Humanities 110

Paper Topics | Fall 2023 | Paper 2

Due Saturday, October 7, 5:00 p.m. to your conference leader

Target length: 1,500 words

In this paper, you will continue to develop your close reading skills. The topics also ask you to compare and contrast two texts. With a comparative prompt, you do not need to offer an exhaustive description of each work, but be sure that you clarify precisely which aspects of them you are comparing and that you discuss those particular features of the texts in detail.

Choose one of the following topics:

1. Compare and contrast the representation of rulers and rulership in “The Tale of Sinuhe” and “The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant.” According to each work, what makes an ideal relationship between subjects and their ruler?
   
   
2. Both Genesis and Hesiod’s Theogony can be read as creation myths. Compare and contrast how each represents the creation of human beings and their relationship to each other and the divine.
   
   
3. Pick one female figure from Hesiod's Theogony and one or two from Genesis, and compare and contrast their roles within the social, political, theological, or cosmic order constructed by the text.
   
   
4. Compare and contrast how relationships of love, desire, and/or attachment are depicted in two Egyptian love poems. What is stressed in each poem? Are the relationships articulated in similar terms, with similar words, images, or motifs?
   
   
5. In a paper comparing and contrasting the figures of Joseph (in Genesis 39-50) and Moses (in Exodus 2-15), discuss how these two books of the Torah treat the roles of Israelites closely connected to the Pharaoh in Egypt similarly or differently.

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.