By the Waters of Babylon

There was the great river below, like a giant in the sun. It is very long, very wide. It could eat all the streams we know and still be thirsty.

BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON

"I travel upon the god-roads and am not afraid. E-yah! I have killed the panther, I have killed the fawn!"

By the Waters of Babylon

"When the sun rose, I thought, "My journey has been clean. Now I will go home from my journey." But, even as I thought so, I knew I could not. If I went to the Place of the Gods, I would surely die, but, if I did not go, I could never be at peace with my spirit again."

This quote shows somewhat of a paradox, as it says, he would surely die if he went to the Place of the Gods, but if he did not god, he would never be at peace with his spirit. Therefore, if he actually went to the place of the gods, he would never be at peace anyway, since he's going to be dead. Wouldn't this whole journey be pointless, if he would simply just die in the end? 

By the Waters of Babylon Quotation

Why should I lie about it? I am a priest and the son of a priest. If there are spirits, as they say, in the small Dead Places near us, what spirits must there not be in that great Place of the Gods? And would not they wish to speak? After such long years? I know that I felt myself drawn as a fish is drawn on a line. I had stepped out of my body—I could see my body asleep in front of the cold fire, but it was not I. I was drawn to look out upon the city of the gods. 

By the Waters of Babylon

"When the dawn came, I was out of sight of the village. I prayed and purified myself, waiting for a sign. The sign was an eagle. It flew east.

Sometimes signs are sent by bad spirits. I waited again on the flat rock, fasting, taking no food. I was very still- I could feel the sky above me and the earth beneath. I waited till the sun was beginning to sink. Then three deer passed in the valley, going east- they did not wind me or see me. There was a white fawn with them-a very great sign. I followed them, at a distance, waiting for what would happen. My heart was troubled about going east, yet I knew that I must go"(313).

By The Waters of Babylon

"I am John, son of John," I sang.

By the Waters of Babylon Quote

"I saw both banks of the river—I saw that once there had been god roads across it, though now they were broken and fallen like broken vines. Very great they were, and wonderful and broken—broken in the time of the Great Burning when the fire fell out of the sky. And always the current took me nearer to the Place of the Gods, and the huge ruins rose before my eyes"(315).
 

By The Waters of Babylon

"It is better to lose one's life than one's spirit."

By the waters of Babylon

"Nevertheless, as imade the raft, the tears ran out of my eyes. The Forest People could have killed me then, but they did not come. When the raft was made, I said the sayings for the dead and painted myself for death. My heart was cold as a frog and my knees like water, but the burning in my mind would not let me have peace."

By the Waters of Babylon

When the sun rose, I thought, " My journey has been clean. Now I will go home from my journey." But, even as I thought so, I knew I could not. If I went to the Place of the Gods, I would surely die, but, if I did not go, I could never be at peace with my spirit again.

By the Waters of Babylon Quotation&Analysis

But they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men. I remember the dead man's face. They were men who were here before us. We must build again.

Quatation of "By the water of Babylon"

That is all of my story, for then I knew he was a man-I knew then that they had been men, neither gods nor demons. It is a great knowledge, hard to tell and believe. They were all men.

By the Waters of Babylon Quotation.

" ' Truth is a hard dear to hunt. If you eat too much truth at once, you may die of the truth. If was not idly that our fathers forbade the Dead Places.'  He was right-it is better  the truth should come little by little. I have learned that, being a priest. Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast." ( By the Waters of Babylon)

By the Waters of Babylon Analysis

All these things were magic, but I touched them and lived- the magic had gone out of them. Let me tell one thing to show. In the washing- place, a thing said "Hot"but it was not hot to the touch- another thing said "Cold" but it was not cold. This must have been a strong magic but the magic was gone.

By the Waters of Babylon

"We shall go to the Place if the Gods-- the place newyork-- not one man but a company. We shall go look for the images of the gods and find the god ASHING and the others-- the gods Lincoln and Biltmore and Moses. But they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men. I remember the dead man's face. They were men who were here before us. We must build again" (By the Waters of Babylon).

Socratic Seminar Questions

Possibility of Evil:
What drove Ms. Strangeworth to doing this? Other than boredom, what would be some potential reasons?
People don't just do things for the good of it; they always hope to gain something in return. Why did the boy choose to hand deliver the letter rather than to simply slip it into the mail?
Why would Dave and Linda be "evil"? People have the freedom to do whatever they want; it may be against the wishes of their respective parents, but they do not harm others with their relationship. Why does Miss Strangeworth view it as such?

Characterization CIOTSTNT

Now that several people know Christopher is conducting his investigation, has any of them displayed indirect characteristics of wishing to do harm to Christopher and/or hampering progress on his investigation?
Based off f his actions, how does Christopher feel about his mother "doing sex" with a man other than his father?
Why would Mrs. Alexander reveal to Christopher, a mere child, of his mother's affair? What does this reveal about her character? Is she trying to mislead Christopher because she killed the dog?

Socratic Seminar Questions

"The Possibility of Evil" 1. Why did someone want to destroy Mrs. Strangeworth's roses? Is it because of the mean things she did? 2. What do you think about Mrs. Strangeworth's name? Does the author try to symbolize something when he creates this character, Mrs. Strangeworth? 3. What kind of thought make Mrs. Strangeworth think it's her responsibility to "eliminate the evil in the town"? "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" 1. Why did Christopher try to solve the murder of Mrs. Sheers' dog? It's not even his dog! 2. Do you think Christopher should be considered as a round character or a flat character? Why and why not? 3. Is the motivation of Christopher's investigation related to his mother's death? What do you think?

Socratic Seminar Questions

Possibility of Evil
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- Describe the atmosphere at the beginning of the story.
- Why do you think Mrs. Strangeworth did all these actions?
- What do you think about the way Mrs. Strangeworth's actions?

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
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- Do you think Christopher would go and talk to Mr. Shears?
- What did you think about the illustrations in the story? 
- What was Christopher's relationship with his mother?

Socratic Seminar Questions

Possibility of Evil

What might the reaction be after Miss Strangeworth received the nasty letter and the destroyed garden?
How her life is likely to change in the community?
Does the roses have any symbolism? 


Characterization in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Why Mrs. Alexander decided to tell Christopher about her mother and Mr. Shears when his father try to conceal the secret from him?
Is it possible that Christopher's mother is still alive? If yes, will Christopher meet her mother again?
Who may be the dynamic character in the story?

Socratic Seminar Questions

Possibility of Evil:

• Why does Miss Strangeworth write "trash"? There must be other ways to "cleanse the town of evil" without hurting anyone. Why do you think she chooses to do this by writing hurtful things?
• How did Miss Strangeworth write the letters without having anyone find out for a whole year? Won't the people in town get suspicious of the author of the notes?
• What do you think about Miss Strangeworth and her actions?

Characterization in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

• Is any other character in the story except for Christopher considered a round character? Why?
• What is Christopher's motivation as he tries to solve the murder case of Mrs. Sheers' dog?
• Do you think any of the characters have changed from the beginning of the story so far?

Socratic Seminar Questions

Possibility of Evil 

1. What motivates Ms.Strangeworth to write such letters?

2. What exactly is the problem between the girl and the Harris boy?

3. Who actually destroyed Ms.Strangeworth's roses?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

1. Why did Christopher's mom cheat on his dad?

2. Why does Christopher have such an anti-social personality?

3. Why does Christopher's dad strongly disagrees with him investigating the death of the dog?

Socratic Seminar Questions

The possibility of Evil
1. What makes Ms. Strangworth think that she should start to write the letters?
2. Why do you think the residents decided to destroy the roses instead of solving the problem peacefully?
3. What will Ms. Strangeworth do next?
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
1. What's the relationships between the characters? (Christopher, his dad...)
2. Why did Christopher appear in the garden at the midnight?
3. What shapes Christopher as a flat character?

Socratic Seminar Questions

The Possibility of Evil:

1. What do you think will be Ms. Strangeworth's next move/ reaction? Do you think she would apologize?
2. Do you think the townspeople will treat her worse and worse? E.X. kicking her out of town?
3. Do you think anyone would still have pity for her?

The Curious Incident:

1. What does Mrs. Alexander actions show about her character?
2.  Based on what is described of Mr. Shears, what do you think of the kind of person he is?
3. Through Chris's father's reaction to a question about Mr. Shears (which is outrage), how do you think his reaction will be when he finds out Chris hasn't given up on investigating yet?

Socratic Seminar Questions

The Possibility of Evil
1. Do you think it is right to send the letter?
2. Do you think it is right to break someone else's stuff even if they are evil?
3. Do you think she was really trying to help the town by writing those letters?
The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime
1. Will Christopher meet Mr. Shears?
2. Do you think Ms. Alexander is right to tell Christopher about his mother?
3. Is the father telling the truth? 

Socratic Seminar Questions

The Possibility of Evil
1. What made Ms. Strangeworth think that she was eliminating evil in this town?
2. Do you think it is justice evil to be sending these letters to her fellow townspeople?
3. Do you think she will change after getting her precious roses eradicated?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
1. Why does Mrs. Alexander act so creepy and never gets to the point?
2. Do you think Christopher will come out as successful?
3. Do you think Siobhan will help Christopher on his investigation?

Secratic Seminar Questions

The Curious incident...

1. What is Mrs. Alexander ‘s relationship with Christopher? How does Christopher view Mrs. Alexander at this moment? A friend? A passerby? Is she of any importance to him? 
2. Did you think Mrs. Alexander should have told Christopher about his mother’s affair? Would it be better for certain things to remain hidden? 
3. What do you think Mr. Shears will be like? 

The possibility of Evil. 

1. Mrs. Strangeworth justifies her notes as a way to fight evil, and yet she refused to admit she was the one sending them. Do you think she wrote notes out of a pure and genuine heart or do you think she could merely be doing so out of the thrill of gossiping?
2. Could roses in the story be a symbolism or an element to create irony? 
3. Would the spread of malicious humor increase or decrease overall after Mrs. Strangeworth's doing?  

Socratic Seminar Questions

The Possibility of Evil 1.Do you think the neighbors will take even more revenge on Miss Strangeworth? 2.What is a possible reason for Linda’s farther to reject the Harris boy? 3.What kind of horrible conflicts might had happened in Miss Strangeworth’s childhood that made her such a strange old woman? The Curious Incident of the Dead Dog 1.Is Christopher’s Dad described in a direct or indirect characterization? 2.Do you think Christopher will become more aware of his mother’s death? 3.Why is Christopher so insistent about finding out who is the killer of the dog?

Socratic Seminar Questions

The Possibility of Being Evil

1.        What do you think would change about Ms. Strangeworth when she sees her roses are ruined?

2.        How do you think the town will view her now that people knows she is the one sending all the letters?

3.         Do you think Ms. Strangeworth's action in sending the letters is justified?

The Curious Incident of the DOg at Nighttime

1.        What do you think shows about the family when it is revealed that they don’t know about the cheating?

2.        Do you think Christopher knows/acknowledges/cares about his mother cheating on his father?

3.        Do you think the affair will affect Christopher’s relationship with other people (specifically his dad) later on?

Socratic Seminar Questions

The Possibility of Evil:
1. What do you think will happen to Mrs. Strangeworth later on in the story?
2. What will you do if you ever got a litter from Mrs. Strangworth and now you finally found out that
    she was the person sending them to you?
3. Do you think writing letters is the only way for Mrs. Strangeworth to warn the town? 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time:
1. Do you think finding out the affair will have any effect of Christopher's investigation?
2. Do you think Christopher's dad actually think Mrs. Shears is a bad person or he just doesn't want
    to be related to her because of what might have happened in the past?
3. Do you think Mrs. Alexander will help Christopher more with his investigation?