Choose one text from each list and examine / analyze the similarities or differences in a set of characters, a specific narrative element, a structural device, or a certain theme. Write a paper that 1) provides an in-depth analysis of this and 2) makes an argument about the significance of these points of similarity or contrast. Why does it matter? And how does our understanding of each text deepen from looking at them side by side? What do you understand more fully, more richly? How does a close examination of one of these equip you to understand and more fully analyze the other?
List 1: “Thousand and One Nights”, “Conference of the Birds”, “Song of Roland”, “The Pillow Book” or “Tale of Genji”
List 2: “Book of Job”, “Song of Songs”, “The Odyssey” or “Antigone”