New Testament

Guidelines for Book Analysis

I. Students should choose from one of the following books:

Words About the Word by John Kohlenberger
Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs by Richard Horsley
Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg
Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography by Bruce Chilton
Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospel by Luke Timothy Johnson
The Moral Teaching of Paul by Victor Furnish
Paul Among Jews and Gentiles by K. Stendahl
Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation by Bruce Metzger

A Feminist Companion to John I & II edited by Amy-Jill Levine with Marianne Blickenstaff

A Feminist Companion to Matthew by Amy-Jill Levine

A Feminist Companion to Mark by Amy-Jill Levine

A Feminist Companion to Paul edited by Amy-Jill Levine with Marianne Blickenstaff

A Feminist Companion to Luke edited by Amy-Jill Levine with Marianne Blickenstaff

A Feminist Companion to the Deutero-Pauline Epistles edited by Amy-Jill Levine with Marianne Blickenstaff

[Students may negotiate with the professor if they are interested in analyzing an alternative book.]

Books may be obtained through the library (or interlibrary loan) or purchased through any means convenient for the student.

Basic Formatting Requirements:

Papers must be typed or word-processed in a 12 pt. font (preferably Times New Roman) with 1 inch margins all around. Line spacing should be double-spaced. Page length should be somewhere between 2500-4000 words. (It is acceptable to have a longer paper.) Although papers are graded primarily on the basis of content, not following the instructions in these guidelines and/or poor writing can affect grading. Good writing is writing that is clear, coherent, and organized. See the general points about writing a paper at the bottom of this page.

Papers should be submitted as a Word document by e-mail before class on the dates listed below.

Students must document the sources of ideas and quotes that are not theirs. You may use MLA, APA, or any other standard system to cite sources and create a bibliography or reference cited page. Paraphrasing sources should be avoided. It is strongly recommended that students read over the section on plagiarism in the MLA Handbook in order to avoid inadvertent plagiarism. [[For on-line help on how to cite sources see http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/modeldocs/humanities.htm, http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc, http://citationmachine.net/ , and http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/chicago.html]

There is also a series of tutorials on how to avoid plagiarism at http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/plagiarismtutorial/default.asp?s=&n=&i=&v=&o=&ns=0&uid=0&rau=0

Special Note: Unlike some versions of the APA, I want parenthetical citations to include relevant page numbers even when you are not quoting.

II. After reading the book carefully, students will write an 8-12 page paper that discusses the following:

	A summary of the thesis/theme(s) of the book
	Explanation of how the author supports/defends the thesis/theme
	Comparison of the ideas in the book with ideas presented in Ehrman’s book and in the explanatory material found in the HarperCollins Study Bible
	A concluding page or two (maximum) of the student’s assessment of the book’s ideas, e.g., does the student agree or disagree with the main ideas (why or why not)?

Important Note: Even though most of the paper is an analysis of one book, students must still provide proper citations of material that come from that book, or any other sources used (Ehrman, HarperCollins, or any others used by the student). In short, keep in mind the honor code's position on plagiarism.

General Points Regarding Writing Papers (I suggest you check off each point as you make sure it is completed):

Do not use contractions in formal papers

Avoid using "man" and "mankind" when you really mean human or humankind

When quoting a biblical text, e.g., "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God," the only citation you need is that Book chapter:verse (e.g., Matt. 5:8). You do not need to cite the actual Bible you got it from (e.g., HarperCollins Study Bible). You should indicate, by abbreviation, which translation you are using, e.g., NRSV, NIV, KJV, etc. Thus, in the example above it would look like this:

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8 NRSV).

The only time you need to cite the actual Bible you are using is when you are referring to material in the footnotes or introductions, i.e., all non-biblical material. When citing the non-biblical material, you should follow standard citation format for an edited book.

Citations should always include page numbers if the source is paginated.

Citations of web sites should be complete and specific--for example, if you are referring to material found at http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/groups/rph/rph110/index.html do not put http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/groups/rph/ only.

It is not enough simply to list all the works consulted at the end of a paper. All information and ideas which a student finds from the works consulted must be specifically cited at the point in the paper where that information is included.

A paper that is almost entirely quotes rather than the student's explanation of the ideas in the book is not appropriate -- that kind of paper is not a paper at all, just an assemblage of quotations.

Each page of your paper, except the title page, should have a page number.

Since your papers are to be turned in electronically, to sign and pledge your papers, you should include your name, your student ID number, and the phrase, "I pledge this assignment"

In my classes, I prefer that you refer to yourself as "I" rather than as "the author of this paper" or "we"

III. Due dates (send by e-mail prior to class on the dates below):

Feb. 25 -- choice of paper topic (be sure you actually have a copy of the book you plan to write your paper on)

Mar. 26 -- complete rough draft [5% of grade]

Apr. 21 -- final draft [15% of grade]

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