Genesis

2/25: More artistic connections to Genesis 22. See "Highway 61 Revisited + Gen 22 poems" attached below (prompt is on the second page). You will also need to look at Abraham's Sacrifice and "Segal - Abraham and Isaac." You can listen to the curator talk here and "Highway 61 Revisited" here

2/23: Discussing Genesis 23. Ion the front of a notecard, react to the story. What challenged your thinking? What did you think of God and his demands in this story? Of Abraham's willingness? Of Isaac's silence? Of the absence of Sarah? WHY does the writer tell this story? WHY does the writer, for the first time, tell us this is a test? Why does God feel a need to test Abraham? Is it fair? On the back of the notecard: describe what you see in the Rembrandt painting Sacrifice of Isaac attached below. After you have described what you see, tell me which character in the piece is intend to be the most sympathetic and WHY you think that (use evidence from the painting).

2/13: : Before you read, reflect in your journals about Genesis 19 and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Write about what you knew about the story beforehand, what you thought about it (especially in the context of the flood story, Abraham and everything else that we talked about) – about the people, about Lot and his family, about God’s destruction, etc. Write about a page. Then, read “The Debate.” This is a chapter from a book called The Woman Who Named God by biblical scholar Charlotte Gordon. This chapter strives to put the actions and decisions made in Genesis 18 and 19 into a context in order to explore them further. After you’ve read, write more in the journal – what have you learned, what new insights you have, questions, etc. Fill at least a page and a half (if you are stuck pull out some quotes to write about).

Remember that you need to have 3 portfolio pieces completed and in class on Feb 24. We’ll be working on Gen 22 when we return from break (please read this the night before we come back). Read from Genesis 24-32 for Thursday 2/26 and finish Genesis for Monday 3/2.

2/9: I have posted the Genesis portfolio project below (Honors is on page one, CPA on page 2). Over break, I am going to ask you to create three pieces for the portfolio, so you can get response from classmates (due on Tuesday 2/24). We will talk more about this in class o Tuesday and/or Wednesday. Please read the portfolio handout AND read "Portfolio tips" also attached below, before we meet again (B Block for tomorrow and A for Wednesday).

2/8: Please read Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog post about the response to President Obama's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. Please pay careful attention to the use of Noah's curse against Canaan and its history in our country. Write me a blue book entry (about a page) responding to the post, the curse and the ways in which some people use religious texts.

2/5 (in class): On the BACK of the Cain murder notecard, analyze one of the pieces of art that strives to interpret the Noah Flood story. Describe what you see, paying close attention to plot, characterization, relationship, setting, color, balance, light and dark, other details, etc.. Then, THINK DEEPLY about what you see, what you've read and write about how the art reinforces, reshapes, re-envisions, etc. the biblical story. Fill the back

2/5 (Noah): On the front of a notecard (any size) - write the headline for the newspaper story reporting the flood. To do this, you need to THINK about the story, get to the heart of it, and create a 5-7 word headline. On the back, tell me why you chose the headline, using specific information from the text. Fill the back.

2/4: On the FRONT of the notecard, using the information I gave you about the different possible murder charges, write about which charge you think best applies to what Cain did and tell me why, using specific ideas form the text. Fill the front of the card and save the back.

2/2: After you have read Genesis 4, please look at Cain or Hitler in Hell by George Grosz (attached below). In your blue book, describe what you see in the art piece (just like you did with the Genesis 2 paintings) and reflect - what do you think about the painting, its portrayal of Cain, the association with Hitler, etc. Based on the text, is the portrayal fair? What sort of "read" does it make of the text? How does it present Cain? Abel? Why does this matter? Reflection should be at least 2/3s of a page.

Homework 1/29: Read Genesis 3. On the front of the notecard, tell me what you thought about the reading (dealing with these questions): What surprised you in the reading? What details did you notice in the text that may have been different from your recollection of the story? Why did those details matter? What is man’s relationship to God in this story? What is God’s relationship to man? On the back of the notecard: WHY does this happen? Who is to blame and WHY. Fill both sides of the card.

Also, Choose two of the Eden poems ("Gen Poems" below). You must work with the highlighted poem. Mark up the poems like we did in class (look up words you do not know, underline images that stick out to you, etc.). Make paraphrase notes stanza by stanza on the paper.