Paper 2: Thinking Through a Modern Problem Using an Ancient Text
Length: 500-650 words (about 2 pages, doubled spaced) plus Works Cited page
Sources that could be used:
Sappho, “One Girl,” around 600 BCE
Enheduana, “Temple Hymns,” around 2500 BCE
Anonymous, Beowulf, around 1000 CE
Homer, Iliad, around 700 BCE
Anonymous, The Epic of Gilgamesh, around 2100 BCE Euripides, Medea, 431 BCE
Aeschylus, Persians, 472 BCE
Valmiki, Ramayana, around 550 BCE ,
plus a contemporary problem
In this short paper, you will use a specific idea from one of our course texts to think through a contemporary problem or issue. The contemporary problem or issue can be something you yourself have experienced or witnessed, or something documented by news sources (which you should cite). You may absolutely use “I” in the paper, but it should be analytical, not opinion-based. Be as specific as you can, in analyzing both the ancient text (you should include quotes from the text) and the modern problem (use specifics whenever possible). This is not a thesis-driven essay and I don’t expect you to solve the modern problem, just to find a resonance between it and an ancient text.
Although this does not need to be a thesis-driven essay, it should contain a brief introduction and conclusion of a few sentences each, and should be written in complete sentences and paragraphs. It should be in MLA format (more below) and have a Works Cited page at the end. It must be uploaded on Brightspace as a static document—a Word doc or PDF—and not as a link.
MLA Format: Your paper should be double-spaced throughout, in a document with 8.5 x 11 inch dimensions, one-inch margins, a header, and a title. For the header: in the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor’s name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text. Use quotation marks to refer to short texts and italics to refer to longer texts like Beowulf and The Iliad, and only put one space after periods. You can find more here
Works Cited Page: A separate page at the end of your paper should list the texts you cite, including their editors and translators. You can find more here
