BI201-supplements

quizzes

BI201 QUIZZES
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 1-2)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/10
1 ___ Which of the following lists the four steps of the interpretive journey in the correct order?
(a) Grasp the text in our town. Cross the principilizing bridge. Measure the width of the river to cross. Grasp the text in their town.
(b) Measure the width of the river to cross. Grasp the text in their town. Cross the principilizing bridge. Grasp the text in our town.
(c) Grasp the text in their town. Measure the width of the river to cross. Cross the principilizing bridge. Grasp the text in our town.
(d) Cross the principilizing bridge. Grasp the text in their town. Measure the width of the river to cross. Grasp the text in our town.
2 ____ “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23) is an example of what?
(a) repetition
(b) contrast
(c) comparison
(d) list
3 ___ “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Prov 14:31) is an example of what?
(a) repetition
(b) contrast
(c) comparison
(d) list
4 ___ “They will soar on wings like eagles” (Isa 40:31) is an example of what?
(a) repetition
(b) contrast
(c) comparison
(d) list
5 ____________ What word is repeated four times in the following sentence?
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God?” (2 Cor 1:3-4)
6 ___ “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ” is an example of what kind of verb?
(a) imperative
(b) passive
(c) antecedent
(d) conjunctive
7 ____ True or False: In the following sentence, “death” is the cause and “sin” is the effect: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life” (Rom 6:23).
8 ___ “The Lord is my rock” (Ps 18:2) is an example of what?
(a) pronouns
(b) verbs
(c) figures of speech
(d) conjunctions
9 ___ The words “and,” “for,” “but,” “therefore,” “since,” “because,” and “so” are examples of what?
(a) pronouns
(b) verbs
(c) figures of speech
(d) conjunctions
10 ___ Who is the antecedent of the italicized pronoun “him” in the following passage?
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him…” (Eph 1:3-4).
(a) God
(b) Father
(c) Christ
(d) Paul
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 3)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/15
1 ___ What kind of phrases are often introduced by conjunctions such as “that,” “in order that,” and “so that”?
(a) purpose statements (b) means (c) conditional clauses (d) dialogue
2 ___ What kind of phrases are usually introduced by the conjunction “if”?
(a) purpose statements (b) means (c) conditional clauses (d) dialogue
3 ___ Which of the following patterns is found in the passage below?
(a) purpose statements (b) means (c) conditional clauses (d) dialogue
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
4 ___ The passage below follows what kind of pattern?
(a) dialogue (b) general to specific (c) specific to general (d) question and answer
What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 ___ What role does Christ have in the following passage?
(a) imitation of God (b) live a life of love (c) gave himself up (d) therefore
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
6 ___ The passage below follows what kind of pattern?
(a) dialogue (b) general to specific (c) specific to general (d) question and answer
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I was you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
7 ___ In the following passage, which verse contains the general statement?
(a) v. 16 (b) v. 19 (c) v. 20 (d) v. 21
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature… 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and 21 envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
8 ___ What word best describes the tone of the passage below?
(a) calm (b) joyful (c) scolding (d) sorrowful
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for thing?
Review Questions:
9 ___ “The Lord is my rock” (Ps 18:2) is an example of what?
(a) pronouns (b) conjunctions (c) figures of speech (d) verbs
10 ___ The words “and,” “for,” “but,” “because,” and “so” are examples of what?
(a) pronouns (b) conjunctions (c) figures of speech (d) verbs
11 ____ “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23) is an example of what?
(a) contrast (b) comparison (c) repetition (d) list
12 ___ “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Prov 14:31) is an example of what?
(a) contrast (b) comparison (c) repetition (d) list
13 ___ “They will soar on wings like eagles” (Isa 40:31) is an example of what?
(a) contrast (b) comparison (c) repetition (d) list
14 ___ “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ” contains what kind of verb?
(a) active (b) antecedent (c) imperative (d) passive
15 ____ True or False: In the following sentence, “sin” is the cause and “death” is the effect: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life” (Rom 6:23).
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 4)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/25
1 ___ True or False: The same relational features that connect phrases, clauses and sentences will also often connect paragraphs and episodes.
2 ___ David’s sin in 2 Sam 11-12 as the pivot episode between the positive first half and the negative second half of 2 Samuel is an example of what?
(a) chiasm (b) interchange (c) story shift (d) Larry
3 ___ What is the literary device use primarily in narrative that involves contrasting or comparing two stories at the same time as part of the overall story development?
(a) chiasm (b) interchange (c) story shift (d) Curly
4 ___ What literary feature consists of a list of items, ideas, or events structured in such a manner that the first item parallels the last item, the second item parallels the next to last item, and so forth?
(a) chiasm (b) interchange (c) story shift (d) Moe
5 ___ What kind of phrases are often introduced by conjunctions such as “that,” “in order that,” and “so that”?
(a) conditional clauses (b) dialogue (c) means (d) purpose statements
6 ___ What kind of phrases are usually introduced by the conjunction “if”?
(a) conditional clauses (b) dialogue (c) means (d) purpose statements
7 ___ Which kind of phrase are often signaled by the preposition “by”?
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 5-6)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/10
Matching:
1 ___ All of our preconceived notions and understandings that we bring to the text, which have been formulated, both consciously and subconsciously, before we actually study the text in detail.
2 ___ The standpoint of faith one brings to the text, such as believing that the Bible is word of God and that the Bible is trustworthy.
3 ___ What resource would you use to identify the geographical location of the Garden of Gethsemane?
4 ___ What is the term that refers to the biblical writer, the biblical audience, and other elements such as geography, social customs, economic issues, and political issues?
5 ___ What resource would you use to find background information about a particular topic mentioned in a passage (e.g., Sadducees)?
6 ___ What is the literary device use primarily in narrative that involves contrasting or comparing two stories at the same time as part of the overall story development?
7 ___ David’s sin in 2 Sam 11-12 as the pivot episode between the positive first half and the negative second half of 2 Samuel is an example of what?
8 ___ What literary feature consists of a list of items, ideas, or events structured in such a manner that the first item parallels the last item, the second item parallels the next to last item, and so forth?
1
Bible Atlas
2
Bible Dictionary
3
Chiasm
4
Historical-Cultural Context
5
Interchange
6
Presupposition
7
Preunderstanding
8
Story shift
True/False:
9 ___ According to Duvall/Hays, we should let our preunderstanding change each time we study a passage, whereas our presuppositions do not change with each reading
10 ___ An entirely different set of relational features than those used to connect phrases, clauses and sentences are used to connect paragraphs and episodes.
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 7)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/15
1 ___ Which of the following is the first step to identifying the surrounding context?
(a) Explain how your particular passage relates to the surrounding sections.
(b) Identify how the book is divided into paragraphs or sections.
(c) Summarize the main idea of each section in about a dozen words or less.
(d) Quote verses out of context.
2 ___ Which of the following is the second step to identifying the surrounding context?
(a) Explain how your particular passage relates to the surrounding sections.
(b) Identify how the book is divided into paragraphs or sections.
(c) Summarize the main idea of each section in about a dozen words or less.
(d) Check a commentary and do exactly what it says.
3 ___ Which of the following is the third step to identifying the surrounding context?
(a) Explain how your particular passage relates to the surrounding sections.
(b) Identify how the book is divided into paragraphs or sections.
(c) Summarize the main idea of each section in about a dozen words or less.
(d) Order a pizza.
Matching:
4 ___ The words, sentences, paragraphs, discourses that come before and after a passage under investigation.
5 ___ The different categories or types of literature found in the Bible (e.g, prophecy, poetry, narrative, etc.).
6 ___ All of our preconceived notions and understandings that we bring to the text, which have been formulated, both consciously and subconsciously, before we actually study the text in detail.
7 ___ The standpoint of faith one brings to the text, such as believing that the Bible is word of God and that the Bible is trustworthy.
8 ___ What resource would you use to identify the geographical location of Samaria?
9___ What is the term that refers to the biblical writer, the biblical audience, and other elements such as geography, social customs, economic issues, and political issues?
10 ___ What resource would you use to find background information about a particular topic mentioned in a passage (e.g., Samaritans)?
1
Bible Atlas
2
Bible Dictionary
3
Historical-Cultural Context
4
Literary genres
5
Presupposition
6
Preunderstanding
7
Surrounding Context
True/False:
11 ___ According to Duvall/Hays, context determines meaning.
12 ___ One should give the lowest priority to the immediate context when determining the meaning of a passage under investigation.
13 ___ According to Duvall/Hays, we should let our presuppositions change each time we study a passage, whereas our preunderstandings do not change with each reading
14 ___ The same set of relational features used to connect phrases, clauses and sentences are used to connect paragraphs and episodes.
15 ___ I love this class.
BI 301 Quiz (thru ch. 8)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/15
True/False:
1 ___ A word in Hebrew or Greek is often translated into English by a number of different English words.
2 ___ The real meaning of a word is found in its original root (i.e., its etymology).
3 ___ A word will include all of its several different senses every time it is used.
4 ___ A word’s immediate context should take priority when determining its meaning.
5 ___ A concept is bigger than any one word.
6 ___ When doing a word study, you do not need to look up every use of the word and study it in context.
List three things to look for in choosing words to study:
7. __________________________________
8. __________________________________
9. __________________________________
Matching:
10 ___ What resource would you use to identify the geographical location of Galilee?
11 ___ What resource would you use to find a list of every place a word is used in the Bible?
12 ___ The term that refers to all the possible meanings a word could have.
13 ___ The words, sentences, paragraphs, discourses that come before and after a passage under investigation.
14 ___ The different categories or types of literature found in the Bible.
15 ___ What is the term that refers to the biblical writer, the biblical audience, and other elements such as geography, social customs, economic issues, and political issues?
1
Bible Atlas
2
Concordance
3
Historical-Cultural Context
4
Literary genres
5
Semantic range
6
Surrounding Context
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 10, 12, 13)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/10
1 ___ This approach asks, “What does the author mean?”
(a) Authorial intention (b) Reader response (c) Inspiration (d) Illumination
2 ___ This approach asks, “What does this mean to me?”
(a) Authorial intention (b) Reader response (c) Inspiration (d) Illumination
3 ___ Term that refers to the person who wrote the literature.
(a) Author (b) Meaning (c) Application (d) Appellation
4 ___ That which the author wishes to convey with his signs.
(a) Author (b) Meaning (c) Application (d) Annihilation
5 ___ The response of the reader to the meaning of the text.
(a) Author (b) Meaning (c) Application (d) Aggravation
6 ___ Refers to the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of the human authors of Scripture with the result that they wrote what God wanted to communicate.
(a) Authorial intention (b) Reader response (c) Inspiration (d) Illumination
7 ___ Refers to the ongoing work of the Spirit in bringing believers to understand and
receive the truth of Scripture.
(a) Authorial intention (b) Reader response (c) Inspiration (d) Illumination
8-10. What are the three sub-steps of application?
1
________________________________________________
2
________________________________________________
3
________________________________________________
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 15)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/15
1 ___ A contrast between what is expected and what actually happens.
2 ___ A story with two levels of meaning, where certain details in the story represent something else.
3 ___ Questions designed to make a point rather than to retrieve an answer.
4 ___ Term used to describe a relationship between two or more lines of text. Hint: this comes in various types such as “synonymous,” “contrastive,” and “developmental.”
5 ___ The literary vehicle whereby a comparison between two things is made explicit with words such as “like” or “as.”
6 ___ The unique genre of christological biography.
7 ___ The use of exaggeration to make a point.
8 ___ When the characters’ words appear in quotation marks in the text.
9 ___ The gospel writer’s clues concerning the point of a passage, often found in the story’s introduction or conclusion, or in a parenthetical remark.
10 ___ The words, sentences, paragraphs, discourses that come before and after a passage under investigation.
11 ___ This approach asks, “What does this mean to me?”
12 ___ This approach asks, “What does the author mean?”
13 ___ Refers to the ongoing work of the Spirit in bringing believers to understand and receive the truth of Scripture.
14 ___ Refers to the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of the human authors of Scripture with the result that they wrote what God wanted to communicate.
1
Authorial intention
2
Direct discourse
3
Gospel
4
Hyperbole
5
Illumination
6
Inspiration
7
Interpretive instructions
8
Metaphor and simile
9
Narrative irony
10
Parables
11
Parallelism
12
Reader response
13
Rhetorical questions
14
Surrounding Context
15. What are the sub-steps of application? (some have already been given)
1
Observe how the principles in the text address the original situation
2
.
3
Make specific applications .
Extra Credit [worth 1 point]:
___ Which gospels are referred to as the “synoptic” gospels?
1
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
2
Matthew, Mark, and Luke
3
Matthew and Luke
4
Mark, Luke, and John
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 16 & 18)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/15
1 ___ Reading Acts in such a way that the church of all times should imitate the experiences and practices of the early church.
2 ___ Reading Acts in such a way that it tells us what was valuable and inspiriting in the early church, but necessarily binding on us today.
3 ___ a literary form characterized by sequential time action and involving plot, setting, and characters.
4 ___ the organizing structure that ties narrative together. Usually composed on three components: exposition, conflict, resolution.
5 ___ identifies when and where the narrative takes place
6 ___ those who carry out the narrative and move the plot forward
7 ___ the one responsible for conveying the meaning to the readers through the story.
1
Characters
2
Descriptive
3
Narrative
4
Normative
5
Plot
6
Setting
7
Viewpoint of the narrator
Review (Gospels):
8 ___ method of studying the gospels that traces the literary dependence of the gospels as we have them back to earlier texts
9 ___ method of studying the gospels that identifies discrete types of literature and asks after their function prior to being incorporated into the gospels.
10 ___ method of studying the gospels that studies the gospels as a finished product, particularly asking after the unique perspective of each gospel writer.
11 ___ A contrast between what is expected and what actually happens.
12 ___ A story with two levels of meaning, where certain details in the story represent something else.
13 ___ Term used to describe a relationship between two or more lines of text.
14 ___ When the characters’ words appear in quotation marks in the text.
15 ___ The gospel writer’s clues concerning the point of a passage, often found in the story’s introduction or conclusion, or in a parenthetical remark.
1
Direct discourse
2
Interpretive instructions
3
Narrative irony
4
Parable
5
Parallelism
6
Form Criticism
7
Source Criticism
8
Redaction Criticism
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 14 & 19)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/15
1 ___ Which of the following is not a characteristic of New Testament letters?
(a) they are incomparable to other ancient letters
(b) they functioned as authoritative substitutes for personal presence
(c) they were occasional or situation, addressing specific congregational issues
(d) they were carefully written and delivered, using a trained scribe (amanuensis)
2 ___ The name of the writer, name of the recipients, a greeting and a prayer all typically appear in which part of the standard form of New Testament letters?
(a) introduction (b) body (c) conclusion (d) envelope
Matching:
3 ___ Laws that deal with timeless truths regarding God’s intention for human behavior.
4 ___ Laws that describe aspects that we normally see in a country’s legal system.
5 ___ Laws that deal with sacrifices, festivals, and priestly activities.
6 ___ This reminds us that the Old Testament law is firmly embedded into the story of Israel’s theological history.
7 ___ This reminds us that the Old Testament law is introduced within the relationship of promise God established with his people Israel.
8 ___ Reading Acts in such a way that the church of all times should imitate the experiences and practices of the early church.
9 ___ Reading Acts in such a way that it tells us what was valuable and inspiring in the early church, but not necessarily binding on us today.
10 ___ The organizing structure that ties narrative together. Usually composed of three components: exposition, conflict, resolution.
11 ___ Identifies when and where the narrative takes place
12 ___ Those who carry out the narrative and move the plot forward
1
Ceremonial law
2
Characters
3
Civil law
4
Covenantal context
5
Descriptive
6
Moral law
7
Narrative context
8
Normative
9
Plot
10
Setting
13. Which is the first step in Duvall/Hays’ interpretive journey?
(A) Grasp the text in their town
(B) Grasp the text in our town
(C) Measure the width of the river to cross
(D) Cross the principalizing bridge
14. What is the final step in doing a cultural/historical background study?
(A) read passage in light of new information
(B) study the topic using tools (e.g., Bible dictionary)
(C) choose a topic for study
15. What is the final step in identifying the surrounding context of a passage?
(A) summarize the main idea of each section
(B) explain how your passage relates to the surrounding sections
(C) divide the book into sections
BI 301 Quiz (ch. 17 & 21)
Name: ____________________ Score: _____/15
1 ___ Refers to a group of writings that include a divine revelation, usually through a heavenly intermediary, to some well-known figure, in which God promises to intervene in human history and overthrow evil empires and establish his kingdom.
2 ___ Genre of writing which primarily includes the proclamation of the disobedience of Israel and imminent judgment.
3 ___ Approach that takes the historical context of Revelation seriously and attempts to understand the book the way John’s audience would have understood it, and therefore sees many of the events of Revelation as having been fulfilled in the first century.
4 ___ Approach that views Revelation as a map or outline of what has happened throughout church history from the first century until the return of Christ.
5 ___ Approach that views most of Revelation as related to future events immediately preceding the end of history.
6 ___ Approach that does not understand revelation in terms of any particular reference to time, but rather relates it to the ongoing struggle between good and evil.
7 ___ A collection of shorter units; in the case of the prophets, usually oral messages that were proclaimed publicly to the people of Israel or Judah.
8 ___ Refers to the fact that prophecies contain predictions of both events that will take place in the near future and events that may take place much later. This fact creates unique interpretive issues because the two are often blurred together.
1
Anthology
2
Apocalyptic
3
Futurist
4
Historicist
5
Idealist
6
Near view–far view
7
Preterist
8
Prophecy
9 ___ Which of the following is not one of Duvall/Hays’ principles for reading Revelation?
1
Try to discover the message to the original readers
2
Try to discover a strict chronological map of future events
3
Pay attention when John identifies as image and use the OT and historical context to interpret it
4
Focus on the main idea and don’t press all the details
Review:
10 ___ T/F: The real meaning of a word is found in its original root (i.e., its etymology).
11 ___ a method of study that focuses on the literary dependence of a biblical book on earlier texts
12 ___ a method of study that focuses on the studying the bible in the final form that it is used by the church
13 ___ a method of study that attempts to reconstruct the situation out of which a text arose including authorship, time and place it was written, etc.
14 ___ a method of study that focuses on establishing the original wording of a text
15 ___ a method of study that focuses on the choices a final editor of source texts made, particularly in terms of literary or theological purposes such choices reveal
1. Textual Criticism
2. Historical Criticism
3. Source Criticism
4. Redaction Criticism
5. Canonical Criticism

vocabulary

Week
2
The Four Steps of the Interpretive Journey
Repetition
Contrast
Comparison
List
Cause and Effect
Figures of Speech
Conjunctions
Verbs
Pronouns
Week
3
General to Specific
Questions & Answers
Dialogue
Purpose Statements
Means
Conditional Clauses
Actions/Roles
Emotional Terms
Tone
Week
4
Connections
Story Shifts
Interchange
Chiasm
Week
5
Preunderstanding
Presupposition
Elements of historical-cultural context
Bible Atlas
Bible Dictionary/ Encyclopedia
Week
6
Literary genre
Surrounding Context
Steps to identify surrounding context
Week
7
Word Study Fallacies
What look for in choosing words to study
Semantic range
Concordance
Context studies
How to decide what your word means
Week
9
Authorial intention
Reader response
Author
Meaning
Application
Inspiration
Illumination
3 sub-steps of Application
Week
10
Gospel
Interpretive instructions
Direct discourse
Hyperbole
Metaphor and simile
Narrative irony
Rhetorical questions
Parallelism
Parables
Week
11
Normative
Descriptive
Narrative
Plot
Setting
Characters
Viewpoint of the narrator
Week
12
Characteristics of letters
Form of NT letters
Moral law
Civil law
Ceremonial law
Narrative context of law
Covenantal context of law
Week
13
Apocalyptic
Preterist
Historicist
Futurist
Idealist
Principles for reading Revelation
Prophecy
Anthology
Near view–far view
Week
14
Parallelism
Acrostic
Indirect analogy
Metonymy
Synecdoche
Apostrophe
Word play

exegesis

Appendix 2: How to Write an Exegesis Paper
The purpose of the exegesis paper is to practice, consolidate and display the skills acquired throughout this course. Here's the basic way to go about your exegesis paper. Be sure to perform these steps in order (in other words, do not just start writing). You can begin these steps via the weekly assignments during the second half of the course.
Step One: Pick A Text – Choose a passage of Scripture approximately 10-15 verses in length. You must submit a selected text by March 24 for the instructor’s approval.
Step Two: Observation, Observation, Observation – Start digging into the text. Without any outside helps or outside sources, simply study the passage in multiple translations, writing down notes and questions. Observation is the key to success. Notice patterns, problems, special words, contextual matters, etc. Many of these observations will find their way directly into the paper. This step will also result in a long list of questions prior to doing any research or writing. Observation is the road toward further study that will lead into your final paper. Without this step it will just be a string of data and citations rather than a real exercising and developing of your own exegetical technique. Armed with good questions, you will be able to run through the next steps with clarity and write a great paper.
Step Three: Seek Answers to Your Questions Via the Tools of this Course – make use of ALL the tools in this course. Be sure to continue to make observations even as you begin to answer the questions from your initial round of observation. Here's a check-list:
Observation
Historical-cultural context*
Literary context
Word study*
Main idea of the passage
Outline
Application
Consult outside sources as needed [those with an * will require outside sources] to complete this processes. The evaluation of the paper will depend on properly executing each of these skills with regard to the text. Make sure to do ALL of them (e.g., even poorly executed word studies will get more points than no word studies at all).
Step Four: Consult Outside Sources As Needed – For two of these processes you will need outside sources: historical cultural context and word study (marked with an * above). Begin observing soon so that you will know what words and phrases are important to your text and worth looking up. Also, you will need to use books from the library, so you want to get cracking soon. Feel free to use sources for other processes if you get stuck (e.g., can't figure out the boundaries of the text in its literary context, check out a few commentaries and see what they do and make a choice). But only use these sources as needed; do not bog down your paper with too many citations. You must cite everything you do use (if you do not, you will be committing plagiarism, and will therefore receive 0 points on this assignment and it will be reported to the Dean). Just be careful to avoid becoming too dependent on sources, and use them critically.
Step Five: Write Your Paper – This is the last step. Do not start writing while still doing exegesis or you will hand in a jumbled paper. Do all the above steps, then organize the information and present it in a clear manner. The paper should be structured like this:
Cover Page – clearly identify your chosen text, your name, the course title, the professor’s name, and the date submitted. Also include a final word count.
Introduction – includes identification of literary genre, connections to surrounding literary context, commentary on relevant elements of historical-cultural context, and indication of the main idea of the text. The main idea serves as the thesis for your paper. (1-2 pages)
Outline – provide a thorough, logical outline of your passage (1 page)
Body – lay out a verse-by-verse study of the passage interweaving your observations, word studies, historical-cultural background studies, and theological principles regarding the verse at hand. For example, if there is an interesting word in verse 3 that you studied, discuss the findings of your study in the section on verse 3. (4-6 pages).
Conclusion – reiterate the main idea and note how your exegesis in detail contributes to your understanding of the main idea of the passage. Summarize/synthesize your theological principles and tie them together for a final punch that points to the God revealed in the passage. Briefly identify an application that can be drawn from these principles. (1 page)
Works Cited – include by proper MLA standards all works used. This page does not count toward final word count. (Total Pages: 2000-2500 words = 8-10 pages.)
Step Six: Edit Your Paper -- Make sure to plan your time so that you have enough left over to thoroughly edit your paper. First run spell check and grammar check on your word processor. Then read through it out loud to make sure it makes sense. Then ask someone else read through it and mark it up (we always make more sense to ourselves that to our readers). Adjust all problems at each stage. Lengthen or shorten the paper to fit the page requirement (2000-2500 words). This step is very crucial. In my years of writing papers, assisting others in writing papers, and grading papers, I've found that many people who could get an "A" end up with a "C" because they do not take the time to make the paper readable. Take the time to remove style obstacles so that the reader can actually see your thoughts for what they are. One cannot evaluation another's insights if he or she does not understand those insights because of poor writing/editing.
Grading Rubric:
Observations – Demonstrates that a substantial quantity of this paper develops out of the student’s own questions and observations.
_____/40 points
Historical-cultural context – Identifies the historical-cultural elements relevant to the interpretation of this passage in general. Provides at least five cultural/historical background studies.
_____/20 points
Literary context – Identifies the literary genre of this passage and demonstrates an understanding of the characteristics of this genre and the guidelines for its interpretation. Draws connections between the passage and the surrounding literary context, showing how this passage contributes to the larger train of thought and how the larger train of thought illumines this passage.
_____/20 points
Word Studies – Provides at least five word studies, showing the semantic range for this word (with references), the meaning that fits the passage best, and the difference this makes for understanding the passage.
_____/20 points
Main Idea – States clearly and briefly the main point of the passage and shows how the details of the text serve this main idea.
_____/20 points
Outline – Outlines the passage, identifying the main concepts (in Roman numerals), the subordinate concepts (in capital letters), and the supporting details (in Arabic numerals). The outline of the passage reflects observation of the passage and the outline shapes the body of the paper.
_____/20 points
Application – Identifies concrete applications that flow from theological principles based on the main idea of the passage.
_____/20 points
Style – Written in a clear writing style, including proper spelling, grammar, and citation of sources.
_____/40 points
Total:
_____/200 points