BASIC OUTLINE OF AN EXEGETICAL PAPER

Cover Page
1. 2. 3. 4. Title which includes key terms/concepts of study, and reference to passage under discussion Author Date Provenance if desired

Introduction (the Plan)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Topic Thesis statement Assumptions and other pertinent background information (e.g., author, audience, date, provenance, rhetorical situation, historical event(s) that provided the "occasion" for the text) A brief "history of research" on your passage (designed to segu into your argument and establish why it is significant) Methodologywhat approach you will take toward the text (e.g., historical, liberationist, social-scientific) and why A sketch of how you will proceed in proving your thesis

Body (the Argument)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Argument establishing your views about the text-critical, literary, rhetorical, and historical aspects of the passage How the passage fits into its literary context Form, source, and other historical critical issues (other than your main method) and how they shed light on the passage and shape your application of the main method (remember to explicitly name each method when you use it) Application of the contemporary, critical exegetical method(s) you have decided to "feature" in this investigation, and discussion of how it resolves current issues of scholarly debate Exposition of what/how the text meant to its original audience Analysis of the ethical or theological implications of your exegesis for a specific contemporary audience of your choice

Conclusion
1. 2. How your thesis has been proven Remaining issues/opportunities for further research

HEADINGS & REFERENCES

HIERARCHY OF HEADINGS
If fewer than five levels of headings are needed, any of the following may be omitted, but the ones used must follow this order. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Centered, underlined or boldface, capitalized Centered, not underlined or in bold, capitalized Left side heading, underlined or boldface, caps-headline Left side heading, not underlined or bold, capitalized sentence style - eg: The Gospel as it related to Jesus. Run into paragraph & underlined or in boldface, cap. sentence style eg: The gospel legalized in the Church. The gospel that....

WHAT NEEDS A REFERENCE? Students often struggle with when and how to document outside materials they incorporate into research papers. The rules are new and sornetirnes confusing when first encountered. To provide some practice applying the principles, here are some examples that are at the same time familiar, perhaps a tad bit funny, and very instructive. Rules 1. Do not document: 1. Your own ideas about what you read 2. Minor details 3. Your own editorializing 2. Do document: 1. All quotations 2. All paraphrases 3. All ideas you learned from someone else 4. Facts from the reading that you are using to make an argument concerning how to interpret the text

5. Segments of the text that support the argument you are trying to make or provide the grounds for your editorial remarks 6. Cases where you are not sure whether or not they require documentation 3. Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It Examples Evaluate each of the following statements about "Cinderella." Which statements should be documented and which do not need to be? Which of the reasons above provide(s) the best grounds for why that statement should or should not be documented?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. I think the Prince saved Cinderella in the nick of time. The eldest sister wanted to wear her French-trimmed, red velvet suit to the ball. Cinderella was a young girl of unparalleled goodness and sweetness of temper. Cinderella and the Prince fell in love at the ball. The stepmother is an obvious paranoid. The Godmother changed six mice into six horses, a rat into a fine coachman, and six lizards into footmen. In the end, Cinderella forgives her sisters and finds them husbands. The stepmother's major personality traits are pride and haughtiness. Cinderella leaves the ball just before midnight. The first persons to try on the glass slipper were the princesses and the duchesses. When Cinderella asks to go to the ball, the sisters claim, "It would make the people laugh." Cinderella was a good counselor because she had excellent ideas, advised others for the best, and willingly proffered her services.

SAMPLE CITATIONS & BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES Note that state abbreviations are the older, fuller abbreviations (not the two-letter ones currently used for surface mail), and that consecutive page numbers and years are indicated with an en-dash rather than a hyphen. Also, the use of ff to indicate page numbers, chapters, or verses in a series is no longer permitted; inclusive page, chapter, or verse numbers should be used. Footnotes Footnote of Journal Article: o G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville, "The Date of the Outbreak of Montanism," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 5 (1954): 7. Reference to Article within a Book: o See Kirsopp Lake, "Introduction," Eusebius: the Ecclesiastical History (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1926), xixxxiv. Reference to a motion picture: o The Greatest Story Ever Told, 65 mm, 199 min., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Hollywood, 1965. If you actually took your material from a videocassette recording or DVD rather than the original film, then the information concerning the tape/DVD also needs to be documented. o The Greatest Story Ever Told (2 DVD set), produced and directed by George Stevens, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, Santa Monica, Calif., 2001, MGM-DVD 4001800, English with French and Spanish subtitles; digitally remastered from original 65 mm film, 199 min., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Hollywood, 1965. Indirect Reference (with Notice of Short Title): o Matthias Flacius et alii, Historia Ecclesia Christi (Magdeburg: 15591574), Cent. II, 103106, 158; cited by G. Nathanael Bonwetsch, Die Geschichte des Montanismus (Erlangen: Andreas Deichert, 1881), 2, henceforth cited as Geschichte. Note of more than one reference on the topic: o See Leske, "Montanism," Lutheran Theological Journal 15 (1981): 80; A. Daunton-Fear, "The Ecstasies of Montanus," Studia Patristica 17, No. 2, ed. Elizabeth A. Livingstone (Oxford, etc.: Pergamon, 1982): 64851. Note of a previously cited source: o Froehlich, "Montanism and Gnosis," 99103. Annotated Footnotes: o For a brief but more recent discussion of the evidence, see Johannes Quasten, Patrology, Volume III: The Golden Age of Greek Patristic Literature from the Council of Nicaea to the Council of Chalcedon (Westminster, Md.: Christian Classics, 1984; first published in Utrecht, Holland: Spectrum, 1950), 315. Footnote to a Volume in a Series: o Compare the view of Agostino Faggiotto, who earlier had argued that the Montanist prophesy is of the same nature as that in the Apocalypse; A. Faggiotto, L'eresia dei Frigi: Fonti e frammenti. (Scrittori Cristiani Antichi 9; Rome: 1924) 1718.

Bibliographic References
Daunton-Fear, A. "The Ecstasies of Montanus." Studia Patristica 17, No. 2. Ed. Elizabeth A. Livingstone. Oxford, etc.: Pergamon, 1982. 64851. The Greatest Story Ever Told. 65 mm, 199 min. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Hollywood, 1965. The Greatest Story Ever Told. 2 DVD set. Produced and directed by George Stevens. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, Santa Monica, Calif., 2001. MGM-DVD 4001800. English with French and Spanish subtitles. Digitally remastered from original 65 mm film, 199 min. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Hollywood, 1965. McGinn, Sheila E., ed. Celebrating Romans: Template for Pauline Theology. Essays in Honor of Robert Jewett. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2004. McGinn, Sheila E. Feminist Approaches to Pauls Letter to the Romans. In Celebrating Romans: Template for Pauline Theology. Essays in Honor of Robert Jewett. Ed., Sheila E. McGinn. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2004. 16576. McGinn, Sheila E., trans. Justification as Good News for Women: A Re-reading of Romans 18. Translation from the Spanish of Elsa Tamez, La Justificacon como Buena Nueva Para las Mujeres: Relectura de Romanos 18. In Celebrating Romans: Template for Pauline Theology. Essays in Honor of Robert Jewett. Ed., Sheila E. McGinn. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2004. 17789. Quasten, Johannes. Patrology, Volume III: The Golden Age of Greek Patristic Literature from the Council of Nicaea to the Council of Chalcedon. Westminster, Md.: Christian Classics, 1984. First published in Utrecht, Holland: Spectrum, 1950.

Other resources for how to document your sources:

Chicago Manual of Style (see here for some samples) Modern Language Association (MLA) format American Psychological Association (APA) format Citing electronic sources; remember to include access date & time