LIT2370: The Bible as Literature
Research Essay
MLA format
1,000-1,200 words
7 sources
Works Cited page
Due WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19
Grading Rubric (10 points each)
1. Strength of topic:
2. Thesis statement:
3. Development/support:
4. Organization/coherence:
5. Use of scholarly sources/MLA citations:
6. Originality/critical thinking:
7. MLA format:
8. Works Cited page:
9. Grammar/mechanics:
10. Sentence patterns/transitions:
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THESIS STATEMENTS
Research topics must be focused. Research papers answers specific questions.
Topics must relate to the Bible as LITERATURE. Essays that discuss personal faith positions, theological issues, or matters not dealing with the Bible as literature will not receive passing grades.
The research essay thesis and supporting points must be supported with evidence and material that is agreed upon by university scholars. The Bible should be used, along with sources that are academic, professional, and committed to scholarship, not to faith-based opinions.
Sample literary questions and thesis statements:
1. Question: In Romeo and Juliet, which is more powerful in shaping the lovers’ story: fate or foolishness?
Thesis: Though Shakespeare defines Romeo and Juliet as ‘star-crossed lovers’ and images of stars and planets appear throughout the play, a closer examination of that celestial imagery reveals that the stars are merely witnesses to the characters’ foolish activities and not the causes themselves.
2. Question: How does the bell jar function as a symbol in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar?
Thesis: A bell jar is a bell-shaped glass that has three basic uses: to hold a specimen for observation, to contain gases, and to maintain a vacuum. The bell jar appears in each of these capacities in The Bell Jar, Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel, and each appearance marks a different stage in Esther’s mental breakdown.
3. QUESTION: To what extent is war depicted as a glorious event in The Iliad? How do the characters’ various attitudes toward war reveal different aspects of war?
INTRO AND THESIS: The Iliad celebrates war and the men who wage it: man-killing Hector, lord of men Agamemnon, and swift-footed Achilles, whose rage is cited in the poem’s famous opening line. However, the same invocation also mentions the “countless losses” suffered as a result of the Trojan War (1.2). THESIS: While much of The Iliad celebrates the splendor of military victory, the poem also honestly depicts the costs of war, which significantly undermines the idea that war is a wholly glorious endeavor.
In Books 9 through 12, Odysseus relates a series of thrilling and colorful adventures. As in a successful horror movie, the spine-tingling elements and vivid characters are effective not simply on their own terms, but because of their careful deployment at just the right moment in the narrative. THESIS: Two key narrative choices are made in these books of The Odyssey: Homer hands the storytelling reins over to Odysseus, and Odysseus decides to create a suspenseful tale rather than a straightforward one. It is these narrative decisions that make the so-called special effects in this section so convincing.
