What was the literary style of the Gospel of Mark?

A:Superficially, Mark's Gospel was written in a rough, ungrammatical style, yet it could be described as a literary work of considerable genius.

The entire gospel is developed around a parallel structure, and within this is a very elegant structure for the last twenty four hours to the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The author also developed an almost unique method of emphasis now known as Markan intercalation. He also used mimesis flags, an ancient Greek device, often used to identify a source.

Some have suggested that an author of this considerable ability must have written in the rough, ungrammatical style to hide his real identity (the gospel was anonymous until attributed to Mark in the second century).

Footnotes

1A parallel structure is a literary sequence in which an opening set of events is contrasted with another, parallel set of events that mirrors the first. Mark's Gospel as a whole consists of a parallel structure and then contains a smaller chiastic structure around the last day and the crucifixion.