World History Class

Essay One Prompt: On Violence (Thesis/Argument)

In an essay, explore how attitudes towards violence differed across culture and time in at minimum two of our texts. Was the distant past a more violent place than our present? How so? How have historical actors justified violence across cultures? Was violence celebrated? Why have humans committed acts of inhumanity? Do we celebrate violence in the same way today as humans did in the past? Why were heroes men capable of killing other men? Are they still? In your opening paragraph, explain in your own words how you define violence and present a thesis about what is learned by analyzing violence in the past. In your paper?s body, analyze at least two texts to provide evidence for your argument. Do not explain the plots of the texts you discuss In your conclusion, summarize your argument, offer any concluding thoughts, or suggest future directions for research.

Text Used: The Bhagavad Gita, W.J. Johnson and The Song of Roland, Robert Harrison (Cite from text)