Table of Contents
What does the title mean By the Waters of Babylon?
A theme is the main idea of a story. The main theme of ”By the Waters of Babylon” is that knowledge can be attained too fast. The narrator and his father discuss this idea as the older man warns about revealing everything he has seen in the Place of the Gods.
What literary devices are used in By the Waters of Babylon?
The tones are very contrasting being eager and dark, the literary devices that are used in the story are flashback and foreshadowing, and the naive narrator speaks in first person. Stephen Benet uses the idea of contrasting the tones eager and dark, into an effective idea.
What does the river symbolize in By the Waters of Babylon?
We can apply the river to laws that we have to follow today. Laws can tend to be a barrier (don’t allow us to do whatever we want). Another way the river could be applied to us is actual barriers (traveling to different countries, mountains, water, or fences).
Which theme is reflected in this passage By the Waters of Babylon?
Read the passage from “By the Waters of Babylon.” Which theme is reflected in this passage? Spiritual experiences can lead to great understanding.
What can we learn from By the Waters of Babylon?
By the Waters of Babylon
- The Pursuit of Knowledge.
- The Coming of Age Quest.
- Superstition, Magic, and Technology.
- Rivalry, War, and Destruction.
Why can only priests touch metal in By the Waters of Babylon?
Even though the tribe has the skills and knowledge to use the metal that they gather, they also believe that the metal can only be collected by priests, and that touching the metal before it is ritually purified will kill anyone who is not a priest.
What does metal symbolize in By the Waters of Babylon?
Metal. The metal that the priests of John’s tribe gather from the Dead Places symbolizes both the tribe’s developing understanding of technology and its reliance on superstitions.
What creates dramatic irony in By the Waters of Babylon?
Dramatic irony occurs when readers of a story know something that the characters do not. In “By the Waters of Babylon,” we realize when John takes his journey to the Place of the Gods that he has come to the ruins of New York City.
What are three symbols in By the Waters of Babylon?
Stephen Vincent Benét
- The Pursuit of Knowledge.
- The Coming of Age Quest.
- Superstition, Magic, and Technology.
- Rivalry, War, and Destruction.
How does Psalm 137 relate to By the Waters of Babylon?
The rivers of Babylon are the Euphrates river, its tributaries, and the Tigris river. Psalm 137 is a hymn expressing the yearnings of the Jewish people during their Babylonian exile.
What does squirrel’s heap of winter nuts mean?
“I tried to think of my knowledge, nut it was a squirrel’s heap of winter nuts”, he compares his knowledge to a pile of nuts. All he has learned and experience means nothing to the situation that he is facing. He has plenty of thoughts, but it has no use to his journey at that moment.
What is the foreshadowing in By the Waters of Babylon?
The nuclear holocaust is foreshadowed when he describes how the bridges were all burned and “broken in the time of THE GREAT BURNING when fire fell from the sky.”
What do Johns reference to gods and magic in By the Waters of Babylon most clearly suggest?
What do John’s references to gods and magic in “By the Waters of Babylon” most clearly suggest? John is young and lacks experience. The Great Burning was a recent event. The People of the Hills are social outcasts.
What does the metal symbolize in By the Waters of Babylon?
Who is Zion of Babylon?
If Babylon is the city of the world, Zion is the city of God. The Lord has said of Zion: “Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom” (D&C 105:5) and, “For this is Zion—the pure in heart” (D&C 97:21).
WHO says it is forbidden to go east it is forbidden It is forbidden This is most strictly forbidden?
The narrator, a “Noble Savage,” speaks in simple sentences. His repetition echoes oral chants or storytelling: “It is forbidden to go east. It is forbidden. . . . It is forbidden. . . .
Do squirrels actually remember where they bury nuts?
According to the study “Grey Squirrels Remember the Locations of Buried Nuts,” published in Princeton University’s journal “Animal Behavior,” squirrels use spatial memory often to locate stored food.
Why did the author title the story By the Waters of Babylon How does it relate to the theme?
The title of this selection is an allusion, or reference, to Psalm 137 in the Bible. The psalm expresses the sorrow of the Jews over their enslavement in Babylon and the destruction of Zion, their homeland. The psalm begins: “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Zion.”