Honors English 9: Outside Reading Project for Grading Period 3: Stories from the Bible

Two frequent sources of allusions in Western literature are the Bible and ancient classical mythology. Knowledge of the characters and stories
contained within the Bible and in the body of myths and legends will add appreciably to the enjoyment and understanding of literature of all
kinds. For centuries writers have borrowed characters, plots, and themes from these sources. During the summer, you read and studied Greek and
Roman mythology. To further enhance your foundational knowledge of allusions, you will read some Biblical stories for your outside reading
during this coming grading period. The stories are divided by the Biblical books in which they appear.
You will need to read these stories by Tuesday, December 15, as the content below will be included on your Fall Final Exam. The test will be
composed of reading comprehension/retention questions as well as questions related to identifying allusions in a short story or poem. You should
keep a reading log in Notability, taking notes on each book as you read to help you remember the key points of the different stories. Your notes
will be useful to help you study for the test. The reading log will be turned in to Google Classroom on Tuesday, December 15th.
Note that we are reading these stories with a secular focus, rather than a religious one. Many colleges and universities offer a Bible as Literature
course where the purpose is not to promote religious thought or practice, but to understand the Bibles influence on our Western culture and
literature. It is also important to note that many religious traditions share similar stories, so cross-cultural study of religious texts can also be
useful and instructive. As part of your sophomore social science curriculum, you will study world religions and their social and political impact.
Genesis
The Creation (of earth and of mankind) (1-2)
Adam and Eve/The Garden of Eden/The Fall of Man (2-3)
Cain and Abel (4)
Noah and the Flood (6-9)
The Tower of Babel (11:1-9)
Abraham Intercedes for Sodom (18:16-33)
Lot and his wife (19:1-26)
Abraham and Isaac (21-22:19)
Jacob and Esau (25: 19-34)
Rachel and Leah (29-30)
Joseph and His Brothers (37)
Exodus
Rescue of the Child Moses (1-2:10)
The Burning Bush (3)
The Plagues of Egypt (7-12)
The Passage of the Red Sea (13: 17-20; 14)

Judges
Samson Slays a Lion (14)
Samson destroys the Philistines (15)
Samson and Delilah (16)
1 Samuel
David and Goliath (17)
1 Kings
Solomons Wisdom (3)
Job
Prologue and Jobs First Test (1)
Jobs Second Test (2)
Jonah
Jonah and the Whale/Fish (1-2)
Matthew
Immaculate Conception (1:18-25)
Herod and the Wise Men (2)
Jesus Temptation in the Wilderness (4:1-11)
Jesus Teachings (5-7)
The Twelve Apostles (10)
John the Baptist Beheaded (14:1-12)

Jesus Miracles (feeding thousands, walking on sea, healing) (14:13-36)

The Plot Against Jesus/Judas Betrayal/The Last Supper/Gethsemane/Jesus Arrested/Peters
Denial (26)
Jesus and Pontius Pilate/Crucifixion (27)
Resurrection (28)
The numbers in parentheses after the descriptions of the stories refer to the chapter numbers in those books of the Bible. When there are numbers
after colons, those refer to the verse numbers. (If there is no colon, the story takes up the whole chapter.)
You may, of course, use a Bible in print if you own or can acquire one. There are also several online websites that have full texts of the Bible,
usually searchable by book, chapter and verse. You may also download free copies to your Kindle or Google books, so there are many ways to
access this text. Three different online sources are listed below:
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Job-Chapter-24/ (a more traditional translation)
http://www.devotions.net/bible/00bible.htm (a more modern translation)
http://biblehub.com/genesis/1-1.htm (multiple translations on a single web page interesting for