And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning. (1 Nephi 19:23)Likening scripture to one's own life can be done in many ways. I am proposing to my students some new approaches to doing so--from a literary and a collaborative angle. What do I mean by this? Well, let me first explain what I do not mean.
It is customary and even reflexive for Latter-day Saints to interpret their lives in light of scripture. From a religious point of view, that's a very fine thing, and I'm all for it. However, from a literary point of view (as I made clear in my prior post), quickly interpreting things from a moral or religious point of view isn't always the most engaging approach. This may be well intended, and good in its own right, but there is something that can be attained -- a kind of "achieved authenticity" by delaying any drawing of religious conclusions.
Consequently, even though I am hopeful my students will find interesting ways to connect their lived experience with the Book of Mormon, I think they would do well if they depersonalize that approach (for the moment) by focusing on the work of peers. So, even though students have completed some prewriting toward a personal essay (which it is hoped will be related to the Book of Mormon), I don't want them yet to make such connections on their own work.
Moreover, I want my students not to apply the Book of Mormon in the most familiar, moralizing way. (Again, this is not to say anything against moral interpretations of scripture; this is a matter of learning to look for literary form before going on to drawing religious conclusions). To help students be able to do this, I will ask students to reexamine the Book of Mormon on a more general level.
I will explain both aspects of this new approach, but the short way of understanding this next assignment is that we are going to set about likening another's life to the Book of Mormon (considered from a literary angle).
Revisiting the Book of Mormon on a General Level
The first step of this assignment is to review the Book of Mormon section to which one is assigned and to think of it on a broader, more generalized level, one abstracted pretty much from its religious application and considered more in purely literary terms (of form and of representing authentic human experience). This is not exactly the customary, religious approach to reading the Book of Mormon, but the goal is to find ways to connect to the Book of Mormon on the basis of general human experience and not just on the basis of religious ideas or a spiritual appeal.
Each student should find at least three or four distinct literary aspects of their assigned segment of the Book of Mormon, laying these out on a more general level as I model here.
Here are examples based on the first chapters of the Book of Mormon.
Example #1. Note this example is paying attention to character:
- In 1 Nephi 1, we see an account of a junior member of a large family looking back on some formative experiences from his family life.
Example #2. Note this example is paying attention to plot:
- In 1 Nephi 3 and 4, main characters have a goal (to obtain sacred records) and make a plan (requesting the records) which doesn't work, so they make another plan (trading for the records), which really backfires, requiring improvisation by the protagonist (who uses a disguise).
Example #3. Note this example focuses on narrative point of view (recounting a character's thoughts):
- In 1 Nephi 4:10-14 the main character (Nephi), confronted by a sticky moral situation (whether to kill an enemy he comes across accidentally) has an internal debate. We hear his thoughts as he describes both his reluctance to kill and the advantage he sees in doing so.
Example #4. This references the same passage as the previous example, except it is focused on a different aspect of literary form: dialogue:
- In 1 Nephi 4:10-14 the main character (Nephi), when debating within himself whether to kill an enemy, expresses this as an inner dialogue with alternating speeches (between himself and the Spirit of God: "I said in my heart, 'Never at any time have I shed blood.'; ...the Spirit said unto me again, 'Behold, the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands.'")
Example #5. Note how this example focuses on the use of language (which is used as part of the resolution of a plot. This also helps to characterizing the people involved by giving us very human details about their attitudes):
- In 1 Nephi 5:1-2, a mother is described as complaining to her husband because she fears he has caused the death of her sons (Sariah complaining to Lehi). The father defends himself. Both are relieved when it turns out their sons are safe.
It isn't necessary to extract general traits from every page of one's assigned segment, but show 3-4 different types of literary expression revealing realistic human action and emotion, as I have just done here.
Reviewing a fellow student's blog post
The next step in this assignment is to review a fellow student's preliminary personal essay writing. Are there themes, images, dialogue, or characters in that writing that could be connected meaningfully to the segment of the Book of Mormon that one has just reviewed? List 3-4 possible parallels or connections in the way modeled here.
For example, let's say that I had read someone's account of having been bullied at school. I could then make a bulleted item like this one:
- Although [fellow student] didn't fight someone to the death, his description of encountering the bully in the high school parking lot late at night parallels the experience Nephi had when encountering Laban on the streets of Jerusalem. In both cases, the bad guy was confronted.
Or, let's say someone had mentioned moving as a child. I could make a bulleted item like this one:
- [Fellow student] didn't cross a desert as Lehi's family did, but he did cross Canada on their way to a new home in Nova Scotia.
This kind of connecting can also happen on levels other than plot or events. For example, this describes just a type of speech:
- Sariah complained about her husband being a visionary man. This is an example of a good man putting his wife in a tough spot and so she very naturally complained. [Fellow student] wasn't talking about anyone having a vision, but she described some intense complaining.
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