Egyptian Myths and Legends Week 2: Ancient Near East - Assignments - Reading - Resources - Images

Reflections Essay

Choose one of the essay topics for this week. You will find the topics listed down at the bottom of this page; scroll down to find them. If you want to write on a different topic, contact the instructor first (make sure you do that at least one day before the deadline so that you can receive an answer back in time).

Links to stories. You need to provide a link back to each of the specific stories that you discuss in your essay.

Image. You are required to include at least one image with the story, along with a link to the webpage where you found the image, plus information about the image. You are free to re-use the images you find at the course website, or you can choose some other image to use that you find on the internet. Remember: even if you are re-using an image from the course website, you need to provide image information about it.

Title. You need to include the words "Essay for Week ___" in the title you give to the post, along with a title for your actual story (for example, "Essay for Week 2: Dangerous Magic in Egyptian Legends")

Length. Your Storytelling post needs to be a minimum of 300 words long (maximum 1000 words). Make sure you do a spellcheck and a word count, and that you proofread your post by reading it out loud.

When you are done, complete the Gradebook Declaration.

Women's Roles. Many storytelling traditions are male-oriented, with the female characters appearing in clearly subordinate roles. Sometimes the stories are explicitly misogynistic, treating women with contempt, suspicion or fear. In other storytelling traditions, women (or girls) emerge as the central characters, and they are represented in a more positive light. What did you think about the way women and girls were represented in the stories that you read this week? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Gods and Goddesses. Many myths and folktales involve gods and goddesses as characters in the stories. What impression did you have of the gods and goddesses who appeared in this week's stories? How did the gods act? What kind of personalities did they have? How did they interact with the human characters? How did they interact with each other? Did you learn anything about the religious practices associated with these gods from the readings this week? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Magic and the Supernatural. Magic and supernatural elements are important for many mythological and folktale traditions. What examples of magic and supernatural elements did you see in this week's stories? What kinds of characters used magic? What did they use magic for? Were there supernatural characters or events in this week's stories? What role did these supernatural characters or events play in the plot of the stories? Would you say that magic and supernatural motifs were dominant elements in this week's readings? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Parents and Children / Brothers and Sisters. Many myths and folktales are about the relations between parents and their children, or between brothers, or brothers and sisters. What impression did you have of the parents (mothers, fathers) and siblings (brothers, sisters) from this week's readings? Do you think that these parent-child or sibling relationships were an important theme for the stories? Were there some specific family behaviors that were being promoted by the stories? Some specific family behaviors that were being discouraged? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Inspiration? Guidance? Model? Were there any characters in the stories of this unit who provided you with a kind of model to follow - either a positive model to imitate, or a negative model to avoid? Are there some incidents in the stories that give you insight into something that has happened in your own life or in the life of someone close to you? Are there values or qualities that you see in the characters that are values or qualities you would like to have more of in your own life? What valuable message or meaning did you find in this week's stories? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Wisdom. Is the "quest for wisdom" an important theme in this week's stories? Are any of the characters in the story especially curious about the world? What kind of knowledge do they want to acquire? How do they go about seeking knowledge? Do they succeed in this quest, or fail? Does this story of a quest for knowledge contain any message about education in general? Does this story provide a kind of example for us to imitate (or a negative example to avoid)? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

The "Bad Guys." Most stories contain a "bad guy," an enemy who has to be defeated or an antagonist who has to be overcome. Who were the "bad guys" in this week's stories? What did these antagonists have in common? What made them act the way that they did? Were you ever sympathetic to the "bad guys"? What happened to the "bad guys" at the end of each story? How were the heroes/heroines able to escape from or defeat their opponents? Do any of the "bad guys" learn their lesson or turn out not to be so bad in the end? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

An Image. Take a look at the images from this unit that are listed below. Pick one image that you really like and talk about it in detail. Make sure that you connect it with a specific story. What part of the story does it illustrate? Does it match the version of the story we read for class? What do you see in this image at first? What details emerge after you study it more carefully? Does the image fit with your own imaginings about the stories, or does the image surprise you, contradicting what you expected? Make sure you include the URL of the image page in your answer. Choose from one of these images (click on the image for more information):