Write a 1,000- o 1,500 word on ONE of the following.  Refer to specific examples to support your argument.  Please Note:  1,000 words is the MINIMUM for a passing grade; papers with 999 or fewer words will fail.  This assignment does not require research or sources outside of the assigned reading.  Cite examples and quotations from our text using thesystem in the MLA Handbook.  If you are unfamiliar with this system, you can consult the Handbook (available in the library or the Writing Center); also, any freshman writing handbook will have a section on MLA.  You can see a very abridged version (probably all you will need for this paper) on line at  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/675/01/.   Completed essays must be submitted to TRACS no later than 3:00 Thursday, 11/21/13.  Also, you must bring a hard copy to class at 3:30 on 11/21/13.  (TRACS will automatically submit your essay to Turnitin.  You will have access to the originality report for your own information.)  I will post the rubric that will be used to grade these essays so that you will know what is expected.

1.  Compare the treatment of death in at least 2 works.  (Choose from Lysistrata, Ramayana, Metamorphoses, the QuRan, Beowulf, The Thousand and One Nights, Inferno.)  Does the culture believe in life after death?  What is that like? 

2. Compare the treatment of women in at least 2 works.  (Choose from Lysistrata, Ramayana, Metamorphoses, the QuRan, Beowulf, The Thousand and One Nights, Inferno.) 

3.  Compare Beowulf the hero to Rama the hero.  What do the differences tell us about the respective cultures?