Select one scriipture passage from the following list:
Acts 2:1-13
Exodus 12
Exodus 32
Genesis 1
Genesis 28:10-22
I Corinthians 13
I Kings 18:16-46
I Samuel 16
Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah 60:1-3
James 4:7-10
John 3:1-21
John 9
Luke 2:1-20
Luke 23:44-56
Mark 10:13-16
Mark 16
Matthew 2:1-12
Matthew 9:18-26
Matthew 13:1-9
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43
Matthew 13:31-32
Numbers 11:4-34
Philippians 4:4-7
Psalm 19
Psalm 51
Revelation 22
2. Read your scriipture in several different English translations. Various English translations are available online.
3. Use your research to understand the author, the occasion, the message and then summarize your findings in essay form. Why was this scriipture written? How would it have been received by the first hearers, and how is the passage understood today? Where is it placed in the canon, and why? Are there any literary or symbolic motifs? What did you learn (if anything) from this passage?
4. Compose a thesis sentence that will guide the writing of a 3-5 page paper (750-1000 words exclusive of title page, bibliography and footnotes). A thesis is a sentence that informs the reader what the paper is going to tell them (for example, “This paper will show that…” or “This passage reveals…”).
5. Compose and outline that will “flesh out” your thesis. This scaffolding statement will guide the reader through your essay (for example, “This paper will first discuss the passage’s author, and then explore the metaphors used that would have made a connection with first century readers.” Ideally, your scaffolding statement occurs near the thesis statement.
6. Now complete the essay by writing 750-1000 words (typewritten, double-spaced and printed) that gives “meat” to the structural “bones.” You may use any formatting style you’d like, but then you must be consistent in that style throughout the entire essay.
7. Proof your essay with exacting precision. Ask a friend to proof it for you also. Ask yourself and your proofer:
• Does my paper include a thesis (topic)? Is there a clear structure for the reader; an organizational and/or “scaffolding” statement—a sentence that describes how your essay is organized?
• Does each paragraph in turn must have its own topic sentence? Are their helpful transition sentences, internal summaries to help the reader follow the development of the thesis?
• Did I use the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible when my passage is quoted?
• Did I credit all insights that were not my own? Did I credit sources?
8. Create a title page and a bibliography page. Your bibliography must give evidence that at least one in-print commentary was consulted, or that a digitized in-print work was consulted (no self-published websites!). The Bible also needs to be listed in the bibliography.
