Assignment 1

Choose from one of the following topics for your paper; this should be a literary analysis paper and should use specific, detailed examples from the text alone to support your argument (i.e. no outside sources or research needed); this paper should include a clear, concise thesis statement which concretely states the writer's position on the topic at hand, and which claim should then be concretely supported and developed throughout the body of the composition. Papers should be a minimum of 750 words and should follow proper MLA formatting complete with a Works Cited page. 1) Consider how the gods are represented in the works of classical and medieval authors (Sophocles, Homer, and the text of Beowulf). What is the gods’ role in the lives of humans? Do they control humans or do humans have free will? Are the gods simply fickle, or do they support some essential order? What does this presentation of the gods reveal about the ancients’ understanding of the divine? Use specific examples from the texts to support your answer. 2) Compare the three "heroes" whom we have encountered in the classical and medieval traditions (Oedipus, Odysseus, and Beowulf). What are the essential similarities and dissimilarities between these characters? In what ways do they differ in their response to the gods' friendship and/or enmity? To whom or what is their final fidelity or loyalty given? Be sure and use specific examples from both texts to support your argument.