Preview

By the Waters of Babylon and Coyote Kills the Giant Compare/Contrast

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
596 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
By the Waters of Babylon and Coyote Kills the Giant Compare/Contrast
Babylon and Coyote Compare/Contrast
“By the Waters of Babylon” and “Coyote Kills the Giant” are two very different pieces that share the same idea of a journey. John and Coyote both prepare to go on journeys that could affect their lives greatly, although, they each have entirely different reasons for attempting each journey. John hopes to gain knowledge from the Place of the Gods that will not only benefit himself, but also all of his people. Coyote takes up his quest only to prove he is smart enough to take on anyone, even a giant. He wants to prove his pride. “By the Waters of Babylon” takes place in New York City, many years in the future. But, this New York City is in ruins, and there are no longer any civilians. Granted it is in the future, everything is referred to as items from older civilizations. It seems that, as time went on, technology reversed. This gives the story much more meaning, the idea that there is more going on than there actually is. This is much different than the setting of “Coyote Kills the Giant”. Here, the story takes place in a cave, which is actually the belly of a huge giant. In both stories, the main characters see normal items and graphical features as other things. John sees buildings, statues, and other goods as objects belonging to an earlier civilization. A cave and volcano act as the stomach and heart of the giant in “Coyote Kills the Giant”. Both settings are used to enhance the stories. In both pieces, the characters faced conflicts, both internal and external. They both experienced an internal conflict at the beginnings of their stories when they had to decide whether or not they should go on their journey. John does experience more internal conflicts than Coyote. John must overcome his fear in order to discover the truth and answers he seeks. However, they both experience external conflicts. John must face dogs, the river, and the Forest People. Coyote must face the giant and save the others. These conflicts build

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    When a streak of light ran across the sky and crashed into the earth the…

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Story of Jumping Mouse, and By the Waters of Babylon, both have the same mythical structure, because of the journey that both Jumping Mouse goes through, and also the journey that John goes through. Both stories have the exact same meaning, just described differently. This shows the many different ways that one thing can be deciphered.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Valuable Lesson In the story “By The Waters of Babylon” author, Stephen Vincent Benèt, talks about a man by the name of John, and how the decision he made changed his life forever. John had to make a decision when he came across a river. You could not cross it if you were purified. However, John was not, but he still made the decision to cross the river.…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “In The Heat of the Night” is a gripping murder mystery story that incorporates a major issue of the time it was written at; racism. The original novel (published in 1965), written by John Ball, is a story of Virgil Tibbs, a Negro homicide investigator. The death of orchestra-conductor Enrico Mantoli and a series of other events lead up to him in charge of a murder investigation in Wells, Carolina. This is much to the dismay of Bill Gillespie, the extremely prejudice police chief. The movie version (released in 1967), also features Mr. Tibbs as the leader of a murder investigation. However, the setting is Sparta, Mississippi, and the victim is Philip Colbert, a man planning to build a factory in the town. The movie was very successful, and proceeded to win 5 Academy Awards. Despite this, I find the book is more appealing because the characters are easier to relate to, and have a chance to get well-rounded in a gradual sense. In addition, the plot development steadily makes progress, and is overall less tense, therefore more enjoyable. Both movie and book, however, are quite impressive in the incorporation of racial equality issues, and should equally be recognized as landmarks in American media for this reason.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie ìO Brother, Where Art Thou?î is strikingly similar to Homerís ìOdysseyî in both plot and character description. In fact, one critic notes, ìO Brother Where Art Thou?î is a Homeric journey through Mississippi during the Depression.î(Ebert p 1) Thus, we find the modern film depiction of the troubles of a man during the depression is molded by the ancient struggles of Odysseus in Homerís Odyssey. Specifically, three parallels surface in the discussion of the similarities between Homerís classic epic and ìO Brother Where Art Thou?î The Cyclops encounter for instance, is transcendent between both works. Furthermore, each story contains a comparable perspective of the Lotus Eaters. Finally, the strongest parallel between the ìOdysseyî and ìO Brother, Where Art Thou?î is the mystical call of the Sirens and the powers of the witch goddess Circe.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When I was a kid, one of my favorite story books was, Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. As a piece of my childhood, that simple story about Max and the “wild rumpus” meant a lot to me. So in the fall of 2009 when I saw the coming attraction for the full-length feature film, my first thought was, “I really hope they do it justice.”…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While the basic storyline and character description appear similar, each author writes from a completely different standpoint when it comes the emotions and intentions of the beast. The original writer of…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The stories grew in difference in the beginnings of the stories. Tom Walker never asked for help from the devil while Jabez Stone orally originated a trade with the devil for two cents. After the help of the devil Tom went off to become a wealthy conceited man with no human compassion and Jabez lived his life as humble as before. Tom was carried away by the devil because his contract was over but Jabez was lucky in his efforts. Jabez was able to compromise with a trial with Daniel Webster as his lawyer. Jabez and Daniel won the trial and Jabez was able to live his life in content while Daniel was read his fortune and had the satisfaction that the won a trail against the devil himself.…

    • 302 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coyote Poem Analysis

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Animal spirits are said to be able to change into human form. He continues the poem by:Here he is implying that within him is an animal, and this animal is Coyote. The animal and Ortiz are one in the same, which makes Coyote and Ortiz one in the same as well. The closeness of the two described here shows Ortiz’s familiarity with the “animal”, a familiarity that comes from living a life with an animal or animal figure as one’s guide. Coyote is the most fitting guide for Ortiz because no one knows trouble, and getting out of it, like Coyote. " The Creation, According to Coyote" poem has a mythical context also. It is a short telling of the Keresan Pueblo creation myth and the story of War Twins who lead the people " upwards through successive worlds until they emerge through a single sipapu ( hole in the ground) onto the earth's…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dystopia; an “imaginary” society in which citizens are dehumanized and live what readers deem as an unpleasant, worthless life. Nancy Farmer’s novel The House of The Scorpions and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World are two dystopian novels that paint a surreal image of two societies on two opposite sides of the spectrum. Farmer’s novel depicts the life of a clone of the head of a huge drug cartel named El Patron. The clone, Matt, lives in a house of secrecy and lies, however, his life in other’s eyes seems picture-perfect. On the opposite end, Huxley’s novel depicts a test-tube, artificial society in which humans are not born, but decanted like experiments. The humans, once born, go through a process of a caste system as well as series of hypnopedia in order to keep the society controlled and prevent rebellion. Overall, it seems as though both societies are completely unrealistic. However, it is prevalent that out of the two societies, the society of Brave New World seems like a future not to far from our own.…

    • 2940 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nesbitt. Vol. 36. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 Jan. 2013. Baskett provides a detailed analysis of the symbolic detail in The Old Man and the Sea ranging from biblical allusions to Santiago’s aura of “strangeness”, which he says contributes to Hemingway’s “fifth dimensional prose”. He lists multiple examples of how Hemingway employs fifth dimensional prose like how Santiago is rarely often referred to as “Santiago” but prevalently more as “the old man” or analyzing the relationship between Santiago and Manolin. Furthermore and more importantly, he begins to describe the biblical allusions found in Hemingway’s novel. A large comparison he makes is between a passage in the bible and the symbolism of the lions in Santiago’s dreams. The passage can be summarized to be about normally antithetical and contradicting creatures that live and play in youth and peace in God’s “holy mountain” like a lion and an ox or a cow and a bear.…

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One difference that these two trickster tale have is Coyote's character trait. For example, in "Coyote and the Buffalo", Coyote is portrayed as numbskull. Actions like kicking the Buffalo Bull's skull out of revenge, killing the cow Buffalo Bull gave him thinking Buffalo Bull will never know, and trusting a stranger with the little food he had left to take a nap, all make Coyote a numbskull. In "Fox and…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ernest Hemingway’s "Hills Like White Elephants," tells the story of an American man and a girl who is named Jig. They are both sitting outside of a train station in Spain looking across a valley while drinking beer. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway discusses the landscape before them, the valley of the Ebro River, that has long white hills. As the American and the girl begin to have a conversation, the girl remarks on the Ebro River of the way it looks. After a while the American asked her if she wanted to do the operation (an abortion which was learned in the author's comment at the end) and explained to her that she would be fine. However, she began to think if she participates in the operation would the American lover still be with her. Nevertheless, the American knows that if the operation is not done he would not be able to do certain things; therefore, he is trying to eliminate the reasons to settle down with Jig. Towards the end of the story, Jig and the American would argue about the operation; even though the American does not want a child.…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Motorcycle & Sweetgrass” brought up two major conflicts at the very end of the novel. The first conflict was based on a battle between John and the raccoons (Person vs. Nature) John was in the forest having a talk with the raccoons and giving them food. The raccoons were all surrounded around the bushes, resemble in ready to have a fight with the Nanabush. The animals reproached John and he was so furious. The clash with the raccoons shows the mysterious hidden relationship between them. John even wanted them to disappear, he burnt the forest and the creatures began to melt into the forest background. This conflict appeared the wicked and wild behaviour of the spiritual creature.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The conflicts in this story are human vs human, human vs animal, and human vs self.…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics