English(U.S.)

Paper Requirements
A. The student will prepare a 1500 word minimum paper in Turabian format on one New Testament book: Matthew
i. The paper must thoroughly explore each of the following topics:
a.Authorship
b.Date
c.Provenance
d. Destination
e. Purpose
f. Literary Plan
g. Theological Themes
ii. Footnotes and direct quotations from any source including the Bible (someone else’s writing) will not count toward the 1500 word minimum.
If the student’s paper falls below the minimum word count, the grade will be reduced by percentage. For example, a paper containing 1100 words of original wording and 400 words of direct quotation is 26% short or the required original-word minimum. That paper’s grade will be reduced by 26 points from the beginning.
iii. The following NT books are not available as acceptable paper topics:
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
Ephesians
Revelation
iv. The required style guide for paper formatting, including footnote and bibliography citation method, is Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Eighth Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-226-81638-8
B. The student is expected to incorporate at least seven up-to-date scholarly sources in the paper. Selected resources must have been published in print, even if they are accessed online.
Practical Expectations:
i. Begin with the course textbook and any relevant bibliography provided. See also the bibliography listed in the syllabus. For best results, consult these sources or sources cited by them.

ii. Use resources accessible through LRU’s library databases.
a. The best resources are often journal articles easily accessible through the library’s databases.
b. See the library suggestions posted in course announcements.

iii. Do not conduct the research process through the open internet (e.g. Google).
a. Blogs, devotional websites, personal websites, and various other internet sources are not acceptable unless the materials have been published in print by a reputable academic publisher.
b. In general, anything available on the internet or through software for free is either outdated, purely devotional, or both.

iv. Use of the Bible is presupposed; it does not serve as a separate research source and need not be listed in the bibliography (See Turabian 19.5.2).

v. Devotional Bibles, Study Bible’s and one volume commentaries on the whole Bible or New Testament are too dated, devotional, or general for graduate level research (e.g. Matthew Henry, Walvoord, John Peter Lange, J. Vernon McGee, Pulpit Commentary, etc.).

C. The paper must be created in Microsoft Word format (.doc/.docx) and uploaded to Blackboard through the Background Paper Upload link.

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