Wednesday 11/11/15 ~ Short Story #4: "By the Waters of Babylon"

*Before we get started, take a minute to give me a teacher review.
  Click here for West or Bridgette.

ROOTS

• matri - mother
• medi - half, middle, between, halfway

GRAMMAR

• More on agreement

Bridgette's Class: Here's a link to help us better understand The Masque of the Red Death

LIT NOTES

• Allusion (See side bar of blog)

SHORT STORY #4 "By The Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benét 

1. To understand what is really happening in this story, you have to draw conclusions based on the writer’s clues and your own experience and knowledge. What do you think John is really seeing (and how are you able to tell) when he describes each of the items below? (You might want to work with a group to solve these puzzles.)

• the Great Burning
• Ou-dis-sun
• the statue of a man named ASHING
• the temple in mid-city with a roof painted like the sky at night
• the caves and tunnels where John thinks the gods kept their slaves

2. Find a place in the story where John achieves a breakthrough, and explain what he discovers. How does the first-person point of view help you appreciate his breakthrough?

3. Explain how the words of Psalm 137, verses 1-6, connect with Benét’s story.

• "Longing for Zion in a Foreign Land"
  1 By the rivers of Babylon,
  There we sat down, yea, we wept
  When we remembered Zion.
  ² We hung our harps
  Upon the willows in the midst of it.
  ³ For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
  And those who plundered us requested mirth,
  Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
  ⁴ How shall we sing the Lord’s song
  In a foreign land?
  ⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
  Let my right hand forget its skill!
  ⁶ If I do not remember you,
  Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
  If I do not exalt Jerusalem
  Above my chief joy.
   

4. Near the end of the story, John says, “Perhaps in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast.” What do you think he means? Are we “eating knowledge too fast” today? Explain.

5. Benét wrote this story in 1937, before the first atom bomb was invented. World War II and the Cold War are over now. Do Benét’s warnings about the complete destruction of a civilization still have relevance today? Why?

6. Do you think Benét made the secret of the Place of the Gods too easy to guess, or too hard, or were the clues just difficult enough? Explain.

7. What is the narrative perspective of this story?  How does this perspective play a role in the reader's experience and theme of the work?

HW: Study your grammar (agreement) and roots (gest-mem).
*We will finish this story in class. No need to do it on your own.
*Get ahead by starting The Power of One or begin writing your short story!