Final Assignment 3-4 pages, double-spaced with normal margins MLA format Rough draft or blueprint due Tuesday 12/1 by 5PM via blackboard Final paper due Wednesday, December 9th by 5 PM via turnitin The final literary analysis is a chance to demonstrate what you have learned this semester, while honing your critical and analytical thinking skills. For this assignment, you are asked to pick two to three texts we have read this semester, and conduct a “cross-textual” analysis, comparing and contrasting how these texts engage with a specific theme, motif, or archetype (ex: how do The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey each deal with notions of heroism and the “hero” archetype?). Your essay should include an opening paragraph with an argumentative thesis. You should also include at least three direct quotes from the text/ texts, properly cited, and integrated into your arguments. You may receive up to two points extra credit for each outside, scholarly source you include. Please remember to proofread your work and include a works cited page in MLA format at the end. For your essay, you may pick from the following prompts, or create a prompt of your own. 1. In several of these texts, including Dante’s Inferno, Bardo Thodol, and Popol Vuh, there is communication between the dead and the living. Compare and contrast how these texts engage with notions of the afterlife. How exactly do the realm of the dead and the realm of the living interact? Do the living profit from being contacted by the dead? In what manner can the dead be assisted by the living? What is exists in the space between living and death? 2. In 1001 Nights, Shaharazad uses storytelling as a means of survival. In Lyistrata, the women of Athens go on sex strike to persuade their male counterparts to return from war. In other early classic tales, such as Lucretious’ Theonogy, women are both idolized and vilified for actions that come to determine the fate of mankind. Pick two different texts with female protagonists and compare how feminine power is articulated throughout and between them. 3. Revisit “Letter Concerning the First Voyage”, and compare Columbus’ representation of the Taino people the story of the cyclops in The Odyssey and/ or the story of how Basat killed Goggle-eye in The Book of Dede Korkut. What does each story teach readers about the human drive towards strength and conquest, and assumptions about monstrous “others”? 4. Consider the differences between the genres of “The Great Hymn to the Aten,” Enuma Elish, and other creation myths. What are the rhetorical differences between a hymn and a creation epic? How do these generic differences influence the presentation of praise for the god or gods? What are the different purposes for these works, and how does this affect their material?
