The paper is due on Friday, October 13 at the beginning of class.  The length is to be about five typed pages (about 1,250 words).  This is not meant to be a research paper, but a close reading of the assigned texts (which may be cited parenthetically in the paper).  Thus, all work in the preparation for this paper is to be your own.  Remember to keep an English handbook close at hand.  Please include a title page listing the paper's title, due date, course title, your instructor's name, and your name.  Leave adequate margins, number the pages, and staple the upper left-hand corner.  See new topic 6 at the bottom.
Please choose one of the following topics:
 

1.  Compare and contrast the episodes of the slaying of Goliath, Humbaba, and Polyphemos.  How is each version reflective of the society that produced it?
 

2.  Discuss the relationship between human beings and the natural world in Gilgamesh.  Be sure to identify the specific passages that you are working with.
 

3.  Is Gilgamesh a comedy or a tragedy?  Make a case for a particular genre, basing your argument on a comparison of Gilgamesh to either Antigone or Lysistrata.  What can we learn about Gilgamesh by placing it in one of these categories?
 

4.  Compare and contrast the function of the Choruses in Antigone and Lysistrata. Consider their literary function as well as their political role in each of the plays.
 

5.  Carefully analyze Amos 1-6 to show how the literary form of the passage (images, diction, genre, etc.) enhances or detracts from the message of social justice.

New! 6. Compare and contrast Greek and Israelite ideas of hospitality based on the Tanakh readings and the Odyssey.  Be sure to identify the specific passages that you are working with.