Genesis 1-22

Your first paper must draw on two or more of of your previous writings from the class (a discussion entry or quote analysis) or on ideas from the PowerPoint Slides/Handouts to develop an argument about one or more of the texts we have read in the class so far: Sappho, Gilgamesh. Plato, Genesis 1-22 or The Bhagavad Gita. Like any formal paper in the humanities, your paper should have an introduction that includes a thesis, a body whose paragraphs are arranged in a logical order and whose paragraphs follow the same general structure of claim, evidence, and bridge that you should be following in your quote analyses, and a conclusion. You may not use any outside sources and the evidence for any claims you make must be quotes from the text(s) and your explanation of how those quotes bear out your claims. Do not make claims that cannot be supported by evidence from one of the primary texts. If you do not follow the directions I will ask you to rewrite the paper.

An effective introduction has three components

1 A hook -the first few sentences meant to get the reader interested in your subject. Examples include telling a story, providing background, presenting a quotation, offering a definition (For a full list of hooks see “Writing Introduction and Conclusions” under Writing in Modules on Canvas)

In my introduction below (the first paragraph) I use two hooks, beginning with a quote and providing background information on men’s and women’s conversational styles.

2 A map of the argument- In my introduction the map of my argument begins with ” Gilgamesh and Enkidu understand . . . ” and ends with “. . . patriarchal society”

3 A thesis -an argumentative claim (opinion or proposal) that identifies a specific issue,suggests a general direction for your argument, and answers the question “So what?” This is my thesis:

Such differences in conversational mode are not new but go back as far as The Epic of Gilgamesh, where the hero Gilgamesh and his best friend Enkidu put each other down albeit in order to instill courage in one another, and as far back as Sappho who in her “Fragment 5” offers her support to one of her female lovers who is being forced to leave her.

I answer the question “So what? ” in the last sentence of the introduction:”the impotence Ishtar feels after Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven is the same powerlessness women sometimes feel when their voices are misunderstood or suppressed, sometimes willfully, in our still patriarchal society”

An effective conclusion does two things

The conclusion reminds your readers of key ideas by restating the thesis in different words and/or reminding readers of how you supported your main points.
My conclusion (the last paragraph) reminds the reader of the two different conversational styles of men as exhibited by Gilgamesh and Enkidu (“Gilgamesh and Enkidu thrive on challenging one another . . .”)and of women as exhibited by Sappho (“the kind of connection Sappho writes about in her poetry.”)

2.The conclusion encourages readers to think about information or proposals you have presented by recommending solutions and actions, predicting future events, echoing the introduction etc.For a full list of effective ways of concluding a paper see Writing Introductions and Conclusions under Writing in Modules)

In my conclusion below I use two ways of encouraging readers to think about my argument. First, I discuss the consequences of the differences between men and women’s conversational styles as exemplified by the relationship between Ishtar and Enkidu. Second, I suggest a solution to the problem created by those consequences(That women and men have different conversational styles doesn’t mean that they are condemned to misunderstand one another. But I think it does mean that, in order to encourage equality between men and women, women have to insist that men consciously engage in the goals women are focused on when they talk and men have to consciously work on doing so.”)

Your paper should have a title, be double spaced, be formatted in MLA style, and include a “Works Cited” page