One of the first hints we can find about gods in Nectar in a Sieve is found in Chapter 3, when Rukmani talks about the difficulties her and her partner, Nathan, have to conceive a child. In her visit to her mother, who is a very spiritual person, Rukmani criticizes the god's willingness to help human beings:
"My mother, whenever I paid her a visit, would make me accompany her to a temple, and together we would pray and pray before the deity, imploring for help until we were giddy. But the Gods have other things to do; they cannot attend to the pleas of every suppliant who dares to raise his cares to heaven. And so the years rolled by and still we had only one child, and that a daughter."
Another example of Rukmani's reference to gods, is found in her description of her youngest son's health condition, as well as her struggling to help him. This can be found in Chapter 16:
"I gazed at the small tired face, soothed by sleep as it had not been for many nights, and even as I puzzled about the change, profound gratitude flooded through me, and it seemed to me that the Gods were not remote, not unheedful, since they had heard his cries and stilled them as if by a miracle."
You could write this essay in a couple different ways. The point is to take an argumentative stance and then provide research for your stance.
These are some ways you could go, based on your opinion:
a) that subliminal messages are picked up by our senses, meaning they are real and do affect behavior
b) that subliminal messages are not picked up by our senses and do not affect behavior
If you're not sure which stance to take, just do some general googling of subliminal messages and whether they're real & affect behavior.
Once you find your position, start researching specifically for that. Remember that this is argumentative- you're taking a position- so you want to have real facts as support. Use reputable sites (look for .edu, .org, .gov instead of .com).
Craft your thesis, which is the main claim you're making. This will go in the introduction of your essay.
A basic thesis may go like:
Subliminal messages are/are not real, and they have/do not have an effect on behavior. (You would pick between belief or nonbelief).
Once you have your thesis, you can start organizing your information around it and write the essay!
The possibility or likelihood of some future event occurring. (Do you mean the meaning of the word, or do you want me to write it “acrostic” like make it a poem?
