I Am a Man Poem Critical Analysis The attached pdf has all the required details, as well as the two readings that must be analyzed and compared. Formattin

I Am a Man Poem Critical Analysis The attached pdf has all the required details, as well as the two readings that must be analyzed and compared.

Formatting:

– 7 total pages of writing.

– Times New Roman.

– 12 point font.

– Double spaced.

Paper content:

– 1 page (~2 paragraphs) introduction and explanation of the readings

– 4-5 pages of analysis (Answer this for each reading: What does the readings tell you about the author’s beliefs? What does the readings tell you about the culture and society of the author? Religious beliefs of the author? and what parts of the readings give away that information?

– 1-2 pages of comparing and contrasting between the readings (what are some similarities between the authors? what about their society and cultures/religions/beliefs? What are some differences?).

– ~1 page (could be just a paragraph) conclusion (saying that the historical readings can show much more information about the historical period of it if looked at analytically and “reading between the lines” of them).

The first reading is fairly clear, but the second is not entirely clear. If you need explanation on any part of the second reading, let me know. I have already made an analytical analysis on the second reading. The Second Writing Assignment
The Assignment
a) Write a (no more than 2 paragraphs) description of what each reading is about.
b) Then write an analysis of what each reading tells of the events, 1. beliefs and 2. culture of
the person who wrote it, and the characteristics of the 3. society in which he or she lived.
THEN, do a “compare and contrast” analysis which should do: 1) a comparison of the
beliefs of each writer and his/her culture as reflected in the selected readings; 2) a
discussion of the similarities and differences between each culture as represented in the
selected readings; and 3) a discussion the meaning of similarities and differences between
the two readings. This assignment is intended to help you understand how historical
records can reveal more than just the event or description told by the author.
c) Write a conclusion to your paper telling what you have learned from this process of
critical thought. This conclusion should not just be a review of the information in
section “c” just above, but rather a personal look at how the process of critical thinking
has helped you to have a wider (and perhaps clearer) understanding of information of
events in history. Yes, you may use First Person references (“I believe…”),
d) Your finished paper must have one cover sheet, SEVEN FULL pages of text, and a onepage bibliography including not just the source of the reading, but also any other sources
you may have used to help you understand cultures and events. You can use credible
online sources to help you understand the readings and their meaning!
The readings are in the next few pages.
First reading: Talks about the causes (or what they believed to be the cause at the time) of the
black plague according to an astrologer in 1350 C.E.
Second reading: A Sumerian poem in which the author talks about how his god befell him
with “bad luck” by making him get accused of a crime he did not commit in the court of law. The
“man of deceit” described in the poem is the person accusing the author of the crime.
1
First Reading:
Geoffrey de Meaux, “On the Cause of this General Pestilence [excerpt],” written about 1350
C.E.1
The astrologer and Augustinian friar Geoffrey de Meaux was in England during the
Black Death, and wondered “why it affected some countries more than others.”
I have been asked by some of my friends to write something about the cause of this
general pestilence, showing its natural cause, and why it affected so many countries, and why it
affected some countries more than others, and why within those countries it affected some cities
and towns more than others, and why in one town it affected one street, and even one house,
more than another, and why it affected nobles and gentry less than other people, and how long it
will last. And they asked that after explaining the cause I should discuss appropriate remedies,
drawing on my own opinions and medical advice. . . .
. . . [I]t has been, and is, known by all astrologers that in the year 1345 . . . there was a
total eclipse of the moon, of long duration, on 18 March. At the longitude of Oxford it began an
hour after the moon rose, and at the time the two planets [Jupiter and Saturn] were in conjunction
in Aquarius, and Mars was with them in the same sign, within the light of Jupiter.
The sun is the lord, the director of all events, both general and specific, and the moon is
second to him in dominion and power, and their effect is to intensify the effects of the planets
acting with them. It is therefore in the natural course of events, and not to be wondered at, that
such a great configuration should bring about major events on the earth, from the nature of the
planets which drew to themselves the natures of the sun and moon. For when the sun is directly
opposite the moon, as occurs in a total eclipse, then the power of each of them reaches the earth
in a straight line, and the mingling of the influence of sun and moon with that of the superior
planets creates a single celestial force which operates in conformity with the nature of the
superior planets, which have drawn to themselves the powers of the sun and moon. . . . On their
own they cannot achieve anything great or universal, but when compounded with the sun and
moon . . . they bend the nature of the two luminaries to their own nature, and thus with the
power of the two luminaries are able to achieve great things which have a general and universal
impact. These natural causes affect the whole inhabited world between east and north. . . .
•
Saturn . . . governs the whole eastern part of the inhabited world;
•
Mars the whole western part; and
•
Jupiter . . . rules the whole northern part.
Thus the greater part of the earth was influenced. . . .
Not all … were affected in the same way … because . . . the impact of the heavens cannot affect
them all equally for that action of which I speak is natural and operates according to the rules of
nature. It cannot act in the same way in every case, but only has an effect insofar as the ground
has been prepared for it.
1
From Rosemary Horrox, The Black Death (New York: Manchester University Press, 1994), p. 172.
2
. . . [N]obles and gentry were less affected than the rest of the population [because] at the
time of this eclipse the three superior planets were in the sign of Aquarius, where the fixed stars
are not of the first magnitude and . . . are lesser stars which signify the common people, and
therefore the effect of the illness which they brought touched those people more. . . . Because
Saturn was dominant, he brings cold (greater than the sun could counter) to each country under
his rule, and because of the sign in which the conjunction occurred men will experience the onset
of lingering illnesses such as consumption, catarrh, paralysis and gout; passions of the heart
arising from unhappiness; and the deaths of those who have endured long weakness. . . . And
since the conjunction was in the air sign of Aquarius it signified great cold, heavy frosts, and
thick clouds corrupting the air; and since this is a sign that represents the pouring out of water,
the configuration signifies that rivers will burst their banks and the sea flood. And because of the
persistently cold atmosphere bitter humours cannot be expelled from the sea as usual, and
because of the persistent cold there will be few fish in the sea and those that there are will rot
because of the cold, which traps vapours and humours in their body. For his part, Mars in that
sign denotes strife among men, and sudden death that comes among all sorts of men, especially
among children and adolescents, and illnesses entailing fevers and the spitting of blood, and also
violent death and ulcers.
Second Reading:
“I Am a Man,” a Sumerian Poem of Pessimism, written about 2700 B.C.E.2
Sumer and its successor-cultures in Mesopotamia were largely pessimistic in their
ultimate view of the present and the future. Human beings were seen as totally at the mercy of
the capricious whims of their gods and destined for death and an unfulfilling afterlife of
servitude, although suffering could sometimes be assuaged and death postponed.
Mesopotamia’s unpredictable weather patterns, natural disasters and frequent raids and
invasions by the “barbarian” inhabitants of the deserts, hills, and mountains surrounding the
river valley certainly contributed to this fatalistic state of mind. This glumness found its best
expression in the Epic of Gilgamesh, but the attitude predated and was independent of that story,
as is evidenced by the Sumerian poem below. This poem is one of the earliest pieces of Sumerian
literature yet discovered.
I am a man, a discerning one, yet who respects me prospers not,
My righteous word has been turned into a lie,
The man of deceit has covered me with the South wind, I am forced to serve him,
Who respects me not has shamed me before you.
You have doled out to me suffering ever anew,
I entered the house, heavy is the spirit,
I, the man, went out to the streets, oppressed is the heart,
From: Raymond Hylton, editor, The World’s History, Documents Set, Volume I: To 1500 (Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001), pages 18-19.
2
3
With me, the valiant, my righteous shepherd3 has become angry, has looked upon me inimically.
My herdsman has sought out evil forces against me who am not his enemy,
My companion4 says not a true word to me,
My friend gives the lie to my righteous word,
The man of deceit has conspired against me,
And you, my god, do not thwart him . . . .
I, the wise, why am I bound to the ignorant youths?
I, the discerning, why am I counted among the ignorant?
Food is all about, yet my food is hunger,
On the day shares were allotted to all, my allotted share was suffering.
My god, [I would stand] before you,
Would speak to you . . . my word is a groan,
I would tell you about it, would bemoan the bitterness of my path,
[I would bewail] the confusion of . . . .
Lo, let not my mother who bore me cease my lament before you.
Let not my sister utter the happy song and chant.
Let her utter tearfully my misfortunes before you,
Let my wife voice mournfully my suffering,
Let the expert singer bemoan my bitter fate.
My god, the day shines bright over the land, for me the day is black.
The bright day, the good day has . . . like the . . .
Tears, lament, anguish, and depression are lodged within me,
Suffering overwhelms me like one chosen for nothing but tears,
Evil fate holds me in its hand, carries off my breath of life,
Malignant sickness bathes my body . . . .
My god, you who are my father who begot me, lift up my face.
Like an innocent cow, in pity . . . the groan,
How long will you neglect me, leave me unprotected?
Like an ox . . .
How long will you leave me unguided?
They say– valiant sages– a word righteous and straightforward:
“Never has a sinless child been born to its mother,
. . . a sinless youth has not existed from of old.”
*** [portion damaged] ***
The man– his god harkened to his bitter tears and weeping,
3
4
The phrases “shepherd” and “herdsman” in this context refer to the author’s personal, overseeing god.
Whether wife or business partner is unclear.
4
The young man– his lamentation and wailing soothed the heart of his god.
The righteous words, the pure words uttered by him, his god accepted.
The words which the man prayerfully confessed,
Pleased the . . . the flesh of his god, and his god withdrew his hand from the evil word,
. . . which oppresses the heart . . . he embraces,
The encompassing sickness-demon, which had spread wide it wings, he swept away.
The [disease] which had smitten him like a . . ., he dissipated,
The evil fate which had been decreed for him in accordance with his sentence, he turned aside,
He turned the man’s suffering into joy,
Set by him the kindly genii as a watch and guardian,
Gave him . . . angels with gracious mien.

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