Paper Topics | Fall 2025 | Paper 1
Due Saturday, September 20, 2:00 p.m., to your conference leader.
Length: 4-5 double-spaced pages (1,250-1,500 words)
After Gilgamesh fails Uta-napishti’s challenge to stay awake for six days and seven nights, Gilgamesh laments, “A thief has taken hold of my [flesh!]” (XI 244). What is the status of the human body in the Epic of Gilgamesh? To answer this question, analyze the exchange between Gilgamesh and in Uta-napishti in XI 242-270. Some questions you may consider in your analysis: how are human bodies characterized in this exchange? What are bodies for, and how do bodies help (or hinder) humans? What challenges or problems do bodies pose for humans? How do human bodies relate to their environments, including both human-made objects and the natural world?
This question asks you to start practicing the skills of “close reading.” Make sure to support your claims about the poem’s approach to bodies with analysis of the language in the passage, paying close attention to features such as imagery, word choice (diction), repetition, juxtaposition, metaphor, and any significant patterns in the poem’s use of language to convey meaning. How do the patterns you notice contribute to understanding the meaning of the text as a whole?
* Using generative artificial intelligence or large language models such as Chat GPT to compose all or part of your paper will be considered academic misconduct.