POETRY

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POETRY SLAM

• Take out your poem to share with the class.

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Analysis of Psalm 23
apostrophe
archetypes

• Analyze the figures of speech and sound effects
  of the poem.
• Look at the connotations of words (connections
  and associations)
• Examine any literary elements.

alliteration
RHYME
personification
diction
onomatopoeia
simile
ONOMATOPEIA
HYPERBOLE
metaphor
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Psalm 23 a psalm of david
23 The Lord is my shepherdI shall not
want.2 He makes me to lie down in green
pasturesHe leads me beside the still
waters.3 He restores my soulHe leads me in the
paths of righteousnessFor His names
sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death,I will fear no evilFor You
are with meYour rod and Your staff, they
comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in
the presence of my enemiesYou anoint my head
with oilMy cup runs over.6 Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow meAll the days of my
lifeAnd I will dwella in the house of the
LordForever.
4
Psalm 137
137 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 We
hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst
thereof. 3 For there they that carried us away
captive required of us a song and they that
wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us
one of the songs of Zion. 4 How shall we sing the
Lord's song in a strange land? 5 If I forget
thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her
cunning. 6 If I do not remember thee, let my
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I
prefer not Jerusalem above my chief
joy. 7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in
the day of Jerusalem who said, Rase it, rase it,
even to the foundation thereof. 8 O daughter of
Babylon, who art to be destroyed happy shall he
be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served
us. 9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth
thy little ones against the stones.
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By The Waters of Babylon

• Context for Understanding the Story

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By the Waters of Babylon
"By the Waters of Babylon" is a post-apocalyptic
short story by Stephen Vincent Benet, published
July 31, 1937 in The Saturday Evening Post as
The Place of the Gods.
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An allusion is a reference to a statement,
person, place, thing, or event from another text
or from history or culture.It is only effective
if the reader is familiar with whatever is being
alluded to.
Authors generally trust readers to recognize or
discover the connection between an allusion and
its purpose in the writing.
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Allusion

• Alludes to Psalm 137 in the Bible The Israelites
  lost their "promised land" of Israel from which
  they have been exiled. Their homeland was
  destroyed and its people scattered.
• Israelites sorrow over the destruction of their
  temple in Zion and their enslavement into Babylon
• The psalm begins By the waters of Babylon, there
  we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion

9
In first-person narratives, the author may adopt
an identity--or persona. This persona allows the
author to present the setting through a distinct
characters eyes. First-person narrators can only
tell what they themselves know--their own
feelings, thoughts, experiences, and their
observations about other characters.
Stephen Vincent Benét uses a persona named John
to guide readers and point out significant
details to introduce them to a bizarre future
world.
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Authors imagine the setting and then use details
to help the reader see it. The details the
narrator points out can help to establish tone
and character. People usually notice things that
are important to them or that reflect their moods
or attitudes.
Try to figure out the setting!
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Start Reading!

• By The Waters of Babylon

12
Read Psalm 137 - How does the titles Biblical
Allusion connect to the theme of the story?

• By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept       
  when we remembered Zion.
•  2 There on the poplars        we hung our
  harps,
• 3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
         our tormentors demanded songs of joy
         they said, "Sing us one of the songs of
  Zion!"
• 4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD       
  while in a foreign land?
•  5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,        may my
  right hand forget its skill .

 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
       if I do not remember you,        if I do
not consider Jerusalem        my highest joy.
 7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did
       on the day Jerusalem fell.        "Tear
it down," they cried,        "tear it down to
its foundations!"  8 O Daughter of Babylon,
doomed to destruction,        happy is he who
repays you        for what you have done to us-
 9 he who seizes your infants        and dashes
them against the rocks.
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Purpose of the Allusion

• The Israelites lost their "promised land" of
  Israel from which they have been exiled. Their
  homeland was destroyed and its people scattered.
• The message of the short storys allusion the
  eventual threat of self-destruction if we are
  unable to curb our thirst for knowledge - and not
  "eat it too fast."

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Point of View

• 1st person point of view
• Limited knowledge given to the reader from this
  point of view. Only seeing what that character
  sees and knows.
• How does this enrich the story?

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Mood

• The mood of a story is the atmosphere the author
  helps create to make the reader feel a certain
  way.
• Remember that tone is not the same thing as mood.
  Tone is the writers own attitude toward the
  subject.

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Symbolism

• .Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas
  and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings
  that are different from their literal sense. It
  can take different forms object, action, or
  event. Symbols do shift their meanings depending
  on the context they are used in. A chain, for
  example, may stand for union as well as
  imprisonment.

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The Great River, Ou-dis-sun was

• The Hudson River

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• Old Books and Writings were
• Books written in English that existed before our
  society was destroyed
• The Old Days were.
• The days before The Great Burning, our present
  day

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The God Roads were

• The Concrete roads we used to use

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The Bitter Water was

• The Ocean

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The Place of the Gods wasNew York
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UBTREAS was

• The Sub Treasury in New York,
• now called Federal Hall National Memorial

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Ashing was

• A Statue of George Washington in Union Square,
  New York City

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The temple with the stars for a roof was

• The ceiling at Grand Central Station

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October 26, 2015

• By the Waters of Babylon

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Comprehension Questions

• In your small groups, answer the comprehension
  questions to ensure that everyone understood the
  story.
• Then, we will move into the important task of
  analyzing the deeper significance.
• YOU MUST MAKE A LIST OF ARCHETYPES PRESENT IN THE
  STORY.
• You have 20 minutes!

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October 27, 2015

• By the Waters of Babylon

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Warm Up for 10/27
Truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you eat too
much truth at once, you may die of the truth
(Benet 6).

• In your journals, answer the following questions
• Is ignorance actually bliss?
• Should people know all of the Truth? Why or why
  not?
• John says, that Perhaps, in the old days, they
  ate knowledge too fast. What does this mean? Do
  you think it is true of our society?

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Socratic Discussion

• How could this story be used as an allegory?
• How do we eat knowledge too fast?
• When (if ever) is it appropriate to only provide
  bits of truth at a time?
• Should members of society be entitled to the full
  truth?

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Theme
A unifying central idea, expression, or motif of
a literary work.

• Topic Technology
• Technology can lead to the downfall of society.
• Topic Coming of Age
• For a boy/girl to become a man/woman, he/she
  must go on a journey (Spirit Walk) to achieve
  wisdom.
• Topic Rite of Passage
• A dangerous challenge must be attempted and
  succeeded to earn respect from the elders.

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Write your own thematic statement.
A unifying central idea, expression, or motif of
a literary work.

• Your topic is knowledge.
• Write a thematic statement about this topic.
  (What does the author or the story say about
  knowledge?) It must be universal. \
• Things to Consider
• The Tower of Babel
• The Fall of Man (The Tree of Knowledge)
• Technology as the Downfall of Society
• Knowledge Technology, Advancement,
  Industrialization, Innovation, Power, etc.