Download BIBLE Assignment 2015

BIBILICAL/MYTHOLOGICAL
REFERENCES
You will be working as a class to create a Google document covering all of the attached
biblical and mythological references. Doing so will adequately prepare you for the
biblical and mythological exam. Each student is expected to contribute equally. It is up
to you to gather each others’ email addresses and contact information in order to
successfully establish this GoogleDoc. You should also elect a responsible peer to create
the original document you will be working on. You will be able to help each other find
the original stories, decide what is essential knowledge, and brainstorm together where
you see references to these in popular culture. Use your individual areas of expertise to
help each other in a responsible, mature manner. College students do this all the time.
Do not cut corners because in the end, it will be your own exam score that suffers…
Knowledge of tales from the Bible and Greek mythology are considered essential to the full
understanding of European and American masterpieces of literature and to media literacy.
Although we are not requiring you to create cards for the mythological and Arthurian legends, we
expect you to know this integral background knowledge. In regards to the Biblical stories, the
information can be accessed through internet searches or by going to the Arcadia public library
(the children’s section has most of this material).
For each story or reference, include
 A plot summation (this can be bullet style or running story line)
 Don’t just download or copy the story – actually summarize it succinctly
 Note the salient points
 Character(s) – identification of the major “players” in this story
 For example a brief description of the Greek god – powers, lineage
 Adam and Eve – Jehovah, Adam, Eve, Satan/Lucifer, archangel Michael, angels posted at
the gates (making sure to include an identifying description of who/what each is and the
role s/he/it plays)
 One allusion
 Identify the source (eg. Seinfeld’s episode where Elaine and Kramer argue over who gets
a bike, resorting to Newman judging who is the proper and worthy owner)
 The match up: you may list or bullet
Baby = bike
Newman = Solomon
Etc.
 Analyze the allusion ( In this episode both Elaine and Kramer claim ownership of a
child’s bike. Elaine, unthinkingly, says she would give anything to get rid of a neck ache.
Kramer then “adjusts” her neck, alleviating the pain. He demands Elaine’s childhood dream bike
that she has just bought from an antique dealer. She refuses, saying she did not mean “anything.”
Unable to resolve the problem, they agree to allow Newman to decide. He holds “court,”
deciding to solve this by cutting the bike in half; Elaine thinks that is great while Kramer shrivels
up, screaming, “NO, don’t destroy the bike. Give it to her.” This is an allusion to Solomon, the
wisest of the biblical judges who, when presented with two women claiming one baby, decides to
cut it in half. One woman agrees while the other is horrified and relinquishes her claim.
Solomon awards the baby to the woman who would relinquish it, saying the true mother would
never wish for the baby’s death. When Newman awards Kramer the bike because Kramer has the
true love of the bike, he approximates Solomon, wise and kind. This is ironic since Newman is
neither – he is in actuality a slob, judgmental, fat, etc. By making him Solomon, it becomes
hilarious, a juxtaposition of what should be and what is (as Sunil says, situational irony).
Humorous submissions – BUT examples like this will NOT help you or your fellow
classmates study:
1. Jezebel (BAD ANSWER EXAMPLE)
Summary: Jezebel was a pretty, sinning woman who must have looked like Angelina Jolie
because she's pretty and sinful. Anyway, Jezebel is the wife of a King who makes their kingdom
amazing but they worship a bad god and the good and actual God gets angry at them. Now
Jezebel is what sinful women like Angelina Jolie are called.
Allusions: Angelina Jolie is sinful like Jezebel because she stole Brad Pitt from Jennifer Aniston
in that movie called Life.
Characters: Jezebel, Angelina Jolie, King, God, Baal
MORE APPROPRIATE SUBMISSION:
1. Sword in the Stone
a. Summary: In the King Arthur legend, King Arthur (Merlin’s original choice to lead
England to a righteous victory) misused his power and the sword that Merlin had given
him. When he died, the contention between the other nobles as to who should be king in his
place left the country torn and divided. In order to determine the rightful and proper heir
to the throne and to “name” the king apparent to unite Britain and lead her to victory over
the Germanic invasions, Merlin (the magician) set up a “test” by which the true king would
be known. The true king, and only the true king, would be the sole person able to draw the
sword from the stone in which Merlin had placed it. Arthur, as a boy, does do this and thus
becomes King.
b. Allusion – In the movie It’s A Bug’s Life, the one little ant decides to lead his people (the
other ants) in a fight against invaders. He climbs to the top of the hill and sees a stick
poking out of a stone or hillock. He proceeds to pull it out and triumphantly wave in the
air. This is an allusion to the story of the sword in the stone: just as Arthur’s sword
signified that he was the true king and leader, when the ant pulls out the stick, he too is
signifying that he will be the one to lead them to victory in their fight. The allusion is
heightened because the other ants all recognize the force of the leadership now bestowed
upon him.
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Difference between titans and gods
Daedalus and Icarus
Persephone and Demeter
Prometheus
Euydice and Orpheus
Agamemnon
Achilles
Hector
Tantalus
Perseus
Theseus
River Lethe
Sisyphus
Bacchus
Creation story
Helen of Troy
Three Fates
Oedipus
Oracle
Narcissus
Pandora
Teiresias
Hercules
Jason and the Quest
Medea
River Styx
Cerberus
Midas
ARTHURIAN LEGEND
Arthur
Launcelot
Elaine
Galahad
Gawain
Percival
Merlin
Lady of the Lake
Sword in the Stone
Logres
Holy Grail
Joseph of Arimethea
Round Table
Last Battle
Mordred
Morgaine
Guinevere
Excalibur
Camelot
Tristan and Isolde (Iseult)
BIBLICAL REFERENCE
(Most Old Testament references can be found in the books of Genesis and Exodus; most of the
New Testament references can be found in the books of Matthew and Luke)
Old Testament
The Creation
Adam & Eve, Original Sin, & Garden of Eden
Noah and the Ark/Rainbow/Birds
Exodus
War in Heaven
Lucifer/Satan
Jonah and the Whale
Solomon
Ruth
Joseph and the Coat
Elijah
King David
David and Goliath
Moses (**long and essential)
Abraham and Isaac
Jacob and Essau and Jacob’s Ladder
Tower of Babel
Samson and Delilah
Job
10 Plagues
Daniel in the Lion’s Den
Jezebel
Lot
Ten Commandments
Golden Calf
Promised Land
Sodom and Gomorrah
Passover
Burning Bush
New Testament
Birth of Jesus and Bethlehem
Lazarus (both stories)
John the Baptist and Jordan River
Judas Iscariot and Judas Kiss
Trinity
Armageddon
Peter
Nazareth
Golgotha and Gethsemane
Parable of the Prodigal Son
Sermon on the Mount
Last Supper
Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension
Doubting Thomas
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Mary Magdalene
Virgin Birth/Mary
Temptation of Christ/Desert (40 days & nights)
Terms and “current” reformers
Born Again
Straight and Narrow Path
Faustian bargain
John Calvin
Max Weber
Sins of the Fathers
7 Deadly Sins
Martin Luther (the reformer)