Tuesday, December 5 ~ Short Story #6: By the Waters of Babylon

Warm-up: Review your notes on Dangling Modifiers and then take this quiz. 


Short Story #6: "By The Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benét




Journal 32: In pairs, discuss and note answers to the following questions.

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. 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? 

5. 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. 

6. 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: Complete J32 and work on your Christmas Blessing assignment.