraph should end with your thesis.
3) SUCCEEDING PARAGRAPHS: Each paragraph must start with a topic sentence. The
rest of the sentences in the paragraph should be evidence to support that statement:
The name “Goldilocks” indicates that she’s white, and her behavior is that
of a privileged Caucasian. “Golden locks” means blonde hair, and the only race to
have naturally blonde hair is the white race. She walks into the house as if she
owns it, a clear indicator of privilege. Being lost and hungry is no excuse for
committing the crime of breaking and entering.
Select as many examples as you need to build a convincing argument supporting your
thesis. Essays of three to five pages should have three examples, and may have more.
4) FINAL PARAGRAPH: Begin by restating your thesis using other words:
White privilege is a problem in society, with the perpetrators often
unaware of their privilege.
Then come up with new reasons why the thesis is true. One way to do that is look to the
future. How can the thesis be addressed in a new way? End with a statement of finality:
White privilege will continue to be a problem until stories like Goldilocks
and the Three Bears are no longer told to children.