Bible and Literature weekly schedule

Week  Date       Class

1.     9.2              Introduction to the course; Library (Video: Hacksaw Ridge)

                                The class will meet at 4F, Information Classroom資料檢索教室

                                Daxian 達賢 Library at 1:10 pm

2.     9.9              1. The Creation (Genesis 1-2) 65-79

                                T. S. Eliot, choruses from ‘The Rock’

                                C. S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew

                                1. In the Beginning Was the Word (John 1: 1-18) 80-93

                                Jacques Derrida, Of Grammatology

3.     9.16            2. The Fall (Genesis 3: 1-13) 94-109

                                John Milton, Paradise Lost

                              William Golding, Free Fall

                                3. The Sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22: 1-19) 110-122

                                Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling

4.     9.23            4. Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27: 15-35) 123-133

                                John Donne, Holy Sonnet

                                4. Wrestling Jacob (Genesis 32: 22-31) 134-146

                                Emily Dickinson, ‘A Little East of Jordan’

                                Christina Rossetti, ‘Weeping We Hold Him Fast Tonight’

                                Roland Barthes, ‘The Struggle with the Angel’

5.     9.30        5. David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11: 1-27) 147-158

                                John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel

                              Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

                                Joseph Heller, God Knows

6.     10.7            Supplement: The Book of Job, Daniel, Esther

                                Speech by Dr. Hsin-Chih Perng (Topic to be announced)

7.     10.14     Mid-term exam

8.     10.21     6. The Nativity (Matthew 2: 1-12; Luke 2: 1-19) 203-220

                                T. S. Eliot, ‘The Journey of the Magi’

9.     10.28      7. The Problems of the Parables (Mark 4:1-20) 221-239

                                Frank Kermode, The Genesis of Secrecy

                              Søren Kierkegaard, ‘Either/Or’

                              Franz Kafka, The Trial

                                Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other

                        Writings

10.    11.4            8. Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (John 4: 1-30) 240-254

                                Emily Dickinson, ‘I Know Where Wells Grow – Daughterless

Wells’

                                8. Jesus and Mary in the Garden (John 20: 10-18) 285-297

                              Michele Roberts, The Wild Girl

11.    11.11           9. The Crucifixion (Mark 15: 33-39) 268-284

                              The Dream of the Rood

                              James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

12.    11.18          10. The Conversion of St Paul (Acts 9: 1-19) 298-313

                              Francis Thompson, ‘The Hound of Heaven’

                              Jacques Derrida, Memoirs of the Blind

                                Bible Related Literature/Film Term Project Topic and Outline Due

13.    11.25          Film Discussion: Hacksaw Ridge, The Insult

14.    12.2            11. Alpha and Omega (Revelation 21; 1-18) 314-326

                                Flannery O’Connor, Everything That Rises Must Converge

                                Film Discussion: 2012

15.    12.9            Bible Related Literature/Film Term Project Presentation

                                Bible Related Literature/Film Term Project draft due

16.    12.16          Final-exam

                                Term Paper on a Bible Related Literature or Film Due

Teaching Methods

The class will be conducted in the form of teacher’s lecture, students’ presentation, and small group discussion, all in English. All students are encouraged to participate in class discussion.

Course Requirements and Grading

A quiz will be given to students before the weekly assigned reading is taught in class. Students will be divided into small groups to do a 15-minute oral presentation related to the reading topics and lead the discussion. A mid-term examination and final examination will be given in class according to the class schedule. Students need to do their research to find a literary work related to the Bible and write a 3-page term paper to demonstrate their ability to see the link between the Bible and literature. Students need to go to Da-Hsian Seetoo Library to watch two films, The Insult and Hacksaw Ridge and write journals/critiques.

Quizzes and journals/critiques 15%           

Oral Presentation & Discussion 20%  

Mid-term Exam 25%     

Final Exam 25%

3-page Term Paper on a Bible Related Literature or Film 15%

Textbook:

Jasper, David and Stephen Prickett. eds. The Bible and Literature: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.

Reference:

Bevan, David. Literature and the Bible. Amsterdam; Atlanta, GA : Rodopi, 1993.

Detweiler, Robert, David Jasper, Heidi Nordberg, and S. Brent Plate. Religion and Literature: A Reader. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000.

Dyas, Dee and Esther Hughes. The Bible in Western Culture: The Student’s Guide. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Gabel, John B., Charles B. Wheeler and Anthony D. York. The Bible as Literature: An Introduction. 4^th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2000.

* Hass, Andrew, David Jasper, and Elisabeth Jay, eds. The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Henn, Thomas Rice. The Bible as Literature. Cambridge: the Lutterworth Press, 2008.

Hunns, Derek J. Bulgakov’s Apocalyptic Critique of Literature: The Use of Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Goethe’s Faust, and The Bible in The Master and Margarita. New York: Edwin Mellen, 1996.

Prickett, Stephen, and Robert Barnes. The Bible. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

*Sawyer, John F.A., ed. The Blackwell Companion to the Bible in English Literature. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Pub., 2006.