Introducing Mark Margaret Carswell

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I have written this activity for all levels for two reasons. First, I am convinced that students should be taught accurately what Scripture is as soon as they come into contact with the text. We should never allow them to develop, even inadvertently, faulty ideas about the Bible. Second, these understandings form a sort of hierarchy; once the first is established those that follow make sense naturally. If your students are in Grade 6 but have never done an author study on a Gospel writer, do all these activities, in order.

JUNIOR SCHOOL

What to emphasise

Mark did not know Jesus personally. He wrote his Gospel after hearing others speak about Jesus and after being convinced by their stories and memories that Jesus was God in human form.

Why it is important

It is important to establish from the outset that the Gospel of Mark, indeed none of the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses. By emphasizing this from the beginning, students will avoid gaining the impression that Mark (or Matthew, Luke or John) lived with Jesus and wrote down verbatim what he said and did.

Knowing that the Gospels were not written by those who lived and worked with Jesus assists in the development of a correct formation of what the Gospels are and what they are not; hopefully it will lead to an understanding of Scripture which avoids a fundamental, literalist reading and to confusion which comes when differences between Gospel accounts are noted.

How you might do it

The notion that stories are passed on orally is one of the easiest to teach – we model it everyday when we tell our students of something that a member of our family or a friend did.

We can formalize the learning by asking students to do a few different things:

1. Tell them a story about someone you know well – perhaps a family member. After telling a few stories about this person, ask the students to tell you what they have learned about this person. Make statements about this person, illustrated with images of the stories. eg. ‘Ms ***’s Dad was a kind man. We know because he…’ Bind these illustrated statements as a book. Help students to understand that our purpose in telling stories is usually to help other people know them.
2. Ask students to draw on their memories and talk about the previous year(s). If you can, gather stories about similar people and/or events and make a book of recollections. As you write it, note that the details may not be perfect but the ‘important points’ are.
3. Play an adapted game of memories. Have students draw a memory of a favourite activity from their holiday on an A5 sized card. Have them draw a picture of themselves on another similar sized card. Place the cards with the picture face-down and as if playing memories turn two over to try to match the artist with the picture. Where a match is unsuccessful, return the cards to where they were, face down, and give someone else a turn. If the match is successful the person collects the cards and has another turn. The winner is the one with the most cards. As you play, associate people and what they think is important with what they remember and record.

Conclude any of these (or all of them) by listing what we learn about stories passed on by people. Some examples of learnings include:

1. Most people tell stories about special people so that the hearer gains an idea about what they were like – not exactly what happened.
2. Sometimes the details get muddled; it doesn’t really matter. Usually, we remember the most important parts.
3. The stories we tell generally say something about who we are, what we like and who we are talking to.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

What to emphasise

Mark wrote a narrative – called a gospel – with a deliberate purpose; to persuade others to believe as he did.

Why it is important

Knowing the genre of a work helps use determine the kind of truth it tells and to how to interpret it. Mark’s work is generally classified as a historical narrative called a gospel; indeed Mark is often attributed with beginning the genre ‘gospel’ – that is with writing the first story of ‘good news’ concerning Jesus the Christ. Certainly he is the first of the Gospel writers to write; and Matthew and Luke thought his work so good they copied large pieces of it! Historical narratives are works based on real historical events but their purpose is to persuade and convince rather than to give a factual account of what happened. Thus authors might embellish some events or ignore others not considered important. (Remember that although the whole work is a historical narrative, it will have a number of other genres, including smaller narrative units, in it.)

How you might do it

The idea of writing to persuade is likely to be familiar to students; they will see it explicitly in advertisements and implicitly in stories where we are persuaded to favour certain characters over others.

Examine the Gospel of Mark for these persuasive literary techniques. (If your own literary programmes teach persuasive language techniques, look for those as well or instead. )

1. Put the impact at the end
   Writers can maximize the impact of a sentence, paragraph or speech, by putting the main impact at the end so that they leave their audience thinking 'wow!' and in a state of amazement about the character. Jokes are a good example of this technique; they keep the audience hanging on until the punch-line at the end.
   
   Note Mark’s accounts of some of the amazing activities of Jesus and also how Mark persuades by keeping the punch-line to the end.
   
   
2. Timing
   By keeping their audience up to date with when things are happening writers are able to convince their audience that they are there; seeing and experiencing with the characters. Mark’s Gospel moves quickly, he uses ‘then’ and ‘immediately’ to keep his narrative moving and to give immediacy and urgency to his storyline.
   
   Read through Mark’s Gospel and find all the times he uses the phrase ‘then’ or ‘immediately’.
   
   
3. Patterns of three
   If an author wants their audience to remember something important and to be convinced of it, they will say it more than once. It may seem a bit corny but by repeating a key idea or phrase the writer is able to lodge it in the minds of those who are listening.
   
   Mark likes to use patterns of three …see if you can find some.
   1. Mk 1: 16-20, 3:13-19, 6:7-13
   2. Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34
   3. Mk 14: 32-42
   4. Mk 14:66-72
      
      
4. Use a quote
   Another powerful literary technique used to persuade is to use a quote. It can show the audience how the hero is the one they had waited for. Find times Mark cites a First Testament reference to support his case about Jesus.
   
   
5. Many commentators think that Mark’s story was intended to be read out loud to an audience. (Hooker, 1992, p.15)
   
   Have students read or learn to tell (not necessarily word for word) some of Mark’s recounts. Have them add persuasion through tone of voice and verbal expression.

SENIOR SCHOOL

What to emphasise

Just as you can probably tell the work of different students, so someone familiar with the Gospel writers’ work can tell them apart. Mark wrote in a particular style; his writing style is different from the other Gospel writers. He uses a range of literary techniques including detailed short narratives, parables (based on similes or metpahors) and summary stories.

Why it is important

The recognition that each writer has their own style and that they use identifiable literary forms within his work has three benefits. First, it helps determine how a piece of work should be interpreted; a poem should be interpreted differently from a summary story. Second, it reinforces the understanding that in structure and style, the Gospels are no different from other fine pieces of literature. ( Gabel, YEAR p.13) Finally, it reduces the inadvertent suggestion that Scripture is transportable; that individual stories by different authors can be pulled from their original context and grouped together to make a single narrative.

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How you might do it

Examine the parable of the Growing Seed. Mk 4: 26-29 is the first of a pair of parables, the only two explicit kingdom parables in Mark. Parables are short metaphorical stories where one thing is compared to another. In this case God’s reign (kingdom) is compared to the actions of a sower scattering seed. Parables usually contain a familiar setting, a contrast and an aspect of reversal, where what happens is not what is expected. All three aspects are found in this parable. (This parable is the first of a pair, you might wish to divide the class in half and examine each parable separately then bring your insights together for a more complete picture of what the reign of God will be like.)

The following is an example of how the composite model for teaching Scripture might be used for teaching Mark.

1. Prepare to Hear the Word
   • Explain to students what a parable is. Emphasise that it is not intended as a recount of an actual event rather as an allegory, where each ‘thing’ or character has an equivalent in real time. Note also that the setting is taken from the familiar world of the people.
     
     
2. Hear and Encounter the Word
   • Tell the parable (Mk 4:26-29) using actions. Make the sowing very casual and relaxed – and don’t care or tend for your crop after you have sown it. Be particularly stunned when the shoots come through. Have students dramatise the parable in small groups.
   • Invite students to find and examine the exact text. Note that it is worded as a simile (The kingdom of God is as if…). Break the parable down into its simplest form: a comparison. What two things are being compared? On two large pieces of paper brainstorm what students know about the kingdom of God (the time when everybody will live under God’s rules) and someone sowing seeds. The two seem very different…don’t forget to think metaphorically! How are the two things alike; how are they different?
   • List:
     • the familiar setting (the typical agrarian scene)
     • the contrast (between this farmer, who ‘sleeps and rises’ but does not tend his crop, and a good farmer)
     • the reversal (the farmer does nothing to deserve a crop but still gets one.)
   • Having studied this passage, invite students to share their interpretation of the text. What does it mean for them? (One possible interpretation may be that God’s reign will be surprising, available to all – even those who don’t work for it. Another might be that although it starts small and simply, it ends up with great results. A third possible interpretation is that the reign of God is around us, we just have to notice it. Remember, parables are like metaphors; they are open to multiple interpretations.)
     
     
3. Respond to the Word
   • Invite students to make a picture sequence or mural of the parable.
   • If Jesus were to tell a parable to explain the reign of God today, where might he set it and who might the characters be? How could he make the same point to a modern audience? Remember to include a modern setting, the contrast and the reversal
   • Using the brainstorming ideas gathered earlier, imagine a world where all people experience and live under God’s reign. In prayer, ask that we might all work to bring about this time.

References

Hooker, M. (1992). The Gospel according to Mark. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

Gabel et al. (YEAR). The Literature of the Bible.