Title: By the Waters of Babylon Suggested days (45 minutes per day) Common Core ELA Standards: RL.9-10.1, RL.9-10.2, RL.9-10.3, RL.9-10.4, RL.9-10.5, RL.9-10.10; W.9-10.4, W.9-10.7; SL.9-10.1, SL.9-10.4; L.9-10.1, L.9-10.2, L.9-10.4 Teacher Instructions Preparing for Teaching Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task. Big Ideas and Key Understandings Truths (facts) and discoveries influence our actions and knowledge. Synopsis John is the son of a priest in a futuristic society where social class and rules are paramount. Knowledge is vital to John, and he invests a great deal of energy in his search for truths. John’s father discovered his potential when he was very young and treats him differently from his siblings. John values tradition and order; he takes broken rules and consequences very seriously. John journeys to the “Place of the Gods” in search for truth and what he finds will change what he has known. This “Place of the Gods” is revealed to be New York City, which has been destroyed by a war called “The Great Burning.” Read the entire selection, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings. Re-read the text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Tier II/academic vocabulary.
that these actions have been forbidden “since the beginning of time.” What is the significance of knowledge in this society? What can we infer from the fact that only the priests possess the knowledge? Cite specific evidence to support your answer. Knowledge is very important to this society. * It is desired by the narrator; he says “my knowledge and my lack of knowledge burned in me- I wished to know more.” * The priests are obviously the most important group in the society, so it speaks to the importance of knowledge that it is the priests who are wise. * The narrator separates his society from others by saying, “we are not ignorant like the Forest People…” * Knowledge is also portrayed as hard work; it says “…we have not forgotten the old writings, although they are hard to understand.” The narrator says, “My knowledge made me happy--it was like a fire in my heart.” What is meant by this? The narrator means that knowledge made him feel alive. He states that he was taught to “read in the old books,” and “make the old writings…” In this context, fire is associated with passion. The heart is usually equated with love, so the author is indirectly comparing knowledge to love. What is the significance of signs and dreams in this society? How do these signs and dreams relate to knowledge? Cite textual specific evidence in your answer. The dreams and the signs are the tools by which the knowledge is given to the narrator. These dreams and signs determine the behaviors and actions of the narrator, thus the dreams are very important. The narrator’s father says, “This is a strong dream.” He also says, “…it may eat you up.” The narrator's father states that the narrator's strong dream "may eat you up." How does the narrator tie the events to the father's statement? As his father has predicted, the narrator is so consumed with his dream that he continues on into the place of the gods, rather than just viewing it from the cliff. He says “… it was enough to spend the night upon the cliff.” Yet he knows he has to continue on even though it’s dangerous. He says, “I knew that I should have to cross the river and walk in the place of the gods, although the gods ate me up.”