Write an essay Exploring Religion and SexualityWell-written essays should utilize a diversity of course readings read prior to the midterm ( a bunch of readings are linked below please read and use only the stuff linked below, you MUST use them AND cite them in a way to show you read them)
• Be sure to cite any course texts you use to answer these questions
• Please only use class readings (textbooks and assigned articles)
• Each answer should include a thesis statement supported by specific details
• It is expected that students will have proof read and reviewed for errors before submission
Instructions
Please choose one quote from each section to respond to.You cannot use the same primary and secondary text(s) to respond to more than one section. Each essay is worth 50 points each. If you answer more than two questions, we will only grade the first two.
Section I: Textual Analysis (500 words)
Please choose one of the following two quotations. Write an essay in which you argue how the quotation that you chose exemplifies one major theme from this course.
(1) “Moderation, understood as an aspect of dominion over the self, was on an equal footing that qualified a man to exercise his mastery over others. The most kingly man was king of himself.” (UP, p.81)
(2) “Believe me, the pleasure of love is not to be rushed, but gradually elicited by well-tempered delay. When you have found the place where a woman loves to be fondled, don’t you be ashamed to touch it any more than she is. You will see her eyes gleaming with a tremulous brightness like the glitter of the sun reflected in clear water. Then she will moan and murmur lovingly, sigh sweetly, and find words that suit her pleasure. But be sure that you don’t sail too fast and leave your mistress behind, nor let her complete her course before you. Race to the goal together. Then pleasure is complete, when man and woman lie vanquished side by side. This tempo you must keep when you dally freely, and fear does not rush a secret affair. When delay is dangerous, then it is useful to speed ahead with full power, spurring your horse as she comes.” (Ovid, quoted in Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, p. 147)
Section II: Essay Response (500 words)
Imagine that you are a teaching assistant for this course and one of your students submits and essay featuring one of these three following claims. Choose one of the following three claims and explain to your students why that claim is problematic. Use specific examples from our readings in order to support your argument.
(1) “In the ancient Mediterranean world, homosexuality was considered immoral.”
(2) “Sexuality is part of the human experience, and as such, it is an established fact that sexuality and the cultural attitudes surrounding it remain constant across all people and places of the ancient Mediterranean world.”
(3) “Across all people and places of the ancient Mediterranean world, cultural attitudes about gender were static and universal.”