Humanities 110

Paper Topics | Spring 2007 | Paper 3

Due Saturday, April 21st 5 p.m., in your conference leader's Eliot Hall mailbox.
Length: 1700 words (or set by your conference leader)

1. Many texts from the beginning of the common era place considerable emphasis on the spiritual development of the individual, generally through some sort of withdrawal from society and/or a repudiation of physical pleasures (food, drink, sex, and the like). Compare the nature of the withdrawal or renunciation, and the rewards it brings, in two of the following texts: The Golden Ass, "The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas," The Life of Anthony.

2. Isaiah, Amos, Matthew, Paul's letter to the Romans, John, the Tractate Avot and Josephus' The Jewish War are all written with the presupposition that Genesis and Exodus provide a history and definition of the relationship between the human and the divine. Choose one of these texts and discuss how its conception of this relationship builds on, elaborates, redefines, or otherwise relates itself to Genesis and Exodus.

3. The tale of Cupid and Psyche is the longest of the many interpolated tales in The Golden Ass and unlike these other tales, which are often taken from earlier sources, is traditionally seen as a more original creation by Apuleius. What is the relation of the tale of Cupid and Psyche to The Golden Ass as a whole?

4. In consultation with your conference leader, devise a topic of your own.

In addition to consulting with your conference leader, you can get help with all stages of the writing process from peer tutors at the Writing Center. You can find links to the Writing Center hours on the Drop-in Tutoring Schedule website. Extra tutoring help will be available in the week leading up to paper due dates.