You will write an essay of about 1000 words supporting the following statement:

Biblical literature’s historical, cultural, and literary contexts were far different from our own. However, it can be appreciated for its use of plot structures with parallels in modern texts and for its concerns, themes, and “big questions” that are pertinent to our contemporary situations.

To support the first sentence, you should give specific examples—taken from assigned texts and discussed in class—of 1) how biblical texts portrayed situations for audiences with a quite different view of the world than is typical of most in contemporary American culture or 2) how one biblical text can be interpreted in terms of another—especially when the one provides a quite different viewpoint than the other. For this part of the essay, you should have at least one example from each of at least three different Tanakh texts and at least one from a Christian text. The content of the essay will of course be enriched if you give even more examples from texts we studied and discussed.

To support the second sentence, you should first compare the Exodus story as outlined in class[1] to a contemporary text (story, movie, etc.) of your choice . Be sure to concisely explain the Exodus story in terms of this outline and then show how the modern text you choose has parts that correspond to each part (or most parts) of the Exodus story. 

Then, in further support of the second sentence,give three examples (each taken from a different biblical text) of “concerns, themes, and ‘big questions’” addressed in biblical texts that are pertinent to our contemporary situations (personal, social, political, or other): briefly summarize how this concern, theme, or big question was addressed in a biblical text and then tell how it relates to a contemporary situation.

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