Assignment:
Overview:
In this assignment, you will learn and demonstrate the critical skill of synthesizing sources for your dissertation's literature review. By engaging with multiple sources and integrating them into a cohesive narrative, you will demonstrate your ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize literature effectively. You will use biblical content from the New King James Version of the Bible and examine an event or teaching of Jesus that appears in at least three of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and/or John). The authors of each of the four Gospels record eye-witness accounts of events tied to the life and ministry of Jesus, and there is considerable overlap as many of the accounts are recorded in more than one of the Gospels. However, each Gospel author presents the record of accounts with a different primary focus. For example, Matthew's focus is on Jesus' fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, while John's focus is on the deity of Jesus and how the love of God is embodied by Him. This exercise will strengthen your skills in comparison, critical analysis, and synthesis.
Instructions:
Write a 2-3 page essay in current APA format and submit it as a formatted Word document. Your essay should be clear, have a logical flow, and be organized in headings per current APA format and per textbook readings. Select one narrative that appears in three or more Gospels. Examples include, but are not limited to the feeding of the 5,000, the Olivet Discourse, the Crucifixion, the Empty Tomb, etc. You may choose another account, provided it occurs in at least three Gospels. Synthesize and present your findings and perspectives. Need Assignment Help?
Your paper should not be a serial summary of sources, but a synthesis of the sources. Serial summaries will not be graded favorably. Compare and contrast the emerging themes and group the selected passages into thematic categories based on the key themes and concepts identified.
You must write an essay that reflects the logical flow of ideas and presents a true synthesis of literature rather than a summary of various sources. Serial summaries will not be graded favorably. Compare and contrast the details of the account documented by each gospel author and group the selected passages of Scripture into thematic categories based on the key themes and primary focus of each Gospel author.
Based on your analysis and comparison of the literature from the 3-4 gospels, under each heading and for each concept, develop a synthesis statement for each thematic category. Your synthesis statements could be the topic sentences that introduce each paragraph or that are contained within those paragraphs. These statements should be a summary of the main takeaway regarding that theme or topic area. Finally, explain how the 3-4 gospels collectively contribute to the understanding of your selected gospel narrative.
The Galvan and Galvan course text and the New King James Version of the Bible must both be used and cited.
You are expected to demonstrate progression by incorporating instructor feedback from prior assignments in this course.
Format of assignment: Current APA edition.
The use of artificial intelligence tools to generate, compose, or outsource any portion of your written work is strictly prohibited. Submitting AI-produced or AI-assisted writing constitutes a violation of the academic integrity expectations for this doctoral course. All submissions must reflect your own original scholarly analysis and writing.
Each of the 3-4 gospels must be cited in synthesis. In this course and at this stage in your writing, place each citation next to each concept within the sentence, instead of all the citations at the end of the sentence.
Page and word counts do not include front matter and back matter.
For all assignments in this course, you are expected to demonstrate progression by incorporating instructor feedback from prior assignments in this course.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
At this stage in your doctoral journey, and specifically for this course, do not use the following or any secondary sources in your reference list: systematic reviews, integrative reviews, scoping reviews, and meta-analyses. These are secondary sources, and citing them is essentially the same as citing a review of other studies, rather than the original research. For your assignments, you must rely on primary, peer-reviewed research articles. Primary sources report original data, methods, and findings, and these are essential for developing the critical research skills needed at the doctoral level. You may read systematic reviews and other secondary sources to help you understand your topic more broadly. However, if you come across useful studies within those reviews, locate and cite the original (primary) research articles from the reference lists rather than citing the review itself.
At this stage in your doctoral journey, you are in the coursework phase. Coursework prepares you for the dissertation phase, but it is not a substitute for the work required once you begin your dissertation. When you enter the dissertation phase, you will follow the direction and expectations of your Dissertation Chair. For now, please complete all assignments according to the requirements of this course, knowing that dissertation level guidance will come later from the Chair of your dissertation committee.