Gilgamesh Essay Do's and Don't

These tips address specific issues I noticed while reading your rough drafts. You can use this list for future assignments as well.

Do start your introduction with a juicy hook! Cyrus began:

"The epic of Gilgamesh is shrouded with mystery and wonder. it serves as a great looking glass into a culture of which most facts are lost."

Wow! A beginning like this really makes you want to read on.

Don't retell the entire story in your intro paragraph. Your reader probably needs a little background information on your subject, they don't need to know what color Enkidu painted his toenails on tuesday! You can capture the essence of the story in 6 sentences or less.

Don't use the terms "nature vs. civilization" or "gods vs. humans" in your thesis. Substitute complete ideas that describe the content of your body paragraphs. For example:

The story of Gilgamesh reveals Mesopotamian beliefs about the divide between nature and civilization, the gods' power over humans, and the inevitability of death.

Don't write wishy-washy, non-specific topic sentences, like:

Nature and civilization are seen in the epic of Gilgamesh.

Do make a strong, specific statement with your topic sentence, like:

The epic of Gilgamesh reveals Sumerians beliefs that nature and civilization were separate realms, and could not mix.

Do use specific examples from the play to support your topic sentence. Rebecca did a great job of supporting a strong topic sentence with lots of examples:

In the epic, women are shown to have a significant and sometimes powerful role in society. Isharina and her sisters work in the canals of Sumer. Their job is very important because irrigation canals were one of Sumer's main resources of water. Without the women working, the society would suffer greatly. Another female character is Harim, Gilgamesh's servant. She possesses great beauty and charm. Gilgamesh sends Harim to fetch the monster Enkidu from the forest. He sends her because she can do what a man can't: tame the monster with her charm and sophistication. Another woman in the epic is the evil goddess, Ishtar. She has supreme power over life and death...

Do think deeply. The Gilgamesh epic is a legend, and legends often have deeply symbolic and poetic meanings. Here are some "deep" ideas you might want to incorporate into your essay, especially the conclusion.

Gilgamesh becomes a better person through hardship. How can difficult situations change us for the better?

Is there are moral to the story? Can we still learn from the moral today, or is the story to old and out of date to be relevant?

Based on the story, what are some of the big problems Mesopotamia faced? Do you think the epic helped to resolve those problems?

How do our ideas about death affect the way we live our lives?

Gilgamesh claims to be 2/3rds god. Do you know anyone who thinks they're "more than mortal"? Is there anything wrong with that?

The Sumerians were the first people to live in cities and truly embrace "civilized" life. To do this, they abandoned a simpler life, closer to nature. What if the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu is a metaphor for this change?