1. Trace the portrayal of the major character groups in Mark 1-8. These groups include the disciples, the crowds, Gentiles, the Jewish religious leaders (including the scribes, Pharisees, and Herodians), or the supplicants/little people (people who seek healing and the woman who anoints Jesus, for example). How are they characterized? What do their own words and deeds reveal about them? How do they react to Jesus? How do their reactions to Jesus compare and contrast to those of other character groups? How does Jesus react to them? What does the narrator say about them? How do they contribute to the overall plot (e.g., antagonists, supporters, etc.)? Do they develop or change over the course of the narrative?

2. Trace the points in the narrative where Jesus comes into conflict in Mark 1-8. Pay particular attention to his conflicts with supernatural powers, the Jewish religious leaders, his family, and even the disciples. How do these conflicts contribute to the narrative as a whole?

3. One of the means by which Mark develops his portrait of Jesus is through the use of Christological titles such as Son of Man, Son of God, Christ (Messiah), Lord, Son of David, Rabbi(Teacher), King, etc. Make an outline of the titles used in Mark. 1-8. Include the title, the chapter and verse, who uses each title (for example, is the title on the lips of Jesus, a disciple, a Roman centurion, etc. or used by the narrator), and what the content seems to be. You could organize your chart by title or by chapter. Pay special attention to 1:1, 11, 24; 2:10,28; 3:11; 4:38; 5:7; 8:27-38.

4. Make a list of the key events in 6:30-8:21. How are the disciples portrayed in this section of Mark? In your view is 8:21 a fitting ending to this section? Why or why not? How might form criticism deal with doublets such as the two feeding stories? How would narrative criticism treat them differently?

1. Trace the portrayal of the major character groups in Mark 8:22-16:8. These groups include the disciples, the crowds, Gentiles, the Jewish religious leaders (including the scribes, Pharisees, and Herodians), or the supplicants/little people (people who seek healing and the woman who anoints Jesus, for example). How are they characterized? What do their own words and deeds reveal about them? How do they react to Jesus? How do their reactions to Jesus compare and contrast to those of other character groups? How does Jesus react to them? What does the narrator say about them? How do they contribute to the overall plot (e.g., antagonists, supporters, etc.)? Do they develop or change over the course of the narrative?

2. Trace the points in the narrative where Jesus comes into conflict in Mark 9-16. Pay particular attention to his conflicts with supernatural powers, the Jewish religious leaders, his family, and even the disciples. How do these conflicts contribute to the narrative as a whole?

4. Read Mark 8:22-10:52. This section of Mark is enclosed by two healing of blind men stories. What is the significance of enclosing a section that focuses on the role of Jesus and the nature of Christian discipleship with these two stories of physically blind men gaining their sight? What repeated patterns do you uncover in this section? What themes are carried through the section?

5. One of the means by which Mark develops his portrait of Jesus is through the use of Christological titles such as Son of Man, Son of God, Christ (Messiah), Lord, Son of David, Rabbi(Teacher), King, etc. Make a chart of the titles used in Mark. Include the title, the chapter and verse, who uses each title (for example, is the title on the lips of Jesus, a disciple, a Roman centurion, etc. or used by the narrator), and what the content seems to be. You could organize your chart by title or by chapter. Pay special attention to 9: 1-32; 10: 17, 20, 33-35; 13: 1,26; 14:55-65, and 15: 2, 18, 32, 39. Overall, how would you describe Mark’s portrait of Jesus focusing on the titles in the entire gospel–considering especially 1:1; 2:10,28; 3:11; 5:7; 8:27-38; 9: 1-32; 10: 17, 20, 33-35; 13: 1,26; 14:55-65, and 15: 2, 18, 32, 39.

6. Chapter 13 is sometimes called the Little Apocalypse or the Apocalyptic Discourse. If Chapter 13 mirrors in some way the situation of Mark’s first century readers, how would you describe their situation? Note that Mark reinterprets the desolating sacrilege of Daniel which referred to Antiochus Epiphanes in 13:14. What may it refer to? How soon does Mark anticipate the parousia (Jesus’ return)? What must happen before the end comes? What is the function of the parenthetical statement, "Let the reader understand? (Note Barr discusses some of these issues on pp. 288-293). Why would this apocalyptic section and other apocalyptic elements of Mark speak to Christians between 65-75 C.E.?

7. The Passion Narrative - Chapters 14-16. Why does the woman anoint Jesus in 14:3-9 What do you make of the neaniskos - young man- in 14: 51-52? What are the charges against Jesus in 14:53-65? What is the significance of Jesus’ reply to the high priest’s question, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" Why is the trial intercalated into the story of Peter’s denial? How does Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denial function for the reader? Why doe the title King dominate Chapter 15? Why might this be considered ironic? What words does Jesus utter on the cross? What words does the centurion utter after Jesus’ death in 15:39? Who flees in 14:50 and who remains at cross and tomb (15:40-16:8)?

8. Reread Mk 1:22-24, 32-34, 44; 3:11-12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30, and 9:9. What do you make of these injunctions to silence? This aspect of Mark is often called the Messianic Secret (Wrede). Introduced at 1:22-24, the secret is kept until 14:60-63. What function or functions does it serve? For the narrator? For readers?  See Barr's comments on 277-278.

9. Assuming that Mark originally ended at 16:8 as it does in the oldest manuscripts, why? How does this fit into the overall development of the narrative? What are one or more ways this ending might function for readers? How would reading Mark with either of the other three endings change your overall interpretation of Mark?