Reflection Essay Guidelines

Students who are interested in fulfilling the writing requirement for our class, Intro to Biblical Studies, this semester may choose to write a reflection on the exhibit currently showing at the San Diego Natural History Museum: A Day in Pompeii.

Below are the guidelines for your reflection, and formatting as well as grading criteria.

Reflection Guidelines

First Objective: Students are to prepare a 3-4 page reflection essay focusing on how the exhibit lends insight into three categories: daily life of a late first century Roman, art of late first century Roman Empire, and history of the Roman Empire during the late first century.

Second Objective: Since this exhibit offers insights into a worldview of the inhabitants who lived in a city during a time when many of the writings of the New Testament were being created, students are to reflect on how this exhibit lends insight into the worldview of the recipients of the Gospels. Students should express knowledge of the dating of the Gospels, their respective audiences, and perhaps speculate on questions they may have asked about the message from the Gospels given their Roman background.

Third Objective: Provide a ticket stub with your reflection essay dated between Feb 15 and Thursday, May 1, 2008

Formatting Guidelines

• Please submit a document on white paper, double-spaced, using 11 or 12 size legible font, with a maximum of 1" margins on all sides.
• A title page is not necessary for a paper of this length. Instead, put the following identifying information in the top left-hand corner of the first page: name, date, course title, professor's name
• Give your essay a title. This title should be placed after the identifying information (mentioned above) and before the bibliographic information (mentioned below). The title should be centered with a blank space above it and below it.
• Provide bibliographic information for the exhibit. E.g.:
• San Diego Natural History Museum. Exhibition: "A Day in Pompeii" (San Diego, CA, Feb 15-June 15, 2008), Date you attended.
• Put your last name and page number in the top right corner of each page beginning on page 2, e.g., "Valdivia, 2.
• Avoid contractions in a formal paper; i.e., avoid the use of: don't, can't, I'm, etc."
• Proofread for use of wrong tenses (past and present tense in the same sentence).
• I recommend the use of headings throughout the paper but this is not required.
• Staple your paper in upper left-hand corner.

• Does the essay identify the overall strengths of the exhibit? Does the essay tactfully and objectively critique the exhibition giving due justification? Do you allow readers to determine whether the exhibit is worth attending by providing support or examples? Does the essay support your evaluations with examples?

• Does it flow properly and logically between sentences and paragraphs? Does each paragraph begin with a topic sentence that follows with supporting and relevant information?

• Does the summary reflect the main thrust of the exhibit? Are the particular features chosen from the exhibit for further reflection indicative of the overall thrust of the exhibit? Does the student engage his or her reader by pointing out relevant and illustrative aspects of the exhibit? Are the particulars described accurately and with detail?

• Does the paper meet all the format and content requirements listed above? Are ideas expressed well? Are the word choices appropriate for the intended expression of ideas?

• Is the essay free of status-marking errors (e.g., fragments, run-ons, errors in verb tense, for example)? Is punctuation properly applied? Is the essay free of spelling errors that distract readers? Did the student follow the directions for formatting and mechanics?