Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel, Third Edition

Appendix 2. Exercises for a Narrative Analysis of Episodes

167 aPPENDIx 2 Exercises for a Narrative analysis of Episodes We have been encouraging you to read Mark as a whole and to interpret each line and episode in the context of the whole. The following exercises are meant to give you practice in narrative analysis with exercises on a brief portion of the story. Learning to apply narrative critical tools to a single episode can help in applying them to the whole narrative. These exercises for analyzing an episode can be done individually, in pairs, or in groups. Not all exercises apply to every episode, and some are repetitious. Therefore, select a limited number of the most appropriate ones. An individual or team might do all exercises on a single episode in preparation for a paper or a performance.1 1 . Getting to know the Episode One: • Pair off and both read/study the episode silently. • Both close books, then the first person recounts to the other what he or she read, as faithfully as possible (word for word is the goal). • Both now look at the episode and see which details were accurately remembered and which were omitted, added, or changed in telling. Two: • Both reread/study the episode silently. • Both close books, and the other person recounts the episode as faithfully as possible. • Both check to see what was omitted, added, or changed in telling. 168 Mark as story Three: • Both go line by line asking questions for clarification (without trying to answer them), based on what you noticed in steps one and two. 2 . Noticing the Narrator One: • Read or hear the episode, paying attention to the way in which the narrator guides the reading experience. Identify the role of the narrator. Two: Pose the following questions: • With what tone or attitude does the narrator address the audience? What do you notice about the narrator’s style and choice of words? • What does the narrator say that gains the trust of the audience? How does the narrator lead you to identify with some characters and be distant from others? • What emotions does the narrator evoke? How? • What insights does the narrator give into the thoughts and feelings of the characters? • What explanatory asides does the narrator give to the audience? • How does the narrator guide the audience’s attitude toward different characters? 3 . the Points of View of Different Characters One: Choose a character in the episode and retell the story from that character’s point of view. That is, change the pronouns to the first person for the character you have chosen, and tell the episode as if you were that person. Two: Address the following questions: • What did you learn of the character’s point of view? Relation to others? • Did you identity with the character? What emotions were involved? • How did this telling or reading change the emphasis of the story? • What group does the character represent, and how might that affect her or his point of view? Three: Now do the same process for other characters in the episode. 4 . Identifying stylistic Features One: Identify the rhetorical features in your episode: • Explanations introduced by “for” • Repetitions of words and lines appendix 2: Exercises for a Narrative analysis of Episodes 169 • Foreshadowings and retrospections • Two-step progressions • Similarity to other episodes in the Gospel, such as type scenes • One episode sandwiching another episode within it • Similar episodes that frame a larger section • Lines or episodes in a concentric or chiasmatic pattern • Episodes in a series of three • Types of questions • Riddles or parables • Quotations from and allusions to “the writings” • Prophecy and fulfillment • Irony • Other Two: Ask questions: • How does the awareness of a particular stylistic device enable you to understand better the characters, conflicts, and settings of this episode? • What effect does the use of this stylistic technique have on the reader of this episode? • Create and tell a brief story of your own using one or more of these stylistic devices. 5 . Questions about settings One: Identify all the settings of time, place, and cultural milieu in this episode. What are the relevant items/details within the setting? Two: Ask questions: • What atmosphere is conveyed by the setting (bleakness, urgency, restriction , and so on)? • What is the larger cosmological context that informs the dynamics of this episode? • What, if any, associations in Israel’s history illuminate the setting here? • How does the setting relate to conflicts, events, and problems...