What are the characteristics of Mark?
Mark has a distinctive style that is easily observable. The text is terse and the plot is fast-moving. Much is written in a variation of present tense to bring past actions into the moment of reading. Mark is brief and to the point. He does take time, however, to show the emotions of Jesus and to notice detail. He also likes both verbal and situational irony and often makes a point through the ironic rather than the direct method. He loves the word “immediately” and he likes to report conflict and controversy. Mark’s major characters are drawn large with little subtlety or ambiguity. He had definite opinions about Jesus and those around him. Mark’s presentation of Jesus is most distinctive of all. The humanity of Christ is seen in his reactions. Jesus determination to fulfill his destiny is obvious on every page. 11.
