Inciting Incident. The inciting incident is the event that introduces the central conflict, or struggle, in a poem, story, or play. As you read, try to pinpoint the inciting incident of “The Secret Name of Ra.”
Motive. A motive is a reason for acting in a certain way. As you read, determine what motive drives Isis to the action she commits in this story.
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• Many gods in Egyptian mythology either die or come close to death—even though they are immortal. In the selection you are about to read, Ra, the sun god, comes close to death.
• History Connection. Ancient Egyptians believed that the sun was born each day as it rose in the east and died each day as it set in the west, traveling into the underworld at night. Accordingly, Egyptians believed that the contrast between day and night was like the contrast between life and death. The Egyptians buried their dead to the west of the Nile, in the land of the setting sun, and believed that the souls of the dead then traveled, like the sun, to the underworld.
• Ancient Egyptians accepted many different explanations of things as equally true and possible. For example, they believed three different explanations of heaven all at the same time: that it was held up by four pillars, that it was actually the goddess Nut who crouched over the earth, and that it was a cow. Similarly, they believed that the pharaoh was the son of Ra. They also believed, however, that he was the living incarnation of Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris. When the pharaoh died, he became the incarnation of Osiris, god of the underworld.
Is tricking someone a good way to get something you want? Why, or why not?
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