4:00-5:15P    TR    ARR

THIS SECTION FOR WELLS SCHOLARS

In this course we will look closely at the stories of Genesis, focusing
especially on how they are told, how themes are developed, and how
characterization (human and divine) is depicted. We will also examine how
these stories have been re-interpreted in modern literature and art. The
readings will consist mainly of primary sources, but we will make use of
several secondary sources in order to stimulate discussion. The course
will demand close reading (and re-readings!) of the primary texts being
discussed. There will be no examinations in this class. Instead, students
are asked to:

a) Fully participate in as many aspects of class interaction as possible.
A primary goal is that all students become involved in the class
discussions. And that's a real art. We don't want students who will sit
back and leave the driving to others; nor do we want students who hog the
whole show and don't give others a chance to dive in. In order to
participate intelligently in the discussions, it is necessary to attend
class. Attendance will not be taken; but it will be noted! You will also
have ample opportunity to interact with one another on a weekly basis
through our electronic classroom computer network. Through this computer
connection we hope that you will share your ideas about a specific
assigned reading even before we have our class discussion on that
particular text. A final aspect of class participation will be the
responses you make to the papers written by your classmates [see , below].

b) Submit four six page papers (typed, double-spaced) during the semester,
meeting any four of the seven paper deadlines listed in the syllabus, two
on readings from the Bible and two on readings from related literature.
You don't need to do any library research on these papers, just some good
hard thinking. As you ponder what to write, consider what are the most
challenging and interesting questions that the story/poem/text poses to
you. Some of these questions might have been raised and partially
addressed in the class discussion; and you might want to move further
along, reformulating your own initial response in the light of ideas and
insights from your classmates, as well as on the basis of further close
reading of the text and the assigned secondary literature. On the other
hand, you may choose to pursue other issues posed by the text and assigned
secondary literature that the class never got around to discussing. Five
copies of each paper should be handed in, three for the instructors'
comments, and the other two for the comments of two of your classmates.

c) Provide helpful and challenging responses to the written work of your
classmates. We will try to work out some system for distributing the paper
througho0ut the class so that all students will receive eight papers to
respond to during the course of the semester. We expect something quite a
bit more than "good job! I learned a lot by reading your paper." You
should discuss the main ideas of the paper, showing further evidence that
would support those ideas and/or textual evidence that might challenge the
thesis being made. You could also give suggestions regarding how your
classmate could argue his/her case more clearly and convincingly.

Grading: Class participation				50%
	   Class discussions
	   Electronic classroom
	   Responses to classmate papers

Four papers						50%