POETRY “SLAM”
Take out your poem to share
with the class.
Analysis of Psalm 23
•Analyze the figures
of speech and sound
effects of the poem.
•Look at the
connotations of
words (connections
and associations)
•Examine any
literary elements.
23 The LORD is my
For You are with me;
shepherd;
Your rod and Your staff,
I shall not want.
they comfort me.
2 He makes me to lie down 5 You prepare a table before
in green pastures;
me in the presence of my
He leads me beside the still enemies;
waters.
You anoint my head with oil;
3 He restores my soul;
My cup runs over.
He leads me in the paths of 6 Surely goodness and
righteousness
mercy shall follow me
For His name’s sake.
All the days of my life;
4 Yea, though I walk through And I will dwell[a] in the
the valley of the shadow of house of the LORD
death,
Forever.
I will fear no evil;
137 By the rivers of Babylon,
my mouth; if I prefer not
there we sat down, yea, we wept, Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, the
when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the children of Edom in the day of
willows in the midst thereof.
Jerusalem; who said, Rase it,
3 For there they that carried us
rase it, even to the foundation
away captive required of us a
thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art
song; and they that wasted us
required of us mirth, saying, Sing to be destroyed; happy shall he
us one of the songs of Zion.
be, that rewardeth thee as thou
4 How shall we sing the LORD's
hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh
song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let and dasheth thy little ones
my right hand forget her cunning.
against the stones.
6 If I do not remember thee, let
my tongue cleave to the roof of
“By The Waters of Babylon”
Context for Understanding the Story
"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.”
“By the Waters of Babylon”
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.
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”
In first-person narratives, the author may adopt an
identity--or persona. This persona allows the author to
present the setting through a distinct character’s 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.
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!
Start Reading!
“By The Waters of Babylon”
Read Psalm 137 - How does the title’s Biblical
Allusion connect to the theme of the story?
By the rivers of Babylon we sat
6 May my tongue cling to the roof
and wept
of my mouth
when we remembered
if I do not remember you,
Zion.
if I do not consider Jerusalem
2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
my highest joy.
3 for there our captors asked us
7 Remember, O LORD, what the
for songs,
Edomites did
our tormentors demanded
on the day Jerusalem fell.
songs of joy;
"Tear it down," they cried,
they said, "Sing us one of
the songs of Zion!"
"tear it down to its foundations!"
4 How can we sing the songs of the 8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed
LORD
to destruction,
while in a foreign land?
happy is he who repays you
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
for what you have done to usmay my right hand forget
9 he who seizes your infants
its skill .
and dashes them against the
rocks.
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
story’s allusion: the eventual
threat of self-destruction if
we are unable to curb our
thirst for knowledge - and
not "eat it too fast."
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?
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 writer’s own attitude
toward the subject.
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.”
The Great River, Ou-dis-sun was
The Hudson River
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”
The God Roads were…
The Concrete
roads we used
to use
The Bitter Water was…
The Ocean
The Place of the Gods was…
New York
UBTREAS was…
The Sub Treasury in New York,
now called Federal Hall National
Memorial
Ashing was…
A Statue of George Washington in
Union Square, New York City
The temple with the stars for a
roof was…
The ceiling at Grand Central Station
October 26, 2015
“By the Waters of Babylon”
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!
October 27, 2015
“By the Waters of Babylon”
“Truth is a hard
deer to hunt. If you
eat too much truth
at once, you may
die of the truth”
(Benet 6).
Warm Up for 10/27
» In your journals, answer the
following questions:
1. Is ignorance actually bliss?
2. Should people know all of the
Truth? Why or why not?
3. 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?
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?
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.
Write your own thematic
statement.
A unifying central idea, expression, or
motif of a literary work.
1. Your topic is “knowledge.”
2. 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.