Choose ONE of the prompts listed in the Module 1 Primary Source Assignments Prompts file (click on the link to see the file) do the necessary reading in Reilly’s “Worlds of History” and write an essay in response.
Chapter 1
Read the secondary source selections by Hughes, Ehrenberg, and the one by Clay, Paul, & Senecal and write an essay addressing these questions: What contributions made by women to the development of humanity are these writers discussing? How does the traditional way of discussing early history as a “stone age” giving way to a “bronze age” hide, or at least diminish the importance of women and their contributions discussed in these articles? How did the rise of farming and urban communities contribute to the development of patriarchy? What connection can we see between that ancient rise of patriarchy and the modern situation where scholars such as our authors are having to “rediscover” women’s contributions in the ancient past?
Chapter 2
Read the secondary source selection by Reilly (“Cities and Civilization”) and the portion of the primary source The Epic of Gilgamesh and write an essay addressing these questions: How does the Epic of Gilgamesh reflect the changes Reilly is discussing in his selection? How could we see the struggle of Gilgamesh and Enkidu as being a metaphor for civilization?
Chapter 2
Read the primary sources Hammurabi’s Code, The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, and an Assyrian Law and a Palace Decree and write an essay discussing how we can use these to understand how these past societies understood what justice is, where it came from, and how it should be applied. Also discuss how the conceptions of law and justice shown here differ from those of the modern United States.