The complete Signature Assignment paper will offer a thesis driven argument about the portrayal of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew and how that portrayal sheds light on your chosen case study. The paper itself should address three related topics:
1. How does the Gospel of Matthew present Jesus?
2. How might Matthew’s presentation of Jesus intersect with your chosen case study?
3. Your own response to how you think Matthew’s gospel might intersect with the case study.
**NOTE: For the First Draft of your Signature Assignment, you only need to submit the section of your paper that deals with the first question. This first draft will likely be ~1500-2000 words. While you are welcome to submit whatever you have written for questions two and three here, only your response to question 1 is needed for this first draft.
Additional instructions and parameters for the Signature Assignment:
· Addressing question one should constitute the bulk of your paper (approximately 70-80%) and should remain engaged in the Historical and Literary worlds of the text. In addressing question one, offer a through and specific argument that engages closely with select pericopes in the Gospel of Matthew. While you should offer a thorough and specific argument that engages closely with a few selected passages, the argument should have the entirety of Matthew’s gospel in view. Arguments that attend to the complexity of Matthew’s overall presentation of Jesus will become stronger and students should be cautious about simply selecting texts that support a simplistic response to how Matthew presents Jesus.
· Addressing the second question related to the contemporary world will constitute approximately 10-20% of the paper. In addressing the second topic, your goal is to describe how Matthew’s presentation of Jesus in terms of its historical and literary context might intersect with the case study. In responding to the case study, you should think through the moral and ethical issues it poses as well as the differences between Matthew’s ancient context and the modern world.
· The third and final step to your signature assignment will be to offer your own evaluative response to how you perceive Matthew’s presentation of Jesus informing your response to the case study. Do you think the direction Matthew’s presentation of Jesus would suggest for addressing the case study be helpful or unhelpful? This portion of the paper should be no more than 10%.
Formatting, Expectations, and Assignment Submission:
· The paper should include a cover page with student name, cohort, location of class, assignment, course number, and faculty name. The paper should follow APA formatting guidelines. The complete final draft should be between 2000-2500 words. Use formal, academic writing. Papers must cite and engage at least two required class sources (e.g., Carter, Texts@Contexts, etc.). Cite all sources used in a parenthetical format in the body of the essay and provide a list of works cited at the end. Failure to cite sources is an act of plagiarism and will be treated accordingly.
