Gilgamesh

Specific

To define and to identify the epic characteristics

To differentiate between folk epic and art epic

To define cuneiform, immortality, mortality, optimism, pessimism, recension, ziggurat

To analyze the character of Gilgamesh

To analyze the world of the Gilgamesh

To derive the theme of the Gilgamesh by means of analyzing its conflict

To associate Enlil, Humbaba, Ishtar, Lugulbanda, Nineveh, Ninsun, Shamash, Siduri, Urshanabi, Uruk, and Utnapishtim with the epic

To explain the oral origin of the Gilgamesh

Broad

To develop a concept of the term epic in both its traditional and popular usage

To achieve an understanding of Sumerian civilization

To perceive that humanity’s motivating questions and desires have been with us since the beginning of human history

Schedule – August 1995

16 Go over course outline. Receive packets.

Homework (HW): Read the pages in the Gilgamesh packet that relate to character development, conflict, and theme.

17 Discuss the concepts of character development, conflict, and theme.

HW: Read pp. 61-84 of the epic. Use the study guide to aid you in analyzing the characters of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

18 Begin discussion of The Epic of Gilgamesh.

HW: Read pp. 85-119 of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Prepare responses to the study questions.

19 Conclude discussion of the Gilgamesh.

HW: Write first draft of conflict analysis essay for Gilgamesh.

22 Peer review conflict analysis for content.

HW: Revise conflict analysis for content.

23 Peer review conflict analysis for style and tone.

HW: Revise conflict analysis for style and tone.

24 Proofread conflict analysis for errors in grammar, mechanics, and format.

HW: Revise conflict analysis for errors in grammar, mechanics, and format.

25 Submit conflict analysis essay.

TEST over The Epic of Gilgamesh.

HW: Read about the worlds and modes of fiction in the packet. Prepare responses to the assigned study questions.

Background – Epic Characteristics

The traditional epic possesses six observable characteristics:

The protagonist is a figure of heroic stature, of national or international importance, and of great historical or legendary significance.

The setting is vast in scope, covering great nations, the world, or the universe.

The action consists of deeds requiring great valor or superhuman courage.

Supernatural forces – gods, angels, and demons – interest themselves in the action and intervene from time to time.

The style is of sustained elevation and grand simplicity.

The epic poet recounts the deeds of his hero objectively.

FOLK EPIC

The folk epic developed from orally transmitted folk poetry. Recorded by anonymous poets, folk epics were usually based on fact or legend set in a time long before the epic itself was written down. Examples of folk epics of national importance include . . .

The Epic of Gilgamesh (Babylonian) Beowulf (Anglo-Saxon)

The Mahabharata (Hindu) The Nibelungenlied (Germany)

The Volsunga Saga (Scandinavian) La Chanson de Roland (French)

ART EPIC

The art epic deals with the traditions, mythical or historical, of a nation. Its origin lies with the poet. The poet may draw upon other sources but is not the final link in a chain of tradition. Examples of art epics of literary importance include . . .

The Aeneid (Virgil, Roman) Shah-Namah (Firdausi, Persian)

Gerusalemme Liberata (Tasso, Italian) Orlando Furioso (Ariosto, Italian)

The Faerie Queene (Spenser, English) Os Lusiads (Camoens, Portuguese)

The Kalevala (Lönnrot, Finnish)

QUESTIONS:

• 1. Which of the listed characteristics may be found in the Gilgamesh?
• 2. Is the Gilgamesh justifiably classified as a folk epic? Explain.

THE GIFT OF TWO RIVERS

One of the four great “river valley” civilizations was ancient Sumer. Like those other three civilizations along the Nile, the Indus, and the Hwang Ho, Sumer grew out of the fertile potential that the geology and geography of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers afforded. Those conditions directed economic growth and even conditioned the psychology of the inhabitants. Sumer, therefore, epitomizes Durant’s four conditions of civilization.

Geologically, the very land of Sumer owes its existence to the Tigris and Euphrates. The silt buildup behind a sand bar created by the silt of two other rivers resulted in the plain that would become Sumer. The fertile land promoted the growth of agriculture and led to the development of civilization. The region now called Iraq grew more arid as the glaciers receded, and people from the north migrated into the very fertile area of Sumer (southern Iraq) about 8000 B.C. Although growing deserts and – possibly – active volcanoes threatened civilization, the two great rivers fostered it.

Geography also promoted the advance of civilization. Sumer’s location on the Persian Gulf eventually promoted trade by shipping as the two rivers had done even earlier. The gulf also protected the region’s southern borders from invasion. The dozen or so city-states that grew up along the two rivers’ banks used those rivers as lines of communications as well as for commerce. However, Sumer also lay on the path of conquest of barbarian and semi-civilized peoples moving westward. Even though the threat of invasion made life in Sumer precarious, that threat never ended its civilization. The geographical advantages simply led conquerors to assimilate the existing culture.

In terms of economic provisions, the rivers again held the key. They had first created the fertile silt plain. Later, when people who had already developed agriculture first settled in Sumer, the rivers provided water for irrigation ditches. Like the Egyptians along the Nile, the Sumerians depended on the rivers to hold back the advancing deserts in a land that received little rain. Rich soil produced surpluses. Those surpluses, in turn, led to the development of cities some time in the fourth millennium B.C. These cities, built from mud bricks made possible by river water and baked in forms, grew into city states along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates: Uruk, Eridu, Lagash, Shuruppak, and Ur (home of the biblical patriarch Abraham) among others.

The rivers also shaped the psychology of the Sumerians. Political order grew out of rule by priests of the great nature gods of water, earth, and air. In time, a feudal system in which the king served as a vassal of the gods arose. The system was so stable that conquerors absorbed rather than supplanted it. The same stability was true of their language, Akkadian (after the region of Mesopotamia just north of Sumer), that endured as the language of scholarship and diplomacy for millennia after the original Sumerians disappeared from history.

This continuity of language ensured the transmission of civilization through education. In fact, the Sumerian education system excelled in teaching the arts of writing, reading, and calculation as well as the principles of administration, commerce, and astronomy. Of course, their moral code was taught as well. The moral code, one that protected the rights of women and the poor, probably arose from the dominance of goddesses in their earliest religion, a case that is typical of cultures that arise along rivers. The code was maintained by the polytheistic belief shared in various versions by all the city-states. This basic belief unified the citizens, but it also reflected a weakness in the civilization. They depicted the gods as superhuman in power but merely human in conduct. Thus, Sumerians expressed the essential pessimism of their culture. Though the rivers promoted life and civilization, the deserts, the climate, the threat of invasion, and the pettiness of their gods wore heavily on Sumerian hearts.

The Tigris and Euphrates cradled one of Earth’s earliest civilizations. In later history the Latin language and the Christian religion would nurture medieval European civilization. In northern Africa and the Near East passion for Islam and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts would unify both regions into the most enlightened civilization of its time. Much later, the drive for commerce would give rise to the English civilization, and the concept of Marxism would mold the Soviet civilization. Still, it is appropriate that water, the source and sustainer of life, gave birth to Sumer.

Literary Analysis – Characterization

In another technique, the author presents the character in action without much – if any – authorial comment. The reader comes to understand the character by interpreting actions, words, relationships, and even appearance. The less commentary the author makes, the more objective the characterization is. The reader, in any case, must infer the personality from the behavior presented.

A third technique presents a character’s internal responses to others’ actions and words. The author, in this manner, reveals the character’s personality, by offering a glimpse inside his or her mind. Again, the reader must deduce the personality without direct authorial explanation.

As authors develop characters, they may focus on a single dominant trait or sketch a full personality. If the author goes too far in presenting a single trait, the character becomes a CARICATURE. However, if the writer avoids extremism, a TWO-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTER (FLAT CHARACTER) may emerge. Such characters possess believability and may capture interest even though they lack depth. If the author employs a convincing array of variables in the images used to portray the character, a complex figure emerges. Such characters are called THREE-DIMENSIONAL or ROUND CHARACTERS. MAJOR CHARACTERS are usually three-dimensional while minor characters are two-dimensional.

Finally, authors may choose to create either STATIC or DYNAMIC characters. Rather than changing in response to events, the static character remains constant. The events merely reveal his or her constant character. However, a reader’s view of such a character may change since the revelation may progress slowly. In contrast, the DYNAMIC characters change in response to events around and within them. Almost any successful PROTAGONIST in a novel, epic, or play must change through the course of the story. The changes contribute toward understanding the author’s purpose.

In the end, a reader comes to know a character through particular deeds, relationships, words, and thoughts. That knowledge, however, depends upon the reader’s willingness and ability to make inferences – to draw conclusions – about the character and the author’s purpose based on those particulars. Such interpretation seeks the universal – the truth about human nature or the human condition as it exists in all people in all times. Such truth is the ultimate purpose of all serious literature.

DEFINITIONS OF THE BOLD-FACED TERMS APPEAR ON THE NEXT PAGE.

Literary Analysis – Terminology of Characterization

CHARACTER: a personality in a story

CHARACTERIZATION: the development of a personality in a story with images that make the character believable

POINT OF VIEW: the degree of intimacy of knowledge from which the author recounts the details of a story

NARRATOR: the supposed (or fictional) teller of a story, NOT the author necessarily

OMNISCIENT AUTHOR: the narrator whose knowledge of characters and events is absolutely intimate and unlimited. The omniscient author not only tells the story but interprets it by commentary and explanation without limits.

FIRST-PERSON NARRATOR: the narrator whose knowledge of characters and events is limited by his or her direct observation or indirect information; such a narrator’s intimacy is limited by the five senses and his or her capacity for drawing conclusions; the first-person narrator is a character in the story

CARICATURE: a one-dimensional character, deliberately developed upon one trait through exaggeration or distortion for satirical effect

DYNAMIC CHARACTER: a character that changes in response to the events of the plot and within relationships to other characters

STATIC CHARACTER: a character that is not changed by the events and other characters he or she experiences; the plot reveals a static character’s personality rather than changing it

PROTAGONIST: the main character in terms of his or her importance and ability to evoke interest or sympathy; the protagonist need not be heroic or even good

Analysis Guide – Character

List every detail of physical description of the character provided by the author. For example, list eye color, hair length, clothing style, height, weight, complexion, and so forth. Of course, the items on the list are not the only aspects of physical description that an author may provide.

List all the relationships of the character to other characters in the story. For example, identify the character’s parents, spouse, children, or other relatives. In addition, identify friends, rivals, partners, clients, superiors, and/or subordinates. Note the nature of these roles and relationships briefly. Are they, for instance, based on respect? Fear? Devotion? Love? Jealousy? In other words, what keeps the relationship together?

List specific examples of the character’s treatment of relatives. How does the character speak to each relative? What does he/she give or withhold? What emotions emerge in conversation or actions? What inferences would you make about the character if he/she were a person with whom you actually had contact, someone who behaved in exactly the same way?

List all the possessions of the character. What do these possessions indicate about the character? Is the character wealthy? Does the character possess good taste? Is the character ostentatious? In essence, make the same evaluations of this character based on his/her possessions – including clothing, equipment, and home – as you would of someone you were seeing for the first time.

List all the actions of the character that catch your attention and that you have not already listed. Ask yourself, “What kind of person behaves this way?”

List reasons the character says what he/she says and does what he/she does. This list will consist of inferences that you made by carefully examining the character.

List the character’s strengths. Then, separately list his weaknesses. What kind of person is the character?

Write out a description of the character, including all the relevant details – physical (#1 & #4), social (#2), familial (#3), and psychological (#5 & #6)**. When you finish the description, write out an evaluation of the character (#7). Just as you should not judge a person hastily, you should carefully consider all the available information on the character before you make your judgment. As you write your evaluation, try to think of the character in terms of both types and specific individuals you have known.

Literary Analysis – The Worlds of Fiction

Traditionally, critics fit stories into a limited number of categories. The characters’ experiences in a serious story may be described basically as good or bad.

A story that presents both the good and bad experiences in the lives of the characters is called realistic.

A story that presents the evil in the world through explicit scenes of cruelty, misery, depravity, and suffering is called naturalistic.

A story that focuses on decent acts of love, friendship, sacrifice, nobility, honor, devotion, patriotism, dedication, heroism, and so forth is called romantic.

A story that unfolds in an unreal world where characters clearly manifest either good or evil motives is called a fantasy.

Whenever you study a serious piece of literature or read independently for more than simple escape, you should try to identify the world in which the story unfolds, the world created by the author. No set number of “worlds” of fiction exists. However, the following five items should cover most of your literary experiences.

The world of everyday experience. The story reveals family life, birth, growth, love, marriage, age, death, and the like. Such worlds are set in homes, schools, places of worship, recreation, and of entertainment. The atmosphere of such worlds may focus on moments of excitement or dullness, of heroism or cowardice. The people in such a world are motivated by the values and loyalties that move people in the reader’s own world. However, the problems they encounter tend not to be those of the extremes of society, neither those of the very rich nor those of the very poor. Nevertheless, ordinary events and objects in such worlds take on symbolic significance.

The world of economic extremes. The characters in such worlds face many of the same problems and have the same concerns as do those in the ordinary world. However, the author will examine how the extremely wealthy and powerful, on the one hand, and/or the abjectly impoverished, on the other, live and struggle. Such characters tend to experience greater tensions. The climaxes of their lives tend to be more dramatic. The themes arise from the straining, stretching, and suspension of values that these characters may or may not share with characters who inhabit the ordinary world. In such worlds the characters adhere to a monumental nobility that may verge on the sentimental. In this world, too, ordinary events and objects in such worlds take on symbolic significance.

The dramatic world. In this kind of world malignant forces of nature or the innate evil in human beings turns the universe into a battleground for survival. In it characters face forces of nature (severe weather, earthquake, the sea) or society (crime, war, injustice) that surpass the ability of any individual to control. Seemingly powerless, the characters struggle to survive, using all their resources. The will to stay alive and to protect those who depend upon them develops the reader’s understanding of them. They will defy any authority that opposes them and betray any value they or their society holds to achieve their ideals. The ideals resemble traditional values, or they may present revolutionary departures. Characters in such a world willingly respond to the demand for self-sacrifice. Indeed, their very identities may disappear in the struggle to survive or to create change.

The “sick” world. Such worlds show people and places gone wrong. The atmosphere and the action are ugly, weird, strange, supernatural, shocking. The people are maladjusted, perverted, insane, suicidal, retarded. It is the world of idiots, drug addicts, pimps, prostitutes, sexual perverts, criminals, lunatics. It is a dark world where evil triumphs, preying on human weakness and converting a character into a monster. Sometimes the characters in such a world manifest themselves as pathetic misfits, incapable of governing their lives, unable to understand themselves or their world. In such worlds characters question sacred values. A murderer may be a decent man. A devoted mother may be a monster. A gentle appearing schoolmaster may be a sadist.

The world of fantasy. In such an unreal world, dreams unattainable in the real world are often fulfilled. It may be a romantic world or a satirical world (created to expose the evils of the real world). In the world of fantasy anything can happen. In such a world strange, wonderful, and terrible things can happen. Stories that take place in such a world hint at the dark elements in the mind and heart of human beings and probe into the darkness of their past. In these stories, too, the values of a particular society are either upheld and strengthened or questioned and ridiculed.

Study Guide – The Epic of Gilgamesh

Prologue: Gilgamesh King in Uruk

• 1. What specific personality traits does the poet attribute to Gilgamesh? To what extent does Gilgamesh possess and/or with what details does the poet support each trait?
• 2. What specific physical trait does the poet attribute to Gilgamesh? To what extent does he possess that trait?
• 3. What mythological quality does the poet attribute to Gilgamesh? (Where does it place Gilgamesh in the hierarchy of beings?)
• 4. What accomplishments does the poet celebrate at the conclusion of this introductory character sketch?

1 – The Coming of Enkidu

• 1. What negative personality traits does the poet bring out in the opening paragraph? What positive traits does the poet also note to counterbalance the negative?
• 2. What is the chief quality Anu sees in Gilgamesh’s nature? What need in Gilgamesh does Anu’s solution suggest?
• 3. What words in the third paragraph identify Enkidu’s essential personality traits? What are his dominant physical traits? What specific behaviors does the poet list?
• 4. How is Enkidu “tamed”? [Who suggests the solution? Who commands it?] How does the “taming” change Enkidu’s nature?
• 5. What is Enkidu’s first longing? Which of Gilgamesh’s personality traits does he exhibit?
• 6. In the paragraph in which the harlot describes Uruk, what new traits does she note in Gilgamesh? What previously identified traits does she reiterate?
• 7. To whom does Gilgamesh tell his dream? What simile does he use to describe his own attraction to the meteor [Enkidu] in his dream? To what two livestock tools does Ninsun compare the meteor? Look up the meanings of those words. What prediction does she make regarding their relationship?
• 8. List the steps in the process of civilizing Enkidu following the harlot’s telling him of Gilgamesh’s dreams.
• 9. Why does Enkidu decide to go to Uruk? What event seals Enkidu and Gilgamesh’s friendship?

2 – The Forest Journey

• 1. Read paragraph one carefully. What is Gilgamesh’s destiny? What is NOT his destiny? What advice does Enkidu offer regarding the latter? What advice does he offer regarding the correct use of the gift of power?
• 2. Why is Enkidu sad? What is Gilgamesh’s solution? What is Enkidu’s first warning? Gilgamesh’s response? Enkidu’s second warning?
• 3. When he prays to Shamash, what negative incentive does Gilgamesh give for going to the Cedar Forest? What positive incentive does he give? How does he use Shamash as a motive for the quest? What promise does he make Shamash?
• 4. What are Gilgamesh’s principal weapons? What is remarkable about them? What aspect of his character do they reiterate?
• 5. Who next tries to dissuade Gilgamesh? What aspect of his character do they invoke as proof of their view? What solution does Enkidu offer?
• 6. After Ninsun prays to Shamash for Gilgamesh’s safety, what does she say to Enkidu?
• 7. Who is Lugulbanda?
• 8. What is Enkidu’s first warning when they arrive at the Cedar Forest? Gilgamesh’s response?
• 9. Interpret the meaning of Gilgamesh’s being overcome by weakness and falling asleep.
• 10. What trait does Gilgamesh exhibit when Humbaba pleads for his own life? Why does he kill him?

3 – The Death of Enkidu

• 1. How does Gilgamesh initially respond to Enkidu’s impending death? How does Enkidu himself respond? How does Shamash change Enkidu’s attitude?
• 2. Describe the afterlife that Enkidu beholds in his vision. What is the effect of the vision on Enkidu? On Gilgamesh? What lesson does Gilgamesh draw from the vision?
• 3. Why does Enkidu’s death shame him? What is Gilgamesh’s response to Enkidu’s last words? What is his immediate response to Enkidu’s death? How does he then plan to mourn Enkidu? What is the most macabre indication of Gilgamesh’s devotion to Enkidu?

4 – The Search for Everlasting Life

• 1. What truth had Enkidu’s death forced Gilgamesh to face? With what emotions does this truth fill his heart? On what quest does he decide to go?
• 2. What does Gilgamesh reveal that he had hoped his weeping would accomplish? What does Gilgamesh tell the Man Scorpions is the object of his quest?
• 3. What does Shamash tell Gilgamesh about this quest? What is Gilgamesh’s response? What advice does Siduri offer him? To whom does she direct him (and with what advice)? What is his response? What is Utnapishtim’s basic answer to Gilgamesh’s question? To what condition does Utnapishtim compare death?
• 4. What does Gilgamesh find most striking about Utnapishtim’s appearance?

5 – The Story of the Flood

• 1. Why did the gods decide to exterminate humanity? Who acts to preserve humanity? What instructions does he give Utnapishtim?
• 2. List all that Utnapishtim places on the boat.
• 3. How did the gods react to the Flood? How does Ishtar respond? What odd simile is used to describe the gods’ response to Utnapishtim’s sacrifice? Whom do the gods blame for the flood? How does that god treat Utnapishtim in the end?

6 – The Return

• 1. What test of worthiness for immortality does Utnapishtim set for Gilgamesh?
• 2. What happens to Urshanabi? What special gift does Utnapishtim willingly give Gilgamesh? What does he give Gilgamesh at his wife’s urging? What does Gilgamesh propose to do with it? What happens to his prize?
• 3. Of what is Gilgamesh most proud? For what is Gilgamesh remembered?

7 – The Death of Gilgamesh

• 1. What is the monument that Enlil says Gilgamesh will leave? What lessons does he assert Gilgamesh will accept?

Literary Analysis – The Basic Approach

Customary Questions

You might also consider a regular set of questions which the students must answer habitually whenever they approach a story.

Who is telling the story? [Who is the narrator?] How much does he/she know? To what extent is this knowledge or vision limited? Is the narrator the author or a persona created by the author? How much distance is there between the author and the narrator? [What is the point of view?]

What are the raw facts of the story? How has the author embellished the raw facts?

What objects or people in the story appear to represent more than their basic elements or reality? What, in your view, do they represent? [What symbolism operates in the story?]

What purpose does the author have in telling the story? What are his/her intentions? How do you determine these intentions? Are the intentions clear or must they be inferred from the details and the emphases of the story?

What is the author’s view of the characters? How do you know this? How do the characters view one another? How do you know this?

What is the author’s view of life? What evidence in the story supports your conclusions about the author’s philosophy?

What is the world of the story? Is it a real or an unreal one? What are the basic values that govern this world? How do these values affect the actions, beliefs, decisions of the characters? What is the author’s view of this world?

Literary Analysis – The Basic Approach

An Alternative Set of Questions

• 1. What is the world of the story? In what kind of community does the action occur? What are the customs, the beliefs, the values of the community? What is sacred in this society and what is held in scorn? What forms of behavior and response are expected from those who live within its boundaries? What patterns of daily existence, what patterns of faith are typical, and what patterns are considered atypical and therefore suspect? What institutions exist in this society, and how effectively are they functioning? What disagreements and conflicts exist among the different members of this society? Are there struggles? What forms do these struggles take? Are they open or secret?
• 2. Who are the characters? How are they affected by the patterns, customs, and beliefs of the world in which they live? What are their personalities? What relationships exist between the characters? What actions and thoughts come about in response to the demands of those relationships? What actions and thoughts come about in response to the demands of the world in which they live? What are the characters’ motivations? What does each character hope to become or achieve? How do they see themselves? How do others see them? How does the narrator wish you to see them?
• 3. Who is the narrator? What means does the narrator use to tell the story? To what extent does the narrator move into the minds of the characters? What comments does the narrator make about the characters’ actions and thoughts? What is the narrator’s view of the world in which the characters live? How much does the narrator know about that world? How much does the narrator know about the characters? Is the narrator a character in the story or an external observer and recorder? [That is, what is the distance between the author and the narrator, between the narrator and the characters?]
• 4. What is the tone of the story? What type of diction does the author use? What type of imagery does the author use? Does the author use satire, irony, humor, sentimentality, detachment, foreshadowing, fancy, melancholy?
• 5. What is the theme of the story? What is the author’s purpose in telling this story? What is the author’s view of the world in which the story unfolds?

Literary Analysis – Terminology

You must make sure that you have a command of the most basic literary terminology relevant to the art of literature.

character – the persons of a story, ranging from static (experiencing no change over the course of the story) to dynamic (experiencing a permanent change in attitude, personality, or such); the effectiveness of the writer’s development of characters correlates with the emotional response of the reader

plot – the pattern that results from the events in the story in the order in which they are presented; sequence of events, not to be confused with structure; it moves by force of conflict or revelation

setting – the background to a story, physical location in space and time; sometimes it may include atmosphere or mood (the emotional environment of the characters)

theme – the main thought expressed by a work (interchangeable with the term meaning on the AP exams)

style – the mode of expression in language; the characteristic manner of expression of an author; the elements of style include

diction – word usage; the author’s selection of words

syntax – the arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses into sentences

figurative language – intentional departure from the normal order, construction, or meaning of words in order to gain strength and freshness of expression, to create an image or to reveal similarities in otherwise dissimilar things; e.g. antithesis, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, metonymy, personification, repetition, simile, synecdoche, and others

imagery – the use of literal or figurative language to create sensory reactions

point of view –

omniscient: the author has unlimited access to characters, knows all, sees all, tells all, as he or she pleases

subjective limited omniscient: the narrator, either a major or a minor character, offers all the details he or she experiences

subjective first person: the author functions as the narrator, telling his or her own story but offers no direct interpretation

objective: the author becomes a camera, recording action without comment or interpretation; the reader becomes a spectator

AUTHORS ARE NOT RESTRICTED TO THESE MAIN TYPES OF POINT OF VIEW, AND THEY MAY USE COMBINATIONS OR MAY EXPERIMENT WITH VARIOUS METHODS OF STORYTELLING.

irony – verbal irony: what is said contrasts with what is meant

dramatic irony: discrepancy between what the author says and what the reader knows is true

irony of situation – disparity between what is said and what is expected

THE CONTRASTS EFFECTED BY IRONY ADD DIMENSION TO THE THEME OF A STORY.

selection of details – consideration of the specific details actually used by the author

sound effects – the use of the sounds of words alone and in combination to evoke feeling or enhance meaning; e.g. assonance, consonance, alliteration, rhyme, and so forth

tone – designates the intent of the work and results from various literary devices:

the author’s attitude toward the characters

the characters’ attitude toward other characters

sentence patterns

diction

figurative language

TONE DESCRIBES THE EMOTIONAL MEANING OF THE WORK.

Literary Analysis – Analyzing Conflict to Establish Theme

• 1. A story is like a string of beads. It contains many elements all strung together by an idea, called the theme, the most significant single element of a story.

State the conflict in terms of the characters who are in conflict in the narrative. List all possible conflicts in the form:

Character #1 vs. Character #2

• 2. Is there an inner conflict within the protagonist? If yes, add protagonist vs. protagonist to your list.
• 3. Mark with an * the major conflict, other than the inner conflict, in the story. To identify this conflict correctly, identify the climax or turning point in the narrative. Which conflict is at issue here?
• 4. For each of the conflicts listed in Step 1, identify the ideas it represents, as paired opposites of abstractions: love vs. duty. Rearrange, if necessary, the order in which you have listed characters so that all characters who represent the same type of abstract idea appear on the same side of the word vs. Place all the characteristics that seem positive on the left side of vs. and all the negative characteristics on the right side.
• 5. Does one side of the conflict win over the other by the end of the narrative? If yes, which side wins?
• 6. If you answered step 5 with “yes,” why did that side win?
• 7. If you answered step 5 “no,” why was no resolution possible?
• 8. Your answer to step 6 should lead directly to a theme statement. Write it out, remembering:
  • a. Express the theme in general terms, avoiding reference to any particular character. You may use a social role, such as “mother” or an age bracket, such as “adolescent.” You may even wish to say “people” or “humans.”
  • b. Express the theme in a complete statement. “The innocence of a child” is the topic, not the theme.
  • c. If your theme statement is complex and contains subordinate clauses or phrases, be sure the important idea is in the main clause.

Analysis Guide – The Epic of Gilgamesh

• 1. What aspects of the epic are pessimistic? Why might the Sumerians have been as pessimistic as they were?
• 2. Identify locations noted in the epic on the map that serves as the frontispiece to this packet.
• 3. Who were the gods of Sumer? What were their individual powers or responsibilities? Describe their personalities.
• 4. Describe the Sumerian concept of the afterlife. How does it compare to the Egyptian view?
• 5. Evaluate Gilgamesh’s civilization in terms of Durant’s four elements, four conditions, and five generators of civilization.
• 6. What values, beliefs, and attitudes held by the Sumerians can you derive from the Gilgamesh?
• 7. How does the Gilgamesh reflect universal values (values that apply as much today as they did four or five thousand years ago)?

Review – The Epic of Gilgamesh

• 1. What characteristics qualify Gilgamesh as an epic? (Be able to cite concrete details that support your answers.) Is Gilgamesh an art epic or a folk epic? Why?
• 2. What is a recension? How is one created?
• 3. In regard to the Sumerian civilization, what word characterizes their general outlook on life (and the afterlife)? What is the name of their form of writing?
• 4. What are the physical and personal characteristics of Gilgamesh? What are his qualifications for leadership? What is the attitude of his people toward him at the beginning – in the middle – at the end?
• 5. What are the physical and personal traits of Enkidu? What are the details (stages) of his origin and taming? How did his friendship with Gilgamesh begin and later develop?
• 6. What were the roles of Enlil, Ishtar, Lugulbanda, Ninsun, Shamash, Siduri, Urshanabi, and Utnapishtim in the Gilgamesh?
• 7. What is the chronological arrangement of the principal characters involved in, and the motive behind each of these major episodes: the quest to the Cedar Forest, the encounter with Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven, the death of Enkidu, the quest for immortality, and the story of the Flood?
• 8. What is the setting of the Gilgamesh? What are the themes?