Response Paper Heroic Ideals

In this response paper discuss 2 and only 2 of the stories in the following list:

Sundiata
Gilgamesh
Bhagavad Gita
The Odyssey
Beowulf
Gawain and the Green Knight
Marie de France

Option #1:  Today and Yesterday
Which of our heroes from the past do you think best represents the idea of a hero dominant in our culture today and which hero from the past is fartherest from our cultural ideal today? These ideas about what makes an ideal man or woman who represents either does or doesn’t represent the ideal virtues which dominate our culture today MAY NOT reflect your own personal ideals and beliefs. The question is about what ideas and values dominate our culture.

A one page, single-spaced, multi-paragraph essay [using MLA formatting and fonts] that carefully explicates poetry. 
A Works Cited for our Anthology should be on the top of the second page. 
Use writing strategies:

Lead-in, quote, paraphrase, elaborate;
Stack multiple pieces of information to make a single point, don’t just use one piece of evidence to make a point;
Focus sharply by not trying to discuss everything you’ve read, but picking and choosing data to support a small idea;
You should NOT write plot summaries — Your instructors and graduate assistants have read the material.
DO NOT write a formal conclusion as you would have done in high school.  The body of the paper should be full of details from the tale you focus on. 

Formal requirements:

One page, single-spaced using Times new roman 12pt or Courier new 10 pt. font.
Should not exceed 1 page, nor should you be short of the page.
Use lead-ins, follow proper quoting rules, and in-text citations.
Include follow up page [page 2] with proper citations for “An online Anthology, Reference, or Collection” if citing our main textbook and proper citation form for all others. [Go here to see the form for anthologies and online resources.>>>http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/.
Grammar/mechanics and using information from the readings are a major consideration when teacher evaluates all written work.

Here’s the form for “A Work in an Anthology”
Last name, First name of the author. “Title of Essay, Story or          Poem.” Title of Collection of Readings. Edition.          Editor’s name or names. City in which Anthology was          published: Company that published it, Year in which it          was last copyrighted. Form in which is was published          [web or print].

At least once in the essay organize your response like this:

1. Use a brief quote with lead-in, quote marks, and in-text citation properly constructed.2. Follow that immediately with an accurate and faithful paraphrase starting with the words, “In other words,” or something similar.3. Follow the paraphrase with an explanation of what this means to you and all of us in greater detail. In other words, explain how the the idea you paraphrased would work out either positively or negatively in our lives should it be true.4. Finally, be sure in your greater explanation described in item #3, to give a “real life example,” something that actually happened in order to illustrate the positive or negative consequences of this idea.

You can do this more than once if you can get it compacted into one page single-spaced.