Essay #3 Instructions:

Egyptian Texts:  Analyze and Compare Primary Sources

Weight: 10%; Length: 2000 words, Format: .doc, .docx, or .pdf

Submit to Brightspace, November 26th, end of the day – Note new due date!

Introduction:  One of the principal sources for the reconstruction of pharaonic culture is the body of texts left to us by the ancient Egyptians.  Not only do their writings give us basic information about pharaonic Egypt, but they also encapsulate the attitudes, assumptions, and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians.  Instructions to young men and tomb autobiographies were both addressed to the Old Kingdom elite (that is, Egyptians who could read), and perhaps also to those to whom these texts were read. In order to addressn that audience successfully, they had to appeal to its cultural tastes, prejudices, and assumptions.  Whether the text was meant to impress, to educate, to convince, or merely to entertain, writers used their words to achieve their aims.  While we may not appreciate the poetry and elegant diction of these compositions when reading their works in translation, we can glean much of the culture’s character by reading the words of those who were living in it. 

Your assignment is to analyze an ancient Egyptian and a more recent Western text, comparing them with a view to finding points of similarity or difference that elucidate ancient Egyptian culture (not Western culture—you are assumed to know about that). You are asked to write about an Egyptian text, analyzing it in terms of some of the cultural concepts we have discussed in lectures and sections (ma‘at, multiplicity of approaches, attitudes towards death, the value and importance of words, nonexistence, etc.).  You are then asked to contrast the cultural content of the ancient text with that of a comparable text from a Western culture, in which the author and the audience belong to a culture with which you are presumably more familiar.  The role of the Western text is thus to both to help you see and explain the differences in the less familiar Egyptian text, and consequently in the culture that produced it.  A listing of suggested texts and comparative texts is given at the end of this handout.  You may suggest an original pairing, but you must clear it with me or your section leader before beginning your essay.

Again, this essay is not meant to be a research paper—your task is not to gather information and fill pages with citations—but a comparison, analysis, and cultural exegesis of two primary source texts, one ancient Egyptian and the other created by someone from a modern western culture.  The point of the assignment is to describe and elucidate the distinctive Egyptian character of the Egyptian text in contrast to the more familiar culture reflected in the same type of text.  (There is, of course, no single, monolithic “Western” culture; you will be comparing Egyptian culture to the culture from which your comparative text comes—21st century America or 19th century France or whatever.)  In writing about these texts, you may find it useful to identify the aims of the author and the methods the author uses to achieve them. This kind of analysis can offer insights into the cultural assumptions of both the author and the intended audience.  You might discuss such cultural beliefs as ethical values, the relationship between the human and the divine, the degree to which the events of one’s life are determined by fate or the gods, the question of where a soul goes after death, assumptions about gender and sexuality, and so forth.

Contents and Organization:  Your essay should find points of comparison (usually passages or other contents of the texts that are similar enough to compare, but that have interesting differences), and use them as a basis for a discussion that compares the cultures that produced them.  You should argue for these conclusions in a thoughtful, well organized essay that will convince the reader of the correctness of your analysis.  The paper should be filled primarily with your own ideas about the texts, not the analysis of others (in other words, discuss only the texts themselves, not the introductory material).

Your essay should summarize the contents of the texts only very briefly, and it should only include quotations of passages that are used in your analysis.  Initial descriptions of the two texts should not be much more than half a page each.  Apart from the introduction of the comparison, everything should contribute to the analysis and arguing the conclusions.  The main focus of the paper will be the Egyptian text and Old Kingdom culture, so the analysis of it should be somewhat more extensive.

This is essentially a two-step project:  you are comparing the texts, and then you are extrapolating the differences you find to deduce differences in the Old Kingdom culture. There are a number of ways to approach this assignment.  You might take a general approach, analyzing fully each of the texts, then discussing the similarities and differences, and finally explaining what they say about the culture that produced them.  (Obviously, if there is nothing to say about a particular part of the text, you should leave it out.)  Conversely, you might decide upon three or four points that you want to stress and discuss them more thoroughly, point by point, comparing the two texts, and then what those particular points of difference or similarity say about cultural differences.  You do not need to discuss all the questions listed above.  You may choose to discuss other questions of the same type as the ones listed, or you may decide to discuss only one of the questions in great detail.  Your organization should be clear, so that the reader knows where you are going and what you are trying to prove.  Do not assume that you can pair two quotations and that the reader will see how they are obviously different:  explain what you think the differences are (and then extend to the cultures reflected).

The closer your two texts are in function and audience, the more valid your comparisons will be.  Make sure that your comparisons are explicit.  Do not assume that the reader will deduce how the texts compare if you simply juxtapose them. You should state clearly whether you think they are the same or different, and in what ways.  The evidence you use may be taken from several levels of the text.  It can be the overall moral or lesson that hearers of the story were meant to take away, or it can be in the details.

The essay should be divided into paragraphs that correspond to logical segments of the argument.  The paper should begin with an introduction, describing your thesis and what you plan to cover, and it should end with identifiable conclusions, including a summary of both your conclusions about the texts and about the cultures that produced them. Discuss the cultural beliefs and values that you deduce from the texts, noting ways in which they the same or different.  Do not neglect to generalize and to deal with the cultural implications of the works, not just the texts themselves.

Format and Writing:  The body of the essay (excluding any headings or bibliography) should be at least 2000 words, which is about 5–6 double-spaced pages.  Points will be deducted for overly short or long (more than 3000 words) papers.  Points will be given for clarity of writing, evidence of careful thought, and cogent arguments.  

Essays should be written in a formal style, largely in the third person and never in the second.  (References to yourself are acceptable as long as they are not used in place of argument.)  Do not use contractions or slang.  Your own reactions upon reading the text will be obvious from the arguments you make; do not try to frame your essay autobiographically (“When I read this, I thought that, but then I realized something else.”)  Avoid a journalistic style.

Generally, simplicity in both expression and organization is clearest and most effective.  Do not try to use complex words and constructions when you can say things more simply.  (Words that mean something different from what you think they mean make you look silly and undermine the reader’s confidence in your guidance and thought processes.)  Papers should be grammatical and properly spelled.  Please see the lists of “Common Problems” and “Things That Annoy,” which are posted in the Resources/Help in Writing Essays section in Brightspace/Content. 

Short passages that led you to your conclusions may be quoted and must be cited.  Do not cite long passages that include text you will not be discussing. The texts may be briefly described, but quotations and descriptions of details should be used only as they advance the arguments you are making.  (You can assume your reader has a copy of the Egyptian texts.)  References to passages in the texts may be given parenthetically, e.g. “(Lichtheim, 000)” or “(Strudwick, 000).”  While you may read the introductions to the texts for context, your essay should be based on the contents of the text alone, not on the analysis of the translator.  Cite these introductions in your essay only when they mention a circumstance that tells you about the social role of the work, for example, that the text was found in a tomb, or the fact that the text occurs in many corrected copies and seems to have been used in schools.  Do not seek out and cite other writers’ analysis of these texts. Your only citations should be to the two works discussed and to course readings. Course lectures need not be cited; concepts discussed in lecture and section can be assumed to be general knowledge. (If this bothers you, use the form “Course Lecture, [date]” in parentheses.) Concepts discussed in the assigned readings may be cited on the model of: (author, page number).  Your non-Egyptian text should be given at the end of your essay (full name of author/translator, title, date of publication) and referenced parenthetically in the text with author’s surname and page number.  If you are citing from an internet source (which is fine—even desirable), give the URL in your citation.