ENGLISH 354: The Bible as Literature and in Literature and the Arts

Fall 2004 Report Schedule Options

The report relates the Biblical reading of the day to a later artistic work inspired by it.

The report...

  • includes references to parallel passages that display how the later work illuminates and interprets the Bible reading, and also how it changes or misinterprets the original
  • points out some qualities that make the derivative work a valuable creation in itself
  • takes no less than four and no more than seven minutes to present, including brief segments of music or film played to the class
  • is submitted in written form on the day of presentation and graded as one of the five required papers.


After checking out the links on this list, email me your first, second and third ranked preferences by 3:00 p.m.Friday Sept. 24. No more than two of them should be films. Early-quarter preferences have a better chance of selection. It's a good idea to start soon on this project and to exchange ideas about it with the instructor during office hours or by email.

Week Date Topic

Primary Reading Due

 Later work 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice
I  9/24 The Chosen Clan: Abraham Genesis 12-22

1. Soren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling (Philosophic Essay)

2. Bob Dylan: Highway 61 revisted (song)

3. Sacrifice of Isaac: Caravaggio and Rembrandt(Paintings)

  
II 9/27 Family Matters: Isaac and Jacob Genesis 23-36

4. Anita Diamant: The Red Tent(novel)

5. Frederick Buechner: Son of Laughter(novel)

  
  9/29 Sibling Rivalry: Joseph and his Band of Brothers Genesis 37-50

6. Thomas Mann: Joseph and his Brothers(novel)

7. Joseph and his Technicolor Dream Coat(musical)

8. Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (painting)

  
  10/1 Deliverance Exodus 1-19

9. Exodus by Leon Uris (novel) (film)

  
III 10/04 Nation Building in the Wilderness

Exodus 20-40

Numbers 1, 2, 9-14, 16,17, 20, 21, 31, 32

 10, The Ten Commandments (film)  
  10/06 The Promised Land: Exploration and Conquest

Deuteronomy 30,31,34

Joshua 1-6

 11."Go Down Moses" and "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"(African American Spirituals)  
  10/8 Self-rule and its problems Judges 1-2, 11, 13-16,19-21

12. Samson and Delilah (film)

13. John Milton: Samson Agonistes (poetic drama)

  
IV 10/11 The Origins of the Monarchy I Samuel

14. Caravaggio: David and Goliath version 1,2, 3

15. Michelangelo's David

16. Rembrandt: David and Saul and David and Jonathan

17. King David (film)

  
  10/13 The House of David II Samuel

18. David and Bathsheba (film)

19. Guercino's Amnon and Tamar(painting)

20. Steven Vincent Benet: "King David" (poem)

21. Joseph Heller: God Knows (novel)

  
  10/15 Solomon and his followers I Kings 1-11,16-19, 21-22; II Kings 24-5;
22. Huckleberry Finn Chapter 14 [On Solomon]  
V  10/20

Hebrew Bible: THE NATIONAL LITERATURE

Psalms 1

 Psalms 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 19, 22, 23, 24, 32, 38, 42 23. Holy Sonnets by John Donne  
    Psalms 2 Psalms 43, 46,51, 90, 96, 103, 110, 130, 137, 148, 150 24. Psalms translated into Metrical verse by Mary Sidney ~1590  
VI 10/22 Poetry attributed to Solomon: Ecstasy and Despair

Ecclesiastes

The Song of Solomon

25. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (novel)

26. "The Vanity of All Worldly Things," Anne Bradstreet (Puritan Poem) and "Let Him Kiss Me with the Kisses of his Mouth," Edward Taylor (Puritan poem)

 
  10/25 Poetry attributed to Solomon: The Middle Way Proverbs 1, 5, 7, 10, 22:17 -29, 31:10-31 27. William Blake, "Proverbs of Hell" (poetic satire, part of "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell")  
VII 10/29 Job Job 38-43

28. Blake's Illustrations of Job


29. Archibald Macleish, J.B (1950's Broadway play)

  
  11/1 Hebrew Bible: PROPHETIC BOOKS Amos 1-3,6-7; Isaiah 1-6,9,11; Jeremiah 1-3, 31 30. Michelangelo's Portraits of the Prophets on the Sistine Ceiling  
  11/5   Ezekiel 1-4, 34, 37:1-14, 40:1-10; Isaiah 40-44, 47, 49, 52-55; 65-66 31. Handel, The Messiah, Part I  
VIII  11/17 The Gospel Story in Painting, Music and Film(1)  

32. Paintings by Raphael and Rembrandt

33. J.S. Bach, Christmas Oratorio(midi) (commentary)

34. Jesus Christ Superstar (film) 1973 version 2000 version

35. Jesus of Montreal (film)

36. Monty Python's Life of Brian

  
  11/19 The Gospel Story in Painting, Music and Film(2)  

37. George Herbert, "The Sacrifice" (poem)

38. Paintings by Matthias Grunewald

39. The Passion of the Christ (film)

40. J.S. Bach, The Saint Matthew Passion(oratorio)

  
X 11/22

New Testament: HISTORY

The Early Church

 Acts 1-28 41. Paintings by Caravaggio  
XI 11/29

New Testament: EPISTLES

Paul's Letters

 Romans 1-6, 9-11, I Corinthians 5-7, 10, 12-14, II Corinthians 10-13, 42. The Last Temptation of Christ  
  12/1 New Testament: APOCALYPSE Revelations

43. Michelangelo: The Last Judgement

44. Albrecht Duerer: The Book of Revelation