Reed College
Reed College

Humanities 110

Introduction to the Humanities

Paper Topics | Spring 2008 | Paper 3

Your conference leader will determine the format and length of this paper.
Due Saturday, April 26th by 5 p.m., in your conference leader's Eliot Hall mailbox.

  1. How is the image of God presented in Isaiah (40-55) different from the one in Genesis and/or Exodus? How might Isaiahs historical context and Isaiahs role as a prophet affect the way he portrays God?

  1. Compare the Passion of Christ (Matthew 27) to the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22). What is the significance of both the similarities and differences? Consider what these similarities and differences tell us about how each author conceives of sacrifice.

  2. Analyze the relationship between the main Dura Europos Synagogue and either the Tabernacle OR the Temple in Jerusalem. You may want to consider how either (1) the Tabernacle (or Temple) is depicted in the wall paintings or (2) how the Tabernacle (or Temple) informs the structure of the synagogue itself. (For more information on the structure of the Tabernacle, Temple, and Synagogue see John Wilkinsons From Synagogue to Church [NA4690 W45 2002] on reserve.)

  3. What is the significance of the master-slave relationship as it is presented in St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans and/or the Golden Ass?

  4. Apuleius is careful to locate error not in intelligence per se, but in debased intelligence that is narrowly cast. The antidote to error is to probe these matters closely (34). In On Beauty, Plotinus concludes that Beauty is found in the intelligible realm, not in the sensible realm. How does the Plotinian ascent to the intelligible realm mirror (or fail to mirror) the transformation recounted in The Golden Ass?

  5. In The Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus says, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill (V:17). To what extent do Jesus' own teachings in chapter five support or undermine this bold pronouncement? In order to build your case, be sure to draw explicit comparisons between the teachings in chapter five of the Gospel of Matthew and the Jewish laws and traditions that we have encountered in the Hebrew Bible.

  6. How is martyrdom or asceticism seen to sustain and/or undermine community in one or two of the following texts: the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of John, The Jewish Wars, Perpetua's account, and/or Athanasius's biography of Anthony?

  7. In consultation with your instructor, devise a topic of your own.