Poetic and Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament
REL 310
Study Topics and Assignments
Week 1 - Poetry
Class Notes
- What is Poetry?
- Bad Poetry and Humorous Poetry - for your amusement and edification
- Glossary
Textbook Readings : Pages 15 - 18 "The Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry"
InterNet Resources
- Go here for InterNet Links for this assignment
- Other useful articles can be found by using the Topics as search words in Search Engines such as Goodsearch
This Week's Assignment : Twenty Questions
As your answers will be taken mainly from the Bible and the textbook, you do not need to check with Turnitin
- If something rhymes, is it necessarily good poetry? Give examples
- According to the textbook, roughly what proportion of the Old Testament is written in poetic form
- According to the textbook, who elucidated the primary characteristic of Hebrew poetry, and what is it
- What is synonymous parallelism
- Give an example of synonymous parallelism other than those given in the textbook. You may find an example in the Psalms, or you may write one of your own
- What is chiastic parallelism
- Give an example of chiastic parallelism other than those given in the textbook. You may find an example in the Psalms, or you may write one of your own
- What is antithetic parallelism
- Give an example of antithetic parallelism other than those given in the textbook. You may find an example in the Psalms, or you may write one of your own
- What is alliteration
- Which epic poem from Old English also uses alliteration. Write out two lines of this poem to show the alliteration
- What is paronomasia
- What is an acrostic
- Give an example of an acrostic in the Old Testament. You do not need to write it out
- What is ellipsis
- Write out an example of ellipsis from the Book of Psalms. You may use the example given in the textbook.
- Write out an example of poetic imagery from the Old Testament, other than that given in the textbook
- What are the 6 main meters found in English poetry. Give their rhythm in "duh-DAH" form
- A. Write out the metric scheme for a verse of "The Lord's my Shepherd", using "duh-DAH" and showing feet with a slash /
B. What is the name for this meter
See the InterNet links for the words and music for this hymn - A. Write out the metric scheme for a verse of "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty", using "duh-DAH" and showing feet with a slash /
B. What is the name for this meter
See the InterNet links for the words and music for this hymn
Remember to cite your sources
Use MSWord or a text editor such as Notepad to prepare and save your work, then send it as an Attachment to, or pasted into, an email message to Dr. Rollinson at rollinsondr@yahoo.com,rollinsondr@hellokitty.com,rollinsondr@mail2world.com.
Please use all 3 email addresses in case any of the mailboxes go down.
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
