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"If I perish, I perish": Heroes
and Heroines of the Exile and Diaspora (587-ca.
200 B.C.E.)
Kenneth Burke's Pentad
Act (1) What is it? (e.g. a poem, a chronicle,
an epic, a heroic narrative . . .)
What is its context in the Bible (Jewish and
Christian--Catholic and Protestant)?
Does the story exist in multiple versions? If
so, how are they different?
Scene Where and when does the story (supposedly)
take place?
Use both your Access notes and Harris, as well
as the text--and consider
time and space both globally (e.g. stage in
Israel's history) and specifically
(at night, after dinner, over several days,
etc.)
How is the setting described? (How many "scenes"
are there in the story,
and how would you film those scenes?)
How is the time and setting significant to the
story? How might a similar story
be set in today's world?
Agents Who is the protagonist (or who are the
protagonists) in the story?
How would you describe him/her/them in terms of
age, ethnicity, physical attributes, social
standing, etc.?
What is at stake for them at the beginning of
the narrative and as it proceeds?
Who are the antagonists in the story?
To what degree is Yahweh visibly an actor in the
narrative? How does his presence and activity
reveal itself?
(In the case of Esther, you will need to compare
the Hebrew and Greek versions in
order to answer this question fully.)
Are there other "forces" at work in the
text--such as social customs (e.g. dietary
laws, irrevocable decrees) that significantly
affect human choices?
Act (2) What happens in the course of the
narrative?
What are the main "movements" of the story, and
what has occurred (or changed)
by the end of the story?
In other words, can you present a clear and
concise summary of the action?
Agency How is the story told? How does it
develop?
Does it begin at the beginning and move
chronologically; does it begin in medias
res and flash back; is it really more like a
series of individual tales?
What is the story's point of view: omniscient,
limited omniscient, first person,
or "objective" (cinematic)? (Note: in some cases
the point of view changes.)
To what extent does the narrator reveal the
characters' "inner life"--their motives
and desires? Which characters?
What does the narrator's attitude seem to be
toward his (her?) subject? (Is the
tone serious, satirical, celebrative, elegiac,
or what?)
What metaphors and other figures of speech
(including puns) does the writer
employ?
How does the narrator maintain tension or
suspense?
How does the narrator employ irony in the story?
Can you find examples of
dramatic irony, verbal irony, irony of intent
and outcome? What are they?
Purpose What seems to be the narrator's purpose
in telling this story?
Why do you think it was included in the
canon--or at least brought down to us
(in the case of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon,
Judith, and Greek Esther)?
What would a contemporary (4th-2nd century B.C.E.)
audience carry away?
What relevance does the narrative have today?
Groups:
1. Daniel 1-6 (OT 1128-1140).
2. Susanna and the Elders and Bel and the Dragon
( Apocrypha, 173-78).
3. Esther (OT 624-33 and Apocrypha, 38-51).
4. Judith (Apocrypha 19-37).
For next time:
Prepare for our discussion of Tobit and Job by
doing a full pentad of each in your journal. |
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