Please follow the guidelines throughly and also demonstrate a turn it in link that scans the paper for proof of no plagiarism. Please demonstrate a strong cohesive piece that connects back to the arti

○ Cite th e se le cte d passa g e at th e very beg in nin g of yo ur pap er an d use pro per bib li o gra p hic cita tio n (M LA fo rm at pre fe rre d ) th ro ughout.

You may wan t (b u t don't necessa rily need ) to off er, im med ia te ly afte r yo ur cite d te x t, a brie f co nte x tu ali z in g sy nopsis of th e ch ap te r or ep is o de in whic h your se le ctio n ap p ears .

○ Try to "u npack " one li n e - or ev en one word - of your passa g e at a tim e.

Dis c u ss sig n ifi ca n t word s ap p ea ring in the se le ctio n.

Say ev ery th in g worth w hile th at you ca n ab o ut one li n e befo re pro ceed in g to th e nex t one.

At so m e poi nt, how ev er, be su re to dis c u ss th e sig nifi can ce of th e passa g e as whole .

(Y our co n clu sio n —no t ju st a se n te n ce bu t a whol e co nclu din g para g ra p h -w ould be a good pla ce.) You are in v it e d to off er a brie f glo ss or su m mary of th e se le cte d passa ge befo re en gag in g in th e clo se re ad in g of each li n e, key word s, etc .

You are re q u ir e d (s e e guid eli n e #4 belo w ) to writ e a co nclu din g an aly tic al co m men ta ry .

○ Use th e fo otn ote s in (y )o ur ed itio n of th e Bib le to ch ec k word mean in gs, varia tio ns, ety m olo gie s, an d puns .

This will help you to dra w out th e mean in g of th e passa g e th ro ugh its word p la y.

Anoth er very valu ab le re so urc e is www.b lu ele tte rb ib le .o rg ○ Look fo r ty polo gic al, th em atic , or co nte x tu al co nn ec ti o ns to oth er passa g es in th e Heb re w Bib le (T an ak h/ OT) to en han ce your re ad in g of th e se le cte d passa g e.

For ex am ple , one mig ht dis c u ss th e re la ti o n betw een th e pla g ues ag ain st Phara o h in th e Exodus acco unt an d th ose occu rrin g in th e wif e -s is te r sc en e of Gen esis 12.

(W hat do th ey hav e in co m mon?

What is diff ere n t?

How is th e sin gle passa g e on whic h you are fo cu sin g illu m in ate d or in fo rm ed by co m paris o n to oth er sim ila r passa g es? ) Once ag ain , how ev er, ple a se do not use th e New Testa m en t fo r th is firs t ex eg esis assig nm en t, whic h sh ould fo cu s on orig in al co nte x ts .

Refe r to your Harris te x t (o r oth er se co ndary so urc es), if you wis h , fo r so cio -h is to ric al back gro un d, bu t do so sp arin gly ; th is sh ould be YO UR re ad in g.

Nev erth ele ss, an in fo rm ed re ad in g is welc o m ed .

CIT E an y su ch se c o nd ary so urc es use d !

(A vo id dubio us/u nsig ned /u nv ette d so u rc es:

e.g ., pers o nal blo gs, id io sy n cra tic "sp ir itu ali ty " site s en gag in g in unusu al or co lo rfu l [i.e ., "k o oky," im pre ssio nis tic ] re ad in gs of Scrip tu re , etc .) ○ Abov e all, be cle ar, co ncis e , an d pre cis e in your writin g .

Elu cid ate th e "p la in " mean in g of th e te x t if it is at all obsc u re , note am big uitie s, av o id ja rg on, su pport your asse rtio n s, an d pay atte n ti o n to te x tu al deta ils .

( 4 ) Conclu sio n/C om men ta ry :

As sta te d ab ov e, you sh ou ld — in ad d itio n to perfo rm in g a clo se re ad in g- ad d re ss the sign ifi ca nc e o f th e passa g e as a whole .

You may wan t to utili z e your passa g e to illu str a te or arg ue th at th e te x t mak es a parti c u la r mora l, p hilo so phic al, or re li g io us (th eo lo gic al) poin t.

(E .g ., th e world is vio le n t, dece p tio n is bad , gre ed co rru pts , God is Lov e, YH W H a p pears to be cru el, God is bey ond good an d ev il, th e Bib le off ers a critiq ue of co nsu m eris m , etc .) T he most pre ssin g questio n, how ev er, is :

What do we get out of th is passa g e?

W hile th e an sw er to "w hat we get out of th e passa g e" may be a str a ig h tf o rw ard ex erc is e in te x tu al "c lo se re ad in g," thi s a ssig nm en t, ultim ate ly , mig ht als o fo rc e you to th in k an d re fl ec t up on your ow n liv ed ex p erie n ces an d to mak e se ns e of the p assa g e acco rd in gly .

(D oes th e passa g e "rin g tr u e" or re so n ate with basic hum an ex perie n ce s su ch as lo v e or grie f, jo y or desp air , a n ger or pity , guilt an d ev asio n, etc .?

Does su ch fideli t y to liv ed hum an ex perie n ce in th e te x t aid one's unders ta n di ng of it and /o r m ak e it re le v an t to a 21st- c en tu ry re ad er?

If so , how ?) Your co n clu sio n may be th at you dis a g re e with th e vie w poin t ex pre sse d in t h e passa g e.

Or, ju st perh ap s, you mig ht re ad th e brie f bib li c al passa g e an d find it fu ll of ex is te n tia l mean in g fo r lif e here an d now , d esp ite th e lo ng passa g e of tim e sin ce its co m positio n.

Though you sh o uld av o id mak in g your ap pro ach to o pers o nal or mere ly i m pre ssio nis tic , th e questio n of su ch deep er mean in g(s )-i.e ., how th e passa g e re la te s to liv ed hum an ex perie n ce - nee d not be e x clu ded .

If th e passa g e has re so nan ces an d re le v an cy bey o nd its im med ia te co n te x t, su ch obse rv atio ns can ce rta inl y be dra w n o ut.

L astly , DO NOT PL A G IA RIZ E or pre se n t Al- g en era te d te x t as yo ur ow n!

Cite all so urc es, in clu din g In te rne t re so urc es, use d fo r a n y back gro und or critic al mate ria l.

T he fo rm at may be th at of a "n orm al" writte n essa y, with a th esis sta te m en t, arg um en t with su p portin g ev id en ce, and a c o nclu sio n, bu t you are str o ngly en co ura g ed to co nsid er ad optin g th e ex eg eti c a l fo rm at of a se rie s of te x tu al not es fo ll o w ed by c o m men ta ry T ex t use d :

The New Oxfo rd Annota te d Bib le (w ith th e Apocry ph a), 5 th Editio n, New Rev is e d Sta n d ard V ers io n (N RSV ).

Mic h ael D.

Coogan , ed ., New York :

Oxfo rd UP, 2018.