Ninth Grade Scripture Commentary: A Schedule and Suggested Essays

A few days ago, I posted on A Path through Genesis which First Son read as commentary along with his Scripture reading for ninth grade. For those who might be interested in something similar, I wanted to share a schedule and some essay questions.

First Son read Scripture once a week: Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers. At another time during the week he would read Commentary, a selection from A Path through Genesis. Consequently, he read Genesis twice - once in Scripture and once embedded in the Commentary. The next time we come around to ninth grade, I'm going to assign Scripture twice a week and substitute A Path through Genesis for Genesis. When the book is over, the student will use a personal Bible to read Exodus and Numbers.

Here's the anticipated schedule (narrations daily):

Week 1
1. A Path through Genesis - first half of the Introduction
2. A Path through Genesis - second half of the Introduction

Week 2
1. Part One: The Meeting of God and Man (just this part, stop before Chapter I)
2. Chapter I: Creation

Week 3
1. Chapter II: The Creature Man
2. Chapter III: The Fall

Week 4
1. Chapter IV: Before the Flood
2. Chapter V: The Flood

Week 5
1. Chapter VI: Before Abraham Was (prepare for exam)
2. Essay exam on Part One, first half

Week 6
1. Essay exam on Part One, second half
2. Part Two: Hebrew Beginnings AND Chapter VII: Abraham the Patriarch

Week 7
1. Chapter VIII: Abraham the Friend of God
2. Chapter IX: The Man of Faith

Week 8
1. Chapter X: Jacob the Supplanter
2. Chapter XI: Rachel the Beloved

Week 9
1. Chapter XII: Jacob Becomes Israel (prepare for exam)
2. Exam on Part Two

Week 10
1. Part Three: Israelite Beginnings AND Chapter XIII: Joseph in Egypt
2. Chapter XIV: The Stuff of Dreams

Week 11
1. Chapter XV: The Sowing of a People
2. Epilogue (prepare for exam)

Week 12
1. Exam on Part Three

Starting in the second term, the readings would decrease to just once a week.

Exodus 1-4
Exodus 5-8
Exodus 9-12
Exodus 13-16
Exodus 17-20
Exodus 21-24
Exodus 25-28
Exodus 29-32
Exodus 33-36
Exodus 37-40

Numbers 1-4
Numbers 5-8
Numbers 9-12
Numbers 13-16
Numbers 17-20
Numbers 21-24
Numbers 25-28
Numbers 29-32


Exams

I didn't give any exams in Scripture based on the readings from Exodus and Numbers. All exams on A Path through Genesis were open book.

This is an open-book test. You may refer to the text to answer the questions, but you must write the answers in your own words. If you need to quote the author, be sure to use quotation marks and reference the page number.

For each essay, I asked First Son to write 2-3 paragraphs on another sheet of paper. Each question was worth ten points. Depending on the exam, he chose one question for each chapter or one question for a pair of chapters. The first exam was spread over two days as Part One in the book covered a lot of thought-provoking material.

Exam #1, Part 1

Chapter I: Creation (choose one)

1. Describe the difference between the God of the first chapter of Genesis and the first gods in the creation myths of Egypt and Babylon.
2. Explain what the author (Bruce Vawter) thinks is meant by “image and likeness” of God.
3. Explain what the author (Bruce Vawter) means on page 49 when he says, “The creation story of Genesis neither affirms nor denies our scientific knowledge of the universe; it disregards it.”

Chapter II: The Creature Man (choose one)

1. What does Genesis tell us about the garden of Eden?
2. What does Genesis tell us about man’s relationship with God before the Fall?
3. Describe what Genesis tells us about women through the Creation story.

Chapter III: The Fall (choose one)

1. What does the author of Genesis tell us about temptation?
2. What are the effects of the Fall?

Exam #1, Part 2

Chapter IV: Before the Flood (choose one)

1. What does the story of Cain and Abel tell us about the sinfulness of men?
2. What do you think is the meaning of the genealogies of the people before the Flood?

Chapter V: The Flood (choose one)

1. Compare the record of the Flood in Scripture with the myths of great floods in other cultures.
2. What does Noah’s experiences in the Flood tell us about how God interacts with mankind?
3. What evidence does the author (Bruce Vawter) provide for his assertion that the story of the Flood is a combination from multiple sources?

Chapter VI: Before Abraham Was (choose one)

1. How does the genealogy after Noah describe the relation of the nations of the world according to the mentality of the Old Testament Jew?
2. Describe what the book says about the story of the tower of Babel.

Exam #2

Chapters VII and VIII: Abraham the Patriarch and Abraham the Friend of God (choose one)

1. How is Abraham a “Patriarch?” (chapter VII)
2. Describe one way or one instance that shows God’s protection of Abraham in his wanderings? (chapter VII)
3. How is Melchisedec a “type” of Christ? What does this mean? (chapter VII)
4. Explain what a covenant was in the time of Abraham and describe the covenant between Abraham and God. (chapter VIII)
5. Describe one of the following encounters between Abraham and God and how it might inform your own faith: (chapter VIII)
1. Abraham’s laughter (Genesis 17:15-27)
2. Abraham the generous host (Genesis 18:1-15)
3. Abraham the bargainer (Genesis 18:23-33)

Chapters IX and X: The Man of Faith and Jacob the Supplanter (choose one)

1. What does the author (Bruce Vawter) say about the ages attributed to Abraham and his descendants? (chapter IX)
2. What was Abraham’s most heroic example of faith? Why is this story in our sacred Scriptures? What do we learn from it? (chapter IX)
3. How does Jacob supplant Esau? What does the author (Bruce Vawter) say about the events? (chapter X)
4. How and why is Genesis “preoccupied with the identification of various sacred places in Palestine with one or another of the patriarchs?” (according to Bruce Vawter, chapter X)

Chapters XI and XII: Rachel the Beloved and Jacob Becomes Israel (choose one)

1. Compare and contrast Lia and Rachel in both their marriages to Jacob and their children with him. (chapter XI)
2. Describe the relationship between Laban and Jacob and how it changed over time. (chapter XI)
3. Describe Jacob’s interactions with Esau when he returns home. (chapter XI)
4. What happens with Jacob wrestles with God in Genesis 32? How is Jacob changed? (chapter XI)

Exam #3

This exam covered only three chapters and was overall more familiar to us. I asked him to choose two of the following questions.

1. What was the Hebrew understanding of Sheol? (Chapter XIII)
2. Why was Joseph’s refusal to sin because it was against God while he was in Egypt a unique argument? (Chapter XIII)
3. Why do you think there is no record of Joseph in Egypt despite his high position? Use information you’ve learned in the book to give support for your belief. (Chapter XIV)
4. What was “the blessings of Jacob” and what does it mean for the Israelites? (Chapter XV)