Assignment: Sunday of Ordinary Time

Assignment: Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Catholic Church has a three year cycle of readings from Scripture which is used for Mass on Sunday. Each student will choose one Sunday’s set of readings, research those passages, and then provide a conclusion as to why the readings were chosen to be presented together.

Length: At least 9 pages of double-spaced text. (Does not include Title Page / Works Cited Page)

Procedure:

1) Choose one Sunday of Ordinary time from the link provided in Blackboard and read the First and Second Readings, the Psalm, and the Gospel Reading.

Section B (10:10): You will choose from Year B

2) Write an introduction which includes the Sunday chosen, the three readings (1st, 2nd, and Gospel) along with their citations. Include your thesis statement which is reason these reading are grouped together.

3) Part I of the paper: Exegesis of passages

Assignment: Sunday of Ordinary Time

For each of the 3 readings (1st, 2nd, and Gospel), you need to

a) identify the reading

b) summarize what is in the passage

c) give the context of the passage (what is around it in the book)

d) give the overall meaning of the passage in context

For the Psalm, you need to

a) identify the Psalm

b) summarize the verses used for the Sunday

c) give the overall meaning and structure of the poem

NB: You may need to use the link on BB to help reconcile verse numbers in the lectionary with whatever Bible you are using.

4) Part II of the paper

You should give and analyze the connections that are found within the readings and the Psalm. What are their themes and how do the themes relate? Is there a progression from one reading to another? What else makes these fit together. This is where you prove your thesis.

Assignment: Sunday of Ordinary Time

Other Guidelines

Please name your file in the following format 1301_Lastname_Firstinitial_rp

Please include a separate title page (not counted toward the page count) with your name and ID number.

Include page numbers on each page, but do not include your name with the page number.

You must use Chicago style parenthetical references and Works Cited page (not counted for page count).

You must have at least TWO sources for your paper outside the Bible and Lectionary. You cannot have a source from the internetUNLESS it is an on-line journal provided from the Doherty Library e-journal holdings.

Please proof-read the paper well and make sure everything is well documented….

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.