"By the Waters of Babylon" Final Test

In "By the Waters of Babylon" how is John's society different from the one that came before it?

• There is no warfare.
• People eat only plants.
• Technology is more advanced.
• People believe in magic, spirits, and demons.

The Hill People differ from the Forest People in all of the following ways except _______ .

• A. the Hill women spin wool on the wheel
• B. the Hill priests wear white robes
• C. the Hill people read the old writings
• D. the Hill people eat grubs from the trees

John differs from his brothers because _______.

• A. he is punished more strictly
• B. he is the son of a priest
• C. he is a good hunter
• D. they died holding the piece of meta

In the short story, why does John go to the Place of the Gods?

• to find metal.
• to anger his father
• to try to gain knowledge
• to become more powerful

What do John’s references to gods and magic in “By the Waters of Babylon” most clearly suggest?

• John is young and lacks experience (naïve)
• The Great Burning was a recent event
• The People of the Hills are social outcasts

In “By the Waters of Babylon,” what does John finally realize about the gods?

• They used magic to cook and wash
• They did not know how to read
• They were human beings
• They still lived in the city.

What does the following sentence from “By the Waters of Babylon” suggest about the culture of the story?...............A priest must know many secrets—that was what my father said. If the hunters think we do all things by chants and spells, they may believe so—it does not hurt them.

• The priests are more educated and powerful than the hunters are.
• Only men can become priests and learn their secrets
• The hunters know far more than the priests do.
• The hunters worship the priests as gods.

Part A: After which of these events does “By the Waters of Babylon” most likely take place?

• a violent bank robbery
• a deadly tornado
• a destructive war
• a great flood

Part B: Which of these passages from “By the Waters of Babylon” best supports the answer to Part A?

• 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.
• Yet, after a while, my eyes were opened and 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.
• I do not know the customs of rivers—we are the People of the Hills. I tried to guide my raft with the pole but it spun around, I thought the river meant to take me past the Place of the Gods and out into the Bitter Water of the legends.
• I was in a long small chamber—on one side of it was a bronze door that could not be opened, for it had no handle. Perhaps there was a magic word to open it, but I did not have the word. I turned to the door in the opposite side of the wall. The lock of it was broken and I opened it and went in.

In “By the Waters of Babylon,” John sees the city “as it had been when the gods were alive.” What is he seeing?

• the city’s future
• a terrifying nightmare
• a view of another planet
• New York City in the past