Bible Studies
SPECIAL BIBLE STUDIES TUTORIAL FORMAT
As in the traditional Oxford/Cambridge tutorials, these will meet once per week (90 minutes each time) and consist of collaborative analysis and group discussion, not detailed instruction by the tutor.
Any serious scholar is welcome to join in what I expect will be a lively, friendly, and intellectually honest exchange of ideas. I approach the Bible from the theological perspective of a Reformed Protestant; however, all serious students are welcome even those who approach the Bible as world literature, and not as a sacred text.
Writing
In my WRITING TUTORIALS, I help students gain expertise in writing coherent and focused texts that convey a well-defined perspective and tightly reasoned argument. My strategy is to work with students through the various stages of the writing process.
Depending on a student's interests, and focusing on the area or areas they are weakest in, we work on just two or three of the areas listed below, instead of trying to cover the entire range of issue related to organization and focus in writing.
My students learn to. . .
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the elements of discourse (e.g., purpose, speaker, audience, form) when completing narrative, expository, persuasive, or descriptive writing assignments.
2. Use point of view, characterization, style (e.g., use of irony), and related elements for specific rhetorical and aesthetic purposes.
3. Structure ideas and arguments in a sustained, persuasive, and sophisticated way and support them with precise and relevant examples.
4. Enhance meaning by employing rhetorical devices, including the extended use of parallelism, repetition, and analogy; the incorporation of visual aids (e.g., graphs, tables, pictures); and the issuance of a call for action.
5. Use language in natural, fresh, and vivid ways to establish a specific tone.
6. Use systematic strategies to organize and record information (e.g., anecdotal scripting, annotated bibliographies).
7. Revise text to highlight the individual voice, improve sentence variety and style, and enhance subtlety of meaning and tone in ways that are consistent with the purpose, audience, and genre.