Post on 28-Nov-2014
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ENG 2B Lesson 1
INTRO TO SHORT STORIES
L i t e ra t u re i n E N G 2 B fo c u s e s o n SELF -D ISCOVERY
As you read, cons ider the 5 bas ic e lements of
SHORT STORIES
P L O T
PLOT
T h e s e q u e n c e o f e v e n t s
CHARACTERIZATION
T h e p e rs o n a l i ti e s & q u a l i ti e s o f c h a ra c t e rs .
THEME
Main idea of story
SETTING
WHEN & WHERE story takes place
POINT of VIEW
P e r s p e c ti v e o f s t o r y ’s n a r r a t o r
1. I t ’s in PROSE form, wr itt en in sentences &
paragraphs .
SHORT STORIES have the following features
I t ’ s
It ’s a FICTIONAL NARRATIVE
i.e. A story sthat did not happen
SHORTER than a NOVEL
Can be read in one s itti ng
Has 5 elements
listed above
As you read, pay att enti on to the l itery techniques & elements, & the
vocabulary footnote.
These are essenti al to understanding.As you read, stop & summarize what
you’ve read. This wil l help you understand the work & identi fy the
main idea.
BY THE WATERS OF BABYLONBy Stephen Vincent Benet
CHILDHOOD to ADULTHOOD
Events?
JOHNthe main character
Goes on a journey that becomes a rite of passage & gives him new knowledge.
Title based on Psalm 137: By the waters of Babylon we sat down & wept, when we remebered thee, O Zion.
Psalm was written when the Babylonians enslaved Jews around 600 B.C. Expresses the Jews’ longing for their
homelandBabylon was the biggest city of the ancient world, a
center of culture, learning, & world trade.
As you read, think about why the author chose this title.
American author, poet, short story writer, & novelist. Best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown’s Body (1928), for which he won the
Pulitzer in 1020, and for 2 short stories, “ The Devil and Daniel Webster” & “By the Waters of Babylon”.
In 1944 a year after his death, he received a 2nd Pulitzer for his last collection of poems Western Star. In 2009, The Library of America chose his story, “ The King of Cats” for its two-century retrospective of American Fantastic Tales.