How to break down a prompt before writing an 8 sentence paragraph.

1. Deconstructing a Prompt
Preparing to Answer an Essay
Question.

2. Break it Apart and Look at ALL the
Pieces

3. First: Read the question. ALL OF IT.
Consider the Mesopotamian view of the gods/afterlife and
the Egyptian view of the gods/afterlife. How are they
different? What about their cultures might have helped
create those differences?
Before you can answer this question, you have to determine what this question is
asking you to answer.
•Is it asking you to explain just the differences?
•NO.
•What IS the question?
•Their respective cultures shaped their views. How? That’s the
question.

4. Now Start Building Your Argument

5. First, Decide Your Point
Here is the question I’m considering:
Their respective cultures shaped their views. How?
I remember talking about their geography’s impact on their
cultures. So if I talk about that, I can then tell how the
geography also impacted their view of the gods/afterlife.
“The ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians held differing
views of the afterlife in part because of their respective
geographical locations and the impact of those locations on
their culture.” <THIS IS MY THESIS.>

6. Now, Support Your Point with Facts
What is a geographic fact about Mesopotamia that impacted
their culture?
“The Tigris and Euphrates river valley was under constant
barrage by power hungry leaders.”
What is a geographic fact about Egypt that impacted their
culture?
“But in the Nile river valley, the Egyptians experienced a peaceful
life led by a king who was also a god.”
DO THESE FACTS SUPPORT MY THESIS? LET’S SEE.

7. “The ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians held differing views of
the afterlife in part because of their respective geographical
locations and the impact of those locations on their culture.”
“The Tigris and Euphrates river valley was under constant barrage
by power hungry leaders.”
“But in the Nile river valley, the Egyptians experienced a peaceful
life led by a king who was also a god.”
THESE ARE BOTH DIFFERENT FACTS ABOUT THEIR LOCATIONS.
WHAT OTHER FACTS WILL HELP PROVE UP MY ARGUMENT?

8. Additional fact about Mesopotamia’s geography impacting
culture:
“Because there was little to no natural fortifications,
Mesopotamians found themselves in a perpetual state of war
and ever changing leadership.”
Additional fact about Egypt’s geography impacting culture:
“Surrounded by natural defenses like the Mediterranean Sea,
Red Sea, and the desert, Egyptians rarely faced the bitterness of
war.”
NOTE THE FACTS PARALLEL ONE ANOTHER. THEY’RE BOTH
ABOUT NATURAL DEFENSES AND WAR.
NOW I HAVE TO EXPLAIN THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MY FACTS TO
MY THESIS.

9. Here is HOW the geographic facts impact culture which impact
the Mesopotamians’ view of the gods/afterlife:
“This war torn state led the Mesopotamians to believe their
well beings were at the whims of capricious gods; and
therefore, there was not much to look forward to in the
afterlife.”
Here is HOW the geographic facts impact culture which impact
the Egyptians’ view of the gods/afterlife:
“As a result of these protections and the consistency, therefore,
of their god-king, the Egyptians came to believe their afterlives
would be as blessed as the one they had known on earth.”
NOW TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER AND BRING IT TO A
CONCLUSION.

10. The ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians held differing views of the
afterlife in part because of their respective geographical locations and the
impact of those locations on their culture. The Tigris and Euphrates river
valley was under constant barrage by power hungry leaders. Because there
was little to no natural fortifications, Mesopotamians found themselves in a
perpetual state of war and ever changing leadership. This war torn state led
the Mesopotamians to believe their well beings were at the whims of
capricious gods; and therefore, there was not much to look forward to in
the afterlife. But in the Nile river valley, the Egyptians experienced a
peaceful life led by a king who was also a god. Surrounded by natural
defenses like the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and the desert, Egyptians
rarely faced the bitterness of war. As a result of these protections and the
consistency, therefore, of their god-king, the Egyptians came to believe their
afterlives would be as blessed as the one they had known on earth. These
two cultures, so close to one another on the map, held such opposite views
of their gods/afterlife because their experiences, shaped by their locations,
led them to conclude their gods were either benevolent or malicious.