AnswersLanguage Arts 2A - Mr. CrissingerAnalyzing an Autobiographical Essay

"By the Waters of Babylon," Part 1: Analyzing Setting Answers

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How does setting influence character? Select three options.

A
It can create conflict for characters.
B
It establishes a stark writing style.
C
It can influence a character’s motivations.
D
It can determine the rules that characters live by.
E
It can reveal details about a character’s physical appearance.
2
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Which details in the passage describe an atmosphere of desolation? Select two options.

A
“How shall I tell what I saw?"
B
"but the towers themselves look blind"
C
"a fishhawk, catching fish in the river"
D
"a little dance of white butterflies"
E
"shattered image of a man or a god"
3

Which details from the text best support the idea that the narrator is cautious in this new setting? Select two options.

A
“They are falling apart into great blocks of stone, and the forest is safer going.”
B
“There was the great river below, like a giant in the sun. It is very long, very wide.”
C
“It could eat all the streams we know and still be thirsty. Its name is Ou-dis-sun, the Sacred, the Long.”
D
“Toward the setting of the eighth sun, I came to the banks of the great river.”
E
“No man of my tribe had seen it, not even my father, the priest. It was magic and I prayed.”
4

The way a story’s narrator and characters are presented and developed is called

A
perception.
B
social impact.
C
characterization.
D
physical setting.
5

Which statement from "By the Waters of Babylon” provides the best example of how the physical environment shapes the character’s actions?

A
“These are the rules and the laws; they are well made.”
B
“It was a dead man’s house, a spirit house.”
C
“Sometimes signs are sent by bad spirits.”
D
“I tried to guide my raft with the pole but it spun around.”
6

Which details in a story are most related to setting? Select three options.

A
plot
B
time
C
dialogue
D
location
E
motivation
F
atmosphere
7

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”After a time, I myself was allowed to go into the dead houses and search for metal. So I learned the ways of those houses—and if I saw bones, I was no longer afraid. The bones are light and old—sometimes they will fall into dust if you touch them. But that is a great sin.

A
He is pessimistic due to his experiences.
B
He gains knowledge through experience.
C
He always does what he is told.
D
He will always remain extremely timid.
8

Which details does the author include to describe the setting? Select two options.

A
“fasting, taking no food”
B
“signs sent by bad spirits”
C
“waited again on the flat rock”
D
“did not mind me or see me”
E
“the sun was beginning to sink”
9

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”Nevertheless, as I made the raft, the tears ran out of my eyes. The Forest People could have killed me without fight, if they had come upon 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. As I pushed the raft from the shore, I began my death song—I had the right. It was a fine song.

A
“The Forest People could have killed me without fight.”
B
“the tears ran out of my eyes”
C
“but they did not come”
D
“My heart was cold as a frog”
10

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”It is not true what some of the tales say, that the ground there burns forever, for I have been there. Here and there were the marks and stains of the Great Burning, on the ruins, that is true. But they were old marks and old stains. It is not true either, what some of our priests say, that it is an island covered with fogs and enchantments. It is not. It is a great Dead Place—greater than any Dead Place we know. Everywhere in it there are god-roads, though most are cracked and broken. Everywhere there are the ruins of the high towers of the gods.

A
He discovers that it is unwise to have an inquiring mind.
B
He learns that there is nothing supernatural to fear in the destroyed city.
C
He renounces everything he learned from the priests and his father.
D
He understands that the past has nothing of interest for people of the present.
11

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”Surely, that was enough to do, and live. Surely it was enough to spend the night upon the cliff. The Forest People themselves do not come near. Yet, all through the night, I knew that I should have to cross the river and walk in the places of the gods, although the gods ate me up. My magic did not help me at all and yet there was a fire in my bowels, a fire in my mind. 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. It is better to lose one's life than one's spirit, if one is a priest and the son of a priest.

A
“When the sun rose, I thought, ‘My journey has been clean.’”
B
“The Forest People themselves do not come near.”
C
“I could never be at peace with my spirit again.”
D
“My magic did not help me at all and yet there was a fire.”
12

What types of settings are typical of postapocalyptic fiction? Select two options.

A
a thriving city
B
a grocery store
C
a burned-out city
D
a high-tech factory
E
a destroyed bridge
13

Which term is a synonym for atmosphere?

A
tone
B
mood
C
action
D
conflict
14

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”All the same, when I came to the Place of the Gods, I was afraid, afraid. The current of the great river is very strong—it gripped my raft with its hands. That was magic, for the river itself is wide and calm. I could feel evil spirits about me, I was swept down the stream. Never have I been so much alone—I tried to think of my knowledge, but it was a squirrel's heap of winter nuts. There was no strength in my knowledge any more and I felt small and naked as a new-hatched bird—alone upon the great river, the servant of the gods.

A
The setting makes him lose hope.
B
The setting makes him envious.
C
The setting makes him feel angry.
D
The setting makes him gain confidence.
15

In "By the Waters of Babylon,” what conflicts does the setting present for the main character? Select three options.

A
youth versus maturity
B
the struggle between good and evil
C
the forces of nature versus the will of humans
D
a sense of fear versus a desire to grow
E
observance of society’s rules or one’s own ideas
16

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.

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.
17

Which details best reveal the setting of the passage? Select two options.

A
“It is a great Dead Place—greater than any Dead Place we know.”
B
“Everywhere there are the ruins of the high towers of the gods.”
C
“I went carefully, my strung bow in my hand, my skin ready for danger.”
D
“I looked after it, and thought if it had trod me under, at least I would be safely dead.”
E
“When I had dried my bowstring and re-strung it, I walked forward to the Place of the Gods.”
18

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”I have been in the Dead Places near us, with my father—at first, I was afraid. When my father went into the house to search for the metal, I stood by the door and my heart felt small and weak. It was a dead man's house, a spirit house. It did not have the smell of man, though there were old bones in a corner.

A
“It was a dead man's house, a spirit house.”
B
“I stood by the door and my heart felt small and weak.”
C
“I have been in the Dead Places near us, with my father.”
D
“It did not have the smell of man, though there were old bones in a corner.”

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