Before you can write this paper, you have to read the attached documents below about Gen 23 (Reading Sternberg chapter, “Double Cave, Double Talk” , Gen 23 from the Bible and the additional reading( Born of the cave).

double spaced pages, using at least SEVEN of the ten tools below.Please note that any bold numbers tool below is required to use in this writing. 

Elements of text engagement papers:

1. *Compare translations. What words are so different across translations that it is essential to know the original Hebrew and/or Greek word?
2. Cultural context. What elements in the story (e.g., scene, characterization, what people say or do) seem unclear to you, where knowing cultural context would shed light? Be aware of two different, but often overlapping cultural contexts: a) that within the story world (sometime in the early 2ndmillennium BCE) and that of the author(s)’ time (during the Babylonian Exile).
3. *Narrative context. Where does this particular piece of narrative fit within a) the immediate section of Genesis (i.e., Primeval History, Abraham/Sarah cycle, Jacob cycle, Joseph story) and b) within the larger context of Genesis?
4. Structure of the section. Does the passage have a particular internal structure that helps to reveal its meaning (e.g., chiasm, inclusion, other forms of repetition)?
5. Intratextual echoing and foreshadowing: Does this passage either recall or anticipate other passages a) in how it is structured (e.g., the three “wife-sister” stories); b) what is assumes or anticipates as knowledgeabout characters, including God, places or situations; c) that reveal how plot conveys meaning?
6. *Details within the passage. What do you notice about how 1) the characters are portrayed; 2) characters engage with each other, including with God; 3) setting (including place, time of day, season of year) shapes the story; surprise, twists or other plot elements generate a response in either the characters or you as a reader?
7. Anything else. What else do you notice and have questions about that might not fall into one of the categories above?
8. Effect on your own presuppositions. How does the unfolding meaning challenge you to reconsider your own presuppositions about God, God’s purposes and/or the meaning of human life? What about who you are as a reader (i.e., the elements within the “circle” of you as a reader) are you challenged to rethink?
9. *Insights from the general reading (Sternberg chapter, “Double Cave, Double Talk”). What do the interpreters whose writing is assigned for this passage have to say that shapes your understanding?
10. *Insights from your chosen, additional reading( Born of the gave)

Please mark each paragraph or section of your paper with the name of the tool you are using in that paragraph.

Let me know if you have any questions.