"By the Waters of Babylon," Part 1: Analyzing Setting
Question 3 • CA-Common Core English Language Arts 10
Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”How shall I tell what I saw? There was no smell of man left, on stone or metal. Nor were there many trees in that wilderness of stone. There are many pigeons, nesting and dropping in the towers—the gods must have loved them, or, perhaps, they used them for sacrifices. There are wild cats that roam the god-roads, green-eyed, unafraid of man. At night they wail like demons but they are not demons. The wild dogs are more dangerous, for they hunt in a pack, but them I did not meet till later. Everywhere there are the carved stones, carved with magical numbers or words.
Answer
A
They create a feeling of a small mythical kingdom.
B
They build an atmosphere of a preindustrial society.
C
They give the sense that nature has taken over a once-urban area.
D
They develop the feeling of an ancient village of a polytheistic culture.
Explanation
The passage describes a once-built environment—stone towers, roads, and carved structures—but says that few trees, pigeons, wild cats, and dogs now occupy it. The absence of any sign of people, together with animals roaming through the city, suggests that nature has reclaimed a once-urban area. This matches “They give the sense that nature has taken over a once-urban area.”
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