Gender and Sexuality-
o What were the roles given to men and women in a society and its literature?
o What qualities were associated with the ideal man and ideal woman?
o How did the expectations, responsibilities and rights of men and women differ? What explanation, if any, did they provide for the differences?
o What were their attitudes towards sex? What was considered acceptable and what aspects of sex were restricted by law or custom?
o To what extent were issues of gender, marriage, love and sex intertwined?
Humans and the Physical World-
o How did societies (and individual authors) explain the world around them? o Was the physical world something to be feared? To be manipulated to their advantage? To be dismissed as unimportant?
o What technologies and technological or scientific advancements are associated with each society? What were the effects of these technological advancements?
o How did their cultural, political, religious and social beliefs affect their architecture and what they constructed?