Course Description:
The Bible has long been recognized as the most important source of the Western literary tradition, the "Great Code of Art,"  as the English poet William Blake called it.  But until fairly recently, little attention has been paid to the literary qualities of the Bible's own stories, poems, proverbs, etc.  This course is intended to fulfill two aims.  First, it will provide us with an opportunity to think and talk about the literary aspects of this important book, a book which I hope will emerge as altogether more unusual, stranger, than we might initially think.  Second, it will offer an introduction to the critical movement which studies the Bible as Literature, and will thus feature several critical readings drawn from that movement.

Disclaimer:
The instructor of this course assumes no doctrinal perspective on the Bible or on its status as the inerrrant word of God.  Questions of faith and religion are not a part of an understanding of the Bible as a work of literature.  Both believers and non-believers in the Bible's holiness are welcome in the class, but students who cannot discuss or think about biblical texts apart from their status as sacred truth should not take a course such as this one.

Required Texts:
Harper Collins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Edition

Grade Distribution:
 

Microthemes (4 @ 10%)	40%
Quizzes (5 @ 10%)	50%
Class participation	10%
You must submit all microthemes and quizzes in order to pass this class.

 

Revised August 30, 2006