Contrast with the quotation from the Odyssey

Mythology Paper Prompt

General Paper Requirements

Develop your own argument from the texts (going beyond class discussion).

The structure and clarity of the argument with supporting examples are the most important parts (see the tips below the prompt).

Effort, quality of your points, and sophistication of thought are the key to success.

Papers must use line numbers from translations assigned in class, quote properly, and not use anyone else’s work (see Plagiarism and Citation section below).

Papers must be in formal English, without grammatical errors, edited, and polished.

Do your own work, edit, and have someone read it over before you turn it in.

Citation

All sources, including internet sources must always be cited, even if the author is unknown. Citations must be given for every direct quotation, when a work is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in your own words, and for information which is not common knowledge.

Citing a source means that you show, within the body of your text, that you took words, ideas, figures, images, etc. from another place.

You do not have to use secondary sources for papers in this class. But if you do (including internet sources), you must cite them.

In order to cite, please use MLA format as described here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/

Prompt

For this two-page double spaced paper

Contrast with the quotation from the Odyssey below a quotation of 4-8 lines that you choose from another work we have read (the Iliad, the Theogony,  the Works and Days, or the “Homeric Hymn to Demeter”) to make your own argument about the difference between their perspectives on (1) violence or (2) magic or (3) gender relations or (4) the hero.

So she spoke, but I, drawing from the side my thigh the sharp sword,

rushed forward against Circe as if I were raging to kill her,

but she screamed aloud and ran under my guard, and clasping both knees

in loud lamentation spoke to me in winged words:

“What man are you and whence? Where are your city and parents?

The wonder is on me that you drank my drugs and not been

enchanted… There is a mind in you that no magic will work on.

You are then resourceful Odysseus.”

(Odyssey 10.321-30)

Approach and Keys to Success

Your papers are meant to demonstrate your close reading of the texts, and your ability to make your own argument. These are analytical techniques gained from lecture and discussion, but the points you make should be your own, not copied from what was said.

Make sure to incorporate into your argument

the details of the passages through an analysis of the language

your larger understanding of the texts in which they appear

your ideas about the significance of the theme you choose in the two passages.

Have

an introduction with a strong thesis,

body paragraphs with analysis, and

a conclusion that shows how the analysis proves your thesis.