| LIT 340 Term: Fall 2017 Time: 3:30-4:50 p.m. TF Room: Bliss Hall 228 |
Prof. G. Steinberg Office: Bliss 128 Office Phone: 771-2106 E-mail : gsteinbe@tcnj.edu |
TEXTBOOK:
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, 4th ed. (Oxford UP, 2010), ISBN 9780195289602.
COURSE DESCRIPTION. An examination of the major elements and conventions of the literature of the ancient Hebrews and early Christians as exemplified in the Bible. Emphasis will be placed on influential motifs and images, narrative technique, poetic style, genre, and cultural and historical context.
In this course, we read and analyze the Bible as a piece of literature. In particular, we examine the historical, cultural, and formal character of the various books of the Bible with an eye to understanding the peculiarities of Biblical narrative, imagery, genre, and style – from the Torah to the Gospels, from the historical books to the Second-Temple apocrypha, from the Prophets to the letters of St. Paul. To give us a sense of the historical development of the biblical texts, we will read them in roughly the order that they were written (or redacted) in their current form – rather than in the traditional order from Genesis to Revelation.
When the College went through a curriculum revision several years ago, the vast majority of undergraduate courses were “transformed” from 3-credit to 4-credit (1-unit) learning experiences. While most of the classes continued to meet for only 3 academic hours per week, it was understood that the “transformed” courses offered a depth of learning with additional learning tasks unfolding in the equivalent of a fourth hour, including, sometimes, an actual additional hour of class interaction. As the equivalent of the fourth hour in this course,
F) students are assigned additional learning tasks that make the semester’s learning experience more deeply engaged and rigorous, and no other additional classroom space is needed.
GOALS. In terms of my goals for this course, I want you
- to read as much of the Bible as a single semester allows,
- to increase your understanding and appreciation for the beauty and uniqueness of the narrative, imagery, and style of the ancient writings that make up the Bible,
- to become more comfortable reading the Bible as a literary text,
- to become more conversant in the most influential images, stories, characters, and myths of the Judeo-Christian tradition,
- to become familiar with present-day theories about how the Bible was composed and transmitted, and
- to increase your sensitivity to the concrete historicity of texts and to the development of literary traditions, cultural values, modes of thought, and uses of language over time.
More officially, this course contributes to the following goals for the School of Humanities & Social Sciences and the English Department:
#1 Written Communication
#5 Critical Analysis and Reasoning: Ability to critique the arguments of others in the discipline and the construction of one’s own arguments in the discipline, using data/evidence are a focus of instruction and/or the ability to analyze linguistic and cultural patterns
#7 Interpret Language and Symbol
#8 Intercultural Competence: The development of understanding of other cultures and/or subcultures (practices, perspectives, behavior patterns, etc.)
#12 Students will be able to demonstrate familiarity with a range of critical, generic, and literary traditions (including recent theoretical approaches) that shape – and are shaped by – literary discourses and texts of particular periods or movements
#14 Students will be able to identify historically specific elements relevant to a particular text
#15 Students will be able to read a literary work and characterize its main aesthetic, structural, and rhetorical strategies in an argumentative, thesis-driven essay or in a writing workshop
REQUIREMENTS. This course has the following graded assignments:
- 10 two-page response papers (worth 2% of your final grade each or 20% total),
- a take-home mid-term exam (20% of your final grade),
- two formal papers (worth 15% each or 30% total), and
- a comprehensive final exam (30%).
Your final grade will be based on the following scale: A = 93%-100%, A- = 90%-92%, B+ = 87%-89%, B = 83%-86%, B- = 80%-82%, C+ = 77%-79%, C = 73%-76%, C- = 70%-72%, D+ = 67%-69%, D = 60%-66%, and F = below 60%. This scale is absolute. Because the response papers are in a sense a form of extra credit built into this course from the start, I do not give extra credit at the end of the semester to help students raise their grade even a whisker. So, even if, at the end of the semester, you are just .0001 points away from an A-, your final grade will be a B+.
OFFICE HOURS. My office is inside Bliss Hall 129 (the main English Department office), and my office hours this term are 2:00-3:30pm on Tuesdays and Fridays and 12:30-4:30pm on Thursdays. If you cannot see me during these office hours, feel free as needed to call my office (771-2106) or talk to me before or after class to arrange an appointment at another time. You may also contact me by email (gsteinbe@tcnj.edu), or you may leave a message for me in my box at the English department offices in Bliss 124. Email is generally the fastest way to contact me.
LANGUAGES ACROSS THE CURRICULUM. A ¼ unit (one credit) Languages Across the Curriculum independent study (LAC 391) may be added to this course for those students who have intermediate level proficiency in another language and who wish to complement the work in this course by utilizing their language skills. LAC 391 (P/U grading only) will be noted on the student’s transcript. Please contact Dr. Deborah Compte at dcompte@tcnj.edu for more information. Students must contact Dr. Compte to enroll in the LAC independent study before the end of the drop/add period. Appropriate languages to complement the work in this course include Latin, ancient Greek, and Hebrew.
ATTENDANCE. Regular attendance is a virtual necessity for successful completion of this class. Class discussion constitutes important, useful preparation for your graded work. If you miss a class, you will essentially lose out on that day’s contribution to your preparation, since it is never really possible to reproduce or recapture the dynamics and flow of information for a missed class meeting (even if you get notes from someone). If, however, you positively must miss a class, I expect you to find out what you missed and to come fully prepared – without excuses – to the next class meeting. For more information on the College’s attendance policy, please go to http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=9134.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY. Academic dishonesty is any attempt by a student to gain academic advantage through dishonest means, to submit, as his or her own, work which has not been done by him/her or to give improper aid to another student in the completion of an assignment. Such dishonesty would include, but is not limited to: submitting as his/her own a project, paper, report, test, or speech copied from, partially copied, or paraphrased from the work of another (whether the source is printed, under copyright, or in manuscript form). Credit must be given for words quoted or paraphrased. The rules apply to any academic dishonesty, whether the work is graded or ungraded, group or individual, written or oral. TCNJ’s academic integrity policy is available on the web at http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=7642.
ACCOMMODATIONS. The College of New Jersey prohibits discrimination against any student on the basis of physical or mental disability or perceived disability. The College will also provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations to enable students with disabilities to participate in the life of the campus community. If you require special assistance, I will make every reasonable effort to accommodate your needs and to create an environment where your special abilities will be respected. For more information, please go to http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=8082.
FINAL EXAM. As required by the College’s Final Exam/Evaluation Policy (http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=9396), this course has an in-class final exam during the regularly scheduled final exam period for our course; the exam is comprehensive and integrative in nature and counts for at least 15% and not more than 50% of your final grade.
RESPONSE PAPERS. In the course of the term, you are required to write 10 short, informal papers (about 2 pages each) on the readings for class. You may choose which days and which readings to which you want to respond. You should write your response paper before the class meeting at which we discuss the reading assignment covered in your paper and submit it in hard copy in class during that class meeting. For each response paper, choose one of the following topics and analyze the reading assignment for the day with respect to that topic:
- Narrative. Biblical narrative is not linear like most narrative today. It’s more like a collection of short stories than like a single, coherent novel. So, imagine that someone put together a book by asking a bunch of different writers to write short stories with some of the same characters (famous people from our past) but without reading each other’s stories. The characters might have the same names and even sometimes similar characteristics, but the stories about the characters wouldn’t be consistent with one another. In one story, two characters might meet each other, but in the next story, they may not have met each other yet. This is what biblical narrative is like. As you read, you can’t assume that what happened in one story is relevant to the next one. Stories don’t move neatly from point to point in chronological order across the whole of the book. Instead, one story starts and then suddenly starts over again; or a story is told once and then is told all over again later in a different context; or two or more stories cover the same basic ground but don’t relate or refer to one another (such as the multiple versions of King David’s introduction to Saul or of God’s promise to Abraham that he will have many descendants). Choose a story that gets repeated, that covers the same ground as another story, or that starts and restarts. What effect does the repetition have on readers? Is the repeated story exactly like the original? If not, how does the repetition vary from the original? What do we learn from the repetition and variation? Do the repetition and variation cause ambivalence (a feeling of uncertainty about how to evaluate the stories and their message) or add layers of meaning (providing multiple perspectives on the same topic that enrich our understanding) or constitute a corrective (where one version of the story “corrects” the other)?
- Typology. Many plot motifs are repeated again and again throughout the Bible (e.g., the story of a barren woman who miraculously has a child in her old age). This kind of repetition is called typology by biblical scholars. It differs from the narrative repetition in #1 above in that it doesn’t involve the same characters. It’s not the same story (with the same characters) being repeated but different stories (with different characters) that nonetheless follow the same basic storyline or pattern. The first instance of a motif is called a type (like a prototype or archetype) and it prefigures later appearances of the same motif. Sometimes a type will even be turned on its head (in an anti-type). Many of these types have their origin in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). So, do any plot motifs seem familiar? Are they a type or the repetition of a type? Why would the biblical author choose to reuse this type? What meaning does the earlier type add to its repetition? How does the repetition reflect back on the original type?
- Imagery. Biblical texts often repeat the same or similar images over and over again – e.g., vines, flocks of sheep and shepherds, ravening lions, flowing rivers, prostitutes, and so on. How does the reading assignment use one or more of these common images? What meaning does the common image seem to convey? Is it the same meaning as in previous reading assignments, or has the meaning of the image changed? Does the author use the image differently or give it a different cast or flavor? Why would the author resort to the same tried-and-true images as other texts (rather than create new and original images)? Does the text create some new and original images, not common to other texts?
- Genre. Biblical texts come in a number of different genres (e.g., prophetic writing, “historical” narrative, complaint poetry, royal/patriotic songs, liturgical psalms, letters, sayings, miracle stories, apocalyptic literature), each with their own very particular conventions and expectations. In most cases these genres are foreign to us today. What seem to be the main characteristics or conventions of the reading assignment’s genre? What seem to be the most important elements required by the genre in terms of narrative components, style, and/or imagery? How does the reading assignment’s use of generic conventions and expectations relate to that of previous reading assignments from the same or other genres?
- History. In ancient times, the writing of history was not so much about trying to capture the objective truth of the past as it was about seeing and telling events in a way that separated and defined different social and political groups – i.e., that distinguished us from them. In Genesis, for example, we hear lots of stories about Abraham, because Abraham is considered the father of the Hebrew people. We want to know about and remember Abraham as our forefather, but we also want to think of ourselves as getting something from Abraham that separates us from other peoples. In 1 and 2 Samuel, we hear lots of stories about King David, because David is the founder of our nation’s royal line. We want to know about and remember David, but we also want to think of ourselves as getting something from David that separates us from other peoples. The stories about Abraham and David (and other similar figures, both positive and negative) are there to emphasize who we are and what separates us from other peoples. Other peoples are usually figured in the negative characters in our histories; we are figured in the positive characters. So, given the historical tales that they tell, how did the Hebrew people perceive themselves? What did they see as distinguishing them from other peoples? How does their perception of themselves in this reading assignment relate to previous reading assignments in class?
- World View and Human Nature. What kind of world does the text portray? What are the fundamental elements or principles of the text’s fictive world? Is the world a benevolent place or a dark, dangerous hell-hole without hope? How does the text portray humanity? What are the fundamental nature and characteristics of humanity in the text’s world? Are human beings seen as basically good or fundamentally flawed or evil? Does the text seem to view/portray the world and humanity in a basically positive or a basically negative light? How does the text’s portrayal of the world and humanity relate to that of previous reading assignments in class?
- Heroism and Values. How does the text characterize its hero(es)? What are the fundamental values of the text and its heroic characters? Does the text value (and the hero exhibit or endorse) hard work, honesty, innocence, wealth, generosity, breeding, loyalty, religious ritual, physical prowess, beauty, love, intelligence, humility, learning, cleverness, action, duty, honor, (self-)discipline, individual freedom, family, class, nation, and/or community? How and where do the characters, particularly the heroic characters, manifest such values? How and where are characters rewarded for their adherence to good values (or punished for their attachment to bad values)? How do the text’s hero(es) and values relate to those of previous reading assignments in class?
- Gender. How are men and women portrayed in the reading assignment? What seems to be the attitude of the author toward men and women? What makes a man masculine in the text? What makes a woman feminine? What does the text imply or say about the roles that are appropriate for each gender? What seems to be each gender’s place in society? Does the text seem to favor, criticize, or attack either gender? How does the text’s treatment of gender relate to that of previous reading assignments in class?
- Audience and Social Agenda. Who seems to be the intended audience of the text? To whom is the writer writing or speaking? How do you know? What centers of power or social class(es) does the text seem to address, criticize, support, and/or depend upon? What seems to be the social and political agenda of the text – centralization of power, decentralization of power, increase of wealth at the top, populism, engagement in international politics, disengagement from international politics (i.e., isolationism), national aggrandizement in the international sphere, national/religious renewal within the domestic sphere? How do the text’s audience and/or social agenda relate to those of previous reading assignments in class? Check Canvas for a document with brief descriptions of the most important social groups and centers of power in biblical times.
Response papers will be graded Pass/Fail. I ask you to type them (so that they are easier for me to read), but they need not be a perfect, polished product. Rather, response papers should be just what their name says – a response. Think about one of the topics above in relation to the day’s reading assignment; then, write a response. Don’t worry about answering every question I ask in the list above. In fact, focus on the one question that seems most interesting to you, and be as specific as you can, getting down as much as you can, as quickly as you can. Treat response papers more like a journal entry than like a formal paper. I don’t want a five-paragraph theme. Rather, I want an exploration – as detailed and specific as possible – of the reading assignment for the day. Normally, as long as you submit a response paper of suitable length, detail, and thoughtfulness (and as long as you submit it in class on the assigned day), you will receive all the credit that the response paper is worth (i.e., 100% = A++). The purpose of the response papers is
- to verify that you are doing the readings for class,
- to help you in your preparation for class discussion,
- to help me see where you’re struggling with the readings for class, and
- to help you develop your intellectual independence and your confidence as a reader of the Bible.
You may submit more than 10 response papers in the course of the semester (to make up for any response papers that do not receive a grade of “Pass”), but no matter how many extra response papers you submit, you will not receive credit for more than 10. You may not submit more than one response paper on a single day, nor may you submit a response paper for a day that you are absent from class. (NOTE: Even if you do not submit a response paper on a particular day, you should still come to class prepared to discuss the topics above in relation to the reading assignment, since we will focus on those topics in our in-class discussion; in other words, the response paper topics above are a great guide for your class prep each day.)
FORMAL PAPERS. You are required to choose two of the following three paper options: the PROPHET PAPER (due November 2), the PENTATEUCH PAPER (due November 16), and the PERICOPE PAPER (due December 7). You may only complete and submit two of these options (no going for the best two out of three):
- Prophet Paper. Choose a prophetic book other than Jonah or Daniel (which really aren’t prophetic books at all, even though they appear among them). You also may not choose any of the prophetic books that we have read and discussed in class (Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel). Write a formal paper (4-6 pages) in which you argue a clear and specific thesis about the character of your chosen prophetic book. How does the book use the elements of the prophetic genre to characterize its authority and message? How do the book’s authority and message differ from those of other prophets (e.g., Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and/or Ezekiel)? How is your chosen prophetic book similar to the other books? Is it a significant departure from them? What do the specific ways in which it employs and manipulates the conventions of prophetic writing draw attention to its specific outlook and purpose – its particular world view, values, and/or style? Do not simply list similarities and differences between your prophetic book and the other prophets. Focus on describing the fundamental character of the book and on using the conventions of prophetic writing (and the specific writings of other prophets) as a way to illustrate and support your claim about the book’s central essence and/or agenda. Also, remember to pay attention to chronology (i.e., whether your book was written before or after other books). If you compare your prophetic book to later prophets, for example, recognize that your book cannot be responding to or manipulating what those later prophets wrote (since they hadn’t written their prophetic books yet when your book was written). Any comparisons that you make between your book and later prophets can only be comparisons that help to clarify the differing ways that the various prophets conceived of their authority and purpose.
- Pentateuch Paper. Analyze the doublet of Exodus 16 (P strand) and Numbers 11 (J or E strand – it’s disputed which). Write a formal paper (4-6 pages) in which you argue a clear and specific thesis about the doublet and its significance. Focus on what effect having both stories in the Bible has on biblical readers. What does having both stories accomplish? Why include both? What do we understand about God, Moses, and/or the Hebrew people from having both stories? How do the stories differ in perspective? How do the two different perspectives enrich our understanding? Do the differences between the stories cause ambivalence or add layers of meaning or provide a different perspective on or a corrective of the other story?
- Pericope Paper. Analyze the pericope of Luke 5:17-26, Luke 10:25-37, or Luke 18:18-30 in comparison with its counterpart(s) in the other Gospels. Write a formal paper (4-6 pages) in which you argue a clear and specific thesis about the pericope and its significance in characterizing Luke’s Gospel. Focus on what the details of Luke’s version of the pericope, as compared to those of the other Gospel writer(s), tell us about Luke’s interests, concerns, values, style, or technique. In order to do a good job, you should probably read (and use) more of Luke’s Gospel than just your chosen pericope (to get a sense of what is characteristic or distinctive about Luke and then to describe and illustrate that character/distinctiveness in your paper).
Note: You need not use outside sources for these papers (that is, sources other than the texts of the Bible); in fact, I would encourage you not to use outside sources (because I’d rather hear what you think than what some published scholar thinks).
I encourage you, about a week before the papers are due, to submit a thesis paragraph (a draft first paragraph of your paper or just a paragraph that describes what you plan to write about) to me by email. If you do so, I will give you feedback on your proposed thesis before you submit your final paper.
Your papers will be evaluated according to the following criteria (in order of relative importance):
- Does the paper have a clear, specific thesis? Does the thesis offer an interesting perspective or “hook” that is provocative without being gimmicky or offensive?
- Does the paper’s argument progress logically? Does the paper have a clear and consistent overall organization that relates all the ideas of the paper together in support of the thesis with appropriate transitions to aid the reader (rather than simply a list of random observations without relation to one another or to the thesis)? Does the paper have appropriate transitions to aid the reader in following the paper’s logic (rather than weak transitions, such as “The first…,” “Another…,” and “…also…”)?
- Does the paper provide relevant, concrete evidence and logically persuasive reasons for every assertion?
- Does the paper show sensitivity to the concrete historicity of the texts under consideration (rather than treat them as timeless museum pieces or reflect on them anachronistically)?
- Does the paper exhibit confidence and insight when analyzing texts not discussed in class?
- Does the introduction to the paper offer an interesting, helpful preview of the content, logic, and organization of the paper?
- Is factual information in the paper accurate?
- Is the writing in the paper clear, effective, correct (according to the norms of standard American English), and appropriate to an academic setting?
COURSE SCHEDULE. This schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the professor. For each of the books of the Bible that we are reading, when only selections of the book are assigned, I encourage you to read the entire book if you are able; the assignment below represents the bare minimum that you should read. When no selections are specified, you are expected to read the whole of the book assigned.
| Date | Assignment |
| T Aug 29 | Introductions; Genesis 1-2 |
| F Sep 1 | Genesis 3-4, 12-13, 15-16, 18-19, 24-27, 29, 34
Look over |
| T Sep 5 | NO CLASS (follow Monday schedule instead) |
| F Sep 8 | Amos |
| T Sep 12 | Isaiah 1-23 |
| F Sep 15 | Isaiah 24-39; Genesis 20-22, 31, 33 |
| T Sep 19 | Judges |
| F Sep 22 | 1 Samuel |
| T Sep 26 | 2 Samuel |
| F Sep 29 | 1 Kings |
| T Oct 3 | 2 Kings |
| F Oct 6 | Jeremiah 1-25 |
| T Oct 10 | NO CLASS (Fall Break) |
| F Oct 13 | Jeremiah 26-52 TAKE-HOME MID-TERM EXAM made available immediately after class in Canvas |
| M Oct 16 | TAKE-HOME MID-TERM EXAM DUE in hard copy in my box in Bliss 124 by 4:30pm |
| T Oct 17 | Ezekiel 1-24 |
| F Oct 20 | Ezekiel 25-48 |
| T Oct 24 | Job 1-21, 32-42 |
| F Oct 27 | Isaiah 40-66 |
| T Oct 31 | Genesis 1-24 |
| R Nov 2 | PROPHET PAPER DUE in Canvas |
| F Nov 3 | Genesis 25-50 |
| T Nov 7 | Exodus 1-25, 32-35, 40 |
| F Nov 10 | Psalms 1-43 |
| T Nov 14 | Psalms 107-150 |
| R Nov 16 | PENTATEUCH PAPER DUE in Canvas |
| F Nov 17 | Ruth; Daniel; Judith |
| T Nov 21 | 1 & 2 Corinthians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, and Philemon |
| F Nov 24 | NO CLASS (Thanksgiving) |
| T Nov 28 | Mark |
| F Dec 1 | Matthew |
| T Dec 5 | Revelation |
| R Dec 7 | PERICOPE PAPER DUE in Canvas |
| F Dec 8 | John |
| FINAL EXAM PERIOD | FINAL EXAM |