Paper Assignment: Sex and the Bible
Length: 1500 words.
Before you write:
Choose one passage (probably just a few verses - at the most, one story or unit of text) from among the assigned readings in the Hebrew Bible (Paper #1). Take a look at several translations to try and understand anything complicated.
Then ask yourself some of the following questions:
How are sexual practices and/or gender roles functioning in the passage you have selected? What is assumed to be normal? What's the logic of how gender or sexual expression/practice is being thought about? What is the text concerned to endorse or prohibit? Why? How does the text justify its position?
What sources of authority does it invoke? What presuppositions does it work with? How does it offer an argument about sex/marriage/gender? If you are working with a narrative, what details in the narrative, the descriptions of the characters, or the flow of the plot allow a reader to draw a particular meaning from the story and/or leave open particular ambiguities?
The above questions are meant to orient you and help you in your thinking - do not feel like you need to systematically answer each of them (after all, 1500 words is not very long).
When you start writing:
What we are looking for here is cogent and well-reasoned analysis based on your close reading of a particular text. I expect you to develop a thesis about what you think is going on in the text and to back up that thesis with a carefully-reasoned argument using evidence from the text. Your analysis should stick as closely to the text you have chosen as possible. For this reason, please do not consult biblical commentaries or do any other secondary research (especially online!!!). What we want to see here is your own thinking about a particular biblical text with respect to questions of sex and gender. Make sure that you specifically cite evidence for your argument from the text itself. When citing from or alluding to the text, please use parenthetical documentation. For example: "Hosea makes a pun on sowing and scattering by naming his son Jezreel" (Hos 1:3).
A word of advice: given that the treatment of sex and/or gender can be quite complex in many of these texts, it may be helpful to focus on a particular angle or issue that most interests you in the text you choose, rather than trying to cover an entire set of issues that is way too large for 1500 words. I also strongly recommend that you make an appointment with the Dornsife Writing Center to go over your argument. I am happy to look at your opening paragraph and thesis statement in advance of turning in the paper.
A couple of tips:
o Do not waste space in your introduction with broad discussions of the bible and western society. State your thesis and get into the details as quickly as possible.
o Do not let yourself unconsciously fill in the gaps in an argument. We do this particularly when we are familiar with a text, often without thinking of it. You are welcome to speculate about how to bridge gaps, but that requires that you first find the gaps in an argument. Focus on what the text says first and foremost, but also pay attention to what it doesn't say.
o Do not develop a thesis that focuses on how different these authors are from modern standards. Focus on the arguments or assumptions of the texts themselves!
o Make sure that you are citing evidence from the text and discussing the details. Get specific! If you say something like "I believe..." or "I feel..." that means you are not working with the details.
o If your argument relies on "tone" or "feeling" as part of its thesis, think about how you might use a different concept to organize your thoughts. These categories are too subjective and vague to allow you to use them to organize your analysis.
o Proofread, proofread, proofread. Read your paper over several times before you submit it. Check your spelling and your grammar. Have someone else look at it.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.