The Epic of Gilamesh

Hi folks,   Here are a few notes on the Gilgamesh essay due Sunday. The starting point I’d like you to bear in mind in that this essay is about making an argument and supporting that argument with evidence—in this case, three specific moments from the Epic that demonstrate an illustrate the argument you are making in the essay.    Introduction. In your introduction, make sure you have a clear thesis statement—what you intend to show in the paper. Try to develop a concrete, specific thesis statement that lines up with and responds directly to one of the prompts. You don’t need to include evidence in your introduction; ideally all you need is to set up the issue you are addressing, what the possible sides are, and your thesis. I talk about this a bit in the Overview Video for the essay, and more generally in the Elephant Pamphlet (see links below).   The body of the essay. In the main body of your essay, focus on three specific moments from the Epic that support your thesis. Describe the moment in a paragraph and then spend another paragraph talking about how that moment serves as an example of your overall argument—what you are trying to prove about what the Epic tells us.   Evidence and cites. Major rule of thumb for writing about history (and for academic work in general, but especially history): All assertions must be supported by evidence, and all evidence must be cited. When you describe events from the Epic (whether it’s in quotes, a paraphrase, or just describing specific ideas present in the story), you need to provide a citation—a footnote or parenthetical cite that gives your source (the book version of Gilgamesh you are using) plus a page number. You also need a bibliography. See the citations handout linked below. Citations and bibliographies are also discussed more fully in the Elephant Pamphlet.   Requirements for all papers. Make sure to fully review the requirements for all papers (on the Essay Musts page of the course website) before completing and uploading your essay. Also review the prompt for the Essay you’ve chosen to make sure you answered what it’s looking for.   Any questions at all, please come to me. Based on our in-class discussions I’m really looking forward to hearing your insights on the Epic and what it has to tell us about the culture and beliefs of the folks who lived in Sumer 4500 years ago.     Link to the Overview Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDbLKNCkAoU   Link to the Elephant Pamphlet: http://markbwilson.com/pages/WAPP.html   Citations: http://markbwilson.com/courses/QQ/PDF/OO_Bibliography.pdf http://markbwilson.com/courses/QQ/PDF/OO_Footnotes.pdf