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English 374: The Bible as Literature
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| Description | English 374 is an
English class that examines the bible as literature in light of Judaic,
Catholic, Protestant, and secular understanding of the historic and social
contexts that produced it. We won't be reading the bible as a divinely
inspired text (although I certainly regard it as such) but as the work of
human authors coming from particular geographic regions, cultures, and
times. We will be discussing the qualities of the Bible which make it
effective literature: myth, allegory, memoir, archetype, prosody.
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| Required Texts |
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| Grading | These assignments
are tentative. They may change somewhat as the quarter progresses:
Discussion (see below) 15%; Response papers 1-5 (5% each); Quizzes and
book mark-up (explained the first day) 15% total; Final 15%; Term Paper
30%
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| Attendance Policy | Not only does your
attendance contribute to the community we make in this class, your
contribution to class discussion shows me that you've read and thought
about the assigned texts. I grade your participation according to the
number of times you attend class during the quarter, working on the basis
that you can't participate if you don't attend. Here's how it will work:
There are 50 class sessions this quarter, and you have five "freebies" (a week of work). Your freebies are intended to cover such emergencies as the day you were sick, military duty, the day the baby sitter didn't make it, the day you couldn't find a parking space, the day the sun was finally shining and you didn't want to come to class, or the day you were out of town playing the basketball finals. After your five freebies, every absence counts against you in terms of your attendance and participation grade. Missed book markup* may not be made up and will be entered as a grade of 0. Late writing assignments will result in points deducted from the paper grade.
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| Term Paper | This will be a discussion on a topic of your choice which must be cleared by April 15th with me. The paper may deal with the Bible from the standpoint of literary analysis or it may consider the criticism of the bible that we've read in the Harris text. The paper grade will probably make or break your final grade. Length: 10-15 pages, your opinion with documented sources. Due the last week. |
Course Syllabus -- Spring 1997
Assignments are from the Revised English Bible (REB) and Understanding the Bible (UB). Readings are due on the date assigned. Because the lengths of the assignments are uneven, (logical breaks are not always the most practical) read ahead if a given assignment is comparatively light. The readings from the two sources will not always be "in sync."
| Week | Date |
Reading Assignment |
| 1 | 3/31 |
Introduction. History of English Translations |
| 4/01 |
UB Part 1; Genesis 1 |
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| 4/02 |
UB Part 2; Genesis 2-4 |
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| 4/03 |
UB Part 3 pp 75-95; Genesis 5-12 |
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| 4/04 | Genesis 12-22 | |
| 2 | 4/07 |
UB Part 3 pp 94-99; Exodus 1-18 |
| 4/08 |
Exodus 19-40 |
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| 4/09 |
UB pp 104-114; Deuteronomy 32-34 |
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| 4/10 |
UB pp 116-135; Judges 13-21 and 1 Samuel 5, 8-30 |
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| 4/11 | UB pp 136-155; 2 Samuel 1-21 | |
| 3 | 4/14 |
UB pp 156-166; 1 Kings 1-11 |
| 4/15 |
UB pp 167-177; Isaiah 1-27; 40-55 |
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| 4/16 |
UB pp 179-183; Jeremiah 21-45 |
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| 4/17 |
UB pp 184-187; Ezekiel 1.4-28; 25-32; 36.22-26 |
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| 4/18 | UB pp 188-194; The book of Jonah and Proverbs 1-12, 31 | |
| 4 | 4/21 |
UB pp 195-207; Job 1-14 and 29-42 |
| 4/22 |
UB pp 208-215; Psalms 1-25 |
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| 4/23 |
UB pp 219; Ecclesiastes; the Song of Songs |
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| 4/24 |
UB pp 216-218; 221-225; Psalms 29, 35, 42-43, 47, 66, 100, 118, 131, 149, 150 |
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| 4/25 | UB 226-234; Book of Ruth | |
| 5 | 4/28 |
UB pp 235-238;245-254; Daniel 1-4 |
| 4/29 |
Daniel 5-12 |
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| 4/30 |
UB pp 278-288 Transition |
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| 5/01 |
UB pp 305-316; Mark 1-8 |
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| 5/02 | UB pp 317-333; Mark 9-15 | |
| 6 | 5/05 |
UB pp 334-344; Matthew 1.18-2; 5-7; 10, 13, 18 |
| 5/06 |
UB pp 345-355; Matthew 23-25, and Luke 1 & 2; 9-12 |
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| 5/07 |
UB pp 380-388 |
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| 5/08 |
UB pp 389-395 |
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| 5/09 | UB pp 396-399 | |
| 7 | 5/12 |
UB pp 356-364; Luke 10-18 |
| 5/13 |
UB pp 365-34; John 1-10 |
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| 5/14 |
UB pp 375-379; John 11-20 |
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| 5/15 |
UB pp 400-410; Acts 1-14 |
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| 5/16 | UB pp 411-414; Acts 15-28 | |
| 8 | 5/19 |
UB pp 415-428; First Corinthians, Colossians |
| 5/20 |
UB pp 429-442; Romans |
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| 5/21 |
UB pp 443-454; 1-2 Timothy |
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| 5/22 |
UB pp 455-464; Hebrews |
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| 5/23 | UB pp 465-467; James, 1-2 Peter | |
| 9 | 5/26 |
Memorial Day observed |
| 5/27 |
Letters of John |
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| 5/28 |
UB pp 468-478; Revelation 1-10 |
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| 5/29 |
UB pp 479-89; Revelation 11-22 |
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| 5/30 | UB pp 484-489; Revelation finished | |
| 10 | 6/02 |
Paper drafts discussed with each other |
| 6/03 |
Discuss final |
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| 6/04 |
Objective Final |
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| 6/05 |
Group discussion on what the paper taught |
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| 6/06 | Paper due; Group discussion on what the paper taught |