Writing Resources

Assignment: Comparative Paper — Biblical Texts

Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Description

Your comparative paper (seven to ten pages, double-spaced) will involve analyzing at least two biblical texts that deal with one of the general topics listed below. Your paper is due electronically via LATTE by 5 p.m.  April 29. This assignment will comprise 30% of your grade.

Requirements

In addition to the comparative paper itself, this assignment includes several smaller pre-draft assignments. Each stage of the paper should be discussed with and given/sent to Molly. The entire assignment breaks down as follows:

• Your topic proposal is due in class on March 19. Therefore, it is your responsibility to meet with me or with Molly before this date regarding any questions you may have about the possible topics. 
• An annotated bibliography is due electronically via LATTE by 5 p.m. March 26. A writing session dedicated to writing annotated bibliographies will be held in class March 23.
• An outline of your paper is due electronically via LATTE by 5 p.m. April 3. The outline may be in any outline form and should be accompanied with a brief (less than one page) exposition of the major issues and problems you are facing as you think about moving from the outline to the draft. 
• A first draft of your paper is due in class April 8 for a peer review session. At this session, you will receive a cover sheet that your fellow student will fill out. (You will need to submit this cover sheet when you hand in your revised draft.) You must also send a copy of this first draft to Molly accompanied by a short (up to one page) memo, written in memo form, discussing the current status of the draft and what you hope to improve in the final version (details will follow).
• You must submit a revised draft accompanied by the cover sheet from the peer review session for Molly to check over no later than April 17. 
• The final paper due via LATTE on April 29 should be polished and complete in form and in content.  Your final product must also take into account any significant issues raised by Molly in your earlier draft(s).

Instructions

You should select one of the three topic options below (or another comparative topic, approved by Molly) for which you will choose the specific biblical texts that you would like to compare. Each paper option involves a close comparison of two (or more) biblical texts that will require you to analyze the texts carefully on your own and to consult secondary sources. You are expected to express your own opinion, taking into account opinions of biblical scholars. Your paper should deal with each of the questions posed under your topic. Use these questions, and this entire assignment sheet, as a checklist.

It is essential that you both formulate your own arguments on the basis of your own reading of the text and cite the arguments of critical scholars. In doing so, you should not hesitate to critique the views of scholars whose works you read. Depending on the number of biblical texts you plan to compare, you should plan to consult at least six secondary (critical) sources from scholarly commentaries, books and journals. You must use at least two sources for each biblical text, and two other sources on your topic more generally. You must use at least two sources that are not online. The library session on March 12 will introduce you to important resources that you will use for your essay.

Your paper should not simply list differences between the texts with commentary on these differences, but should be a coherent essay with a clear and interesting introduction, thesis and conclusion. This is not a research paper in the sense that you are expected to consult all the relevant sources and come up with a new idea. You are expected to express and defend your point of view in relation to other perspectives you have read. A paper that only outlines what different scholars say is not acceptable. Although all work for this paper is expected to be your own, you should not hesitate to consult with me, Molly or with the University Writing Center for help with your essay. Use the previous assignment sheet on the comparative essay as a resource (and check-list) for this one as well.

• Option One: Choose a story in Chronicles that corresponds to a narrative in Samuel or Kings and note the differences between the texts. Why is the Chronicles text different? What is the Chronicler's motive for rewriting the DtrH narrative? How do the changes made by the Chronicler in your specific passage fit into the larger tendencies of the Chronicler's "history?"
• Option Two: Compare a specific law or set of laws that appear in at least two of the major legal collections of the Torah (Covenant Collection, Holiness Collection, Deuteronomy), as we did in class for the slave laws. Explain the differences between the legislation in each respective law collection, how each law is representative of the larger collection in which it is found and whether any of the laws you chose are dependent on one another. 
• Option Three: Compare prophecies from different prophets that address a similar topic. Explain the differences between the perspectives of the different prophets, noting specifically any differences in the theological convictions of the prophets. Do the prophets disagree? If yes, why? Does one prophet know the prophecies of the other? Is one prophet reworking the other? If so, how and why? (Some suggested prophetic topics: intergenerational punishment, Israel as a vine, Israel as a harlot, messianism, Day of the Lord, eschatology, the role of ritual.)

 Several Warnings 

• Start early. 
• Beware of most biblical websites. 
• Make sure that your sources are scholarly — not overly popular or written from a religious perspective.  

See guidance concerning writing biblical papers was written by my colleague J. Tigay of University of Pennsylvania. 

An ideal A+ essay answers all parts of this assignment using an interesting, complex argument that is thoroughly well-executed and easy to follow. Its content and presentation is superior, and it is interesting to read. The following chart outlines the characteristics of an ideal essay. Essays that are lacking in one or more of these criteria will receive lower grades; those that show some effort, but contain poor content and presentation, will receive the grade of D. You should use the following as a checklist as you compose your essay, and before you submit it.

Thesis 

• The thesis covers the assignment in an ample fashion by responding to a true question, tension or problem that derives from the assignment.  
• The major claim of the essay is complex, insightful, and if possible, unexpected.  
• The essay makes clear why the thesis is interesting and important.
• It is stated clearly at the outset (though not necessarily in the first sentence) and evolves throughout the paper.   

Evidence and Analysis

• The essay uses the evidence fairly and shows a clear and sophisticated understanding of the evidence.
• Evidence is introduced throughout the essay at the proper time, helping to move the argument forward in an interesting fashion.
• The evidence is used in a nuanced fashion, not only to support but also to complicate the claims of the essay. 
• You take a clear perspective on a position that is correct rather than simply citing various options.
• Quotations are used appropriately, and good judgment is shown in terms of when material is quoted as opposed to paraphrased.

Structure

• Ideas develop over the course of the essay so that the foundations established early on push the argument toward a more complex conclusion that is not identical to the introduction.
• The structure is engaging, and if possible, suspenseful. 
• The structure is clear and logical, but subtle, avoiding phrases such as: "I will begin with" and "Moving on to the next problem."

Style

• The writing is clear, concise and sophisticated, demonstrating sentence variety and appropriate vocabulary.  
• It is clear that particular attention has been lavished on the introduction and the conclusion.
• Proper footnote and bibliographic form are used throughout.
• The essay is a pleasure to read. 

Revision

• The essay addresses all the comments of the instructor and peer reviewers.
• The final draft shows that fundamental issues, and not just smaller points of style, have been considered. 
• It is meticulously proofread.

Not Passing

An essay will not pass if it does not answer the assignment, is excessively sloppy in terms of style, does not meet the page requirement, or plagiarizes. (Any essays suspected of plagiarism will also be dealt with according to University regulations.)

Late Papers

A fraction of a letter grade (e.g., from A to A-, or from B- to C+) will be deducted for each 24-hour period that the paper is late unless you have received written permission to submit the paper late.  

Proper Formatting

Essays (drafts and the final versions) that do not adhere to the proper format guidelines of the assignment (page numbers, double-spaced, proper margins, etc.) will be returned for corrections and resubmission.  If they are (re)submitted after the due date, they will count as late.

Professor Marc Z. Brettler
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