English 12 Demo

When reading stories it is important to understand the culture which wrote the stories. That can give us a glimpse into why they might tell the types of stories they do. Keep that in mind. Things like climate, environment, population and agriculture all influence the people of those places. When you are trying to determine character motivations or why something is the way it is the reason might very well be from one of those aspects. Consider how some of those details may change if the same type of story was told in another time or place.

In the case of the Babylonians, they were some of the first humans to form a civilization. They were also the first group of humans we know of that had a written form of communication (cuneiform) and a system of laws. One of the oldest stories ever recorded by humans is one that is still very popular among some today. It is called the Gilgamesh Epic (you'll read some of it later) and it is the very first reference to a disastrous flood that destroyed almost all of mankind (sound familiar?) Since you may need some background information, the Enuma elish is also included so you can get a sense for the religion of the time in that place.

Question time: You don’t have to answer them all but you should read over them and consider them for class or small group discussion...

What do you already know about the development of early human civilization? Where did you learn it and do you feel any kind of connection with our early ancestors? Do you have any questions about how humans developed culture and how their society was structured? How did your social group form and why does it stay together? What kinds of things change the dynamic of your group of friends?

One of the themes of this course will be to analyze how ideas spread and how those ideas can change perception and attitudes.