Introducing the Story

Literary Focus: First-Person Point of View

Literary Focus: Setting

Reading Skills: Drawing Conclusions

By the Waters of Babylonby Stephen Vincent Benét

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By the Waters of Babylonby Stephen Vincent Benét

We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom.

Stephen Vincent Benét

By the Waters of BabylonIntroducing the Story

“By the Waters of Babylon” is a story told by a young narrator who seeks wisdom in the ruins of a once-great civilization.

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By the Waters of BabylonIntroducing the Story

• As John, the narrator, explores the ruins, readers gradually come to understand the tragedy of the Great Burning and the significance of the Place of the Gods.

First-Person Point of View: “I” Tells the Story

When stories are written in the first person, readers

By the Waters of BabylonLiterary Focus: First-Person Point of View

• know only what the narrator knows about other characters and events

• share the narrator’s experience and feelings

First-Person Point of View: “I” Tells the Story

Stories written from the first-person point of view often

By the Waters of BabylonLiterary Focus: First-Person Point of View

• have a sense of intimacy, as if the narrator was a friend talking to us

• use a persona—a “mask” or voice for the fictional narrator

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Setting: Where and When

Setting is the time and place in which the action occurs. Setting can be used to

By the Waters of BabylonLiterary Focus: Setting

• create a mood, or atmosphere

• provide the story’s main conflict

• reveal character

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Clues

When you read stories that present a puzzle, you look for clues and draw conclusions about what details in the story mean.

By the Waters of BabylonReading Skills: Drawing Conclusions

details from the story

+ your knowledge and experience

=solution to the story’s

puzzle

Conclusion

As you read “By the Waters of Babylon,” pay close attention to clues about the setting.

By the Waters of BabylonReading Skills: Drawing Conclusions

Clues

setting and descriptions of objects and places

+your knowledge and experience =

solution to the story’s

puzzle

Conclusion

• Carefully read descriptions of objects of places.

• Think about what the writer and narrator may not be telling you.

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