WORD PARTS:
Roots
- vac - empty
- vert, vers - turn
- viv, vita, vivi - alive, life
- vor - eat greedily
TODAY:
- Allusion (See side bar of blog)
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
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.
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?
