AnswersEnglish 10B Blended 2026 Summer Jones-Adzaho"By the Waters of Babylon," Part 2: Analyzing Theme

"By the Waters of Babylon," Part 2: Analyzing Theme — Unit test Answers

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Which motivators are examples of extrinsic motivation? Select three options.receiving good gradespaying discount priceshaving a fear of spidersfalling in lovegetting a reward

A
receiving good grades
B
paying discount prices
C
having a fear of spiders
D
falling in love
E
getting a reward
2
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Read the stanza from "Sonnet in Primary Colors” by Rita Dove.Each night she lay down in pain and roseto the celluloid butterflies of her Beloved Dead,Lenin and Marx and Stalin arrayed at the footstead.And rose to her easel, the hundred dogs pantinglike children along the graveled walks of the garden, Diego’slove a skull in the circular windowof the thumbprint searing her immutable brow.

A
It describes the reason for Frida’s pain and suffering.
B
It indicates that the love Frida once felt has died.
C
It shows that Frida continues to think of politics.
D
It suggests that Frida prefers to be around nature.
3

Which excerpts from "Two Kinds” show a connection between conflict and culture? Select two options.“Three days after watching The Ed Sullivan Show, my mother told me what my schedule would be for piano lessons and piano practice.”“My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America.”“‘Why don't you like me the way I am? I'm not a genius! I can't play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn't go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!’ I cried.”“My mother slapped me. ‘Who ask you be genius?’ she shouted. ‘Only ask you be your best. For you sake. You think I want you to be genius? Hnnh! What for! Who ask you!’”“The instructor of the beauty training school had to lop off these soggy clumps to make my hair even again.”

A
“Three days after watching The Ed Sullivan Show, my mother told me what my schedule would be for piano lessons and piano practice.”
B
“My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America.”
C
“‘Why don't you like me the way I am? I'm not a genius! I can't play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn't go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!’ I cried.”
D
“My mother slapped me. ‘Who ask you be genius?’ she shouted. ‘Only ask you be your best. For you sake. You think I want you to be genius? Hnnh! What for! Who ask you!’”
E
“The instructor of the beauty training school had to lop off these soggy clumps to make my hair even again.”
4

How does the narrator’s knowledge of his postapocalyptic world in "By the Waters of Babylon” affect his reactions to the different settings?

A
It motivates him to make up stories about the world and the places he explores.
B
It has caused him to fear the settings outside the hill country, so he tries to avoid them.
C
It forces him to reject what he sees and experiences himself at various locations in the story.
D
It makes him cautious about new settings yet open-minded and critical of what he experiences.
5

Read the passage from "Two Kinds.”She walked over and stood in front of the TV. I saw her chest was heaving up and down in an angry way."No!” I said, and I now felt stronger, as if my true self had finally emerged. So this was what had been inside me all along."No! I won’t!” I screamed.She yanked me by the arm, pulled me off the floor, snapped off the TV. She was frighteningly strong, half pulling, half carrying me toward the piano as I kicked the throw rugs under my feet. She lifted me up and onto the hard bench. I was sobbing by now, looking at her bitterly. Her chest was heaving even more and her mouth was open, smiling crazily as if she were pleased I was crying."You want me to be something that I’m not!” I sobbed. "I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!”"Only two kinds of daughters,” she shouted in Chinese. "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”

A
She is extrinsically motivated by fear of having wasted money on a piano that no one plays.
B
She is extrinsically motivated by her anger over her daughter’s television-viewing practices.
C
She is intrinsically motivated by her love of piano music to get her daughter to practice playing.
D
She is intrinsically motivated by her belief that children should obey their parents.
6

Read the passage from "Two Kinds.”In spite of these warning signs, I wasn't worried. Our family had no piano and we couldn't afford to buy one, let alone reams of sheet music and piano lessons. So I could be generous in my comments when my mother bad-mouthed the little girl on TV."Play note right, but doesn't sound good! No singing sound," complained my mother."What are you picking on her for?" I said carelessly. "She's pretty good. Maybe she's not the best, but she's trying hard." I knew almost immediately I would be sorry I said that."Just like you," she said. "Not the best. Because you not trying." She gave a little huff as she let go of the sound dial and sat down on the sofa.The little Chinese girl sat down also to play an encore of "Anitra's Dance" by Grieg. I remember the song, because later on I had to learn how to play it.

A
an internal conflict within the mother, who wishes she could buy more things for her family
B
an internal conflict within the narrator, who wants to perform better than the little girl on the talent show
C
an external conflict between the narrator and her mother over whether the girl on television is playing well
D
an external conflict between the narrator, who wants to play piano, and her mother, who cannot afford to buy one
7

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”When I was very near, my raft struck and turned over. I can swim in our lakes—I swam to the shore. There was a great spike of rusted metal sticking out into the river—I hauled myself up upon it and sat there, panting. I had saved my bow and two arrows and the knife I found in the Dead Place but that was all. My raft went whirling downstream toward the Bitter Water. I looked after it, and thought if it had trod me under, at least I would be safely dead. Nevertheless, when I had dried my bowstring and re-strung it, I walked forward to the Place of the Gods.

A
a welcoming atmosphere
B
a horrific atmosphere
C
a religious atmosphere
D
a threatening atmosphere
8

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”My father is a priest; I am the son of a priest. 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. But it is not fitting that a priest's son should show fear. I looked at the bones in the shadow and kept my voice still.

A
By describing the details of a spirit house, he reveals why he gives in to his fear.
B
Because he is not able to show fear, he wishes that he were not a priest’s son.
C
Due to his upbringing, we see that he is prepared for whatever the future holds.
D
In describing his past, he shows that he will live up to his father’s expectations.
9

Read the poem "Sonnet in Primary Colors” by Rita Dove.

A
It contains exactly 14 lines.
B
It has no set rhyme pattern.
C
It has a pattern of repeating lines.
D
It has a set number of syllables per line.
10

Read the line from Rita Dove’s poem "Sonnet in Primary Colors,” then study Frida Kahlo’s painting Self-Portrait with Monkey and Parrot.the thumbprint searing her immutable brow.

Question illustration
A
It suggests that the portrait is about anger.
B
It suggests that the painting is as bold and resilient as Kahlo was.
C
It suggests that Kahlo’s self-portrait reveals weakness.
D
It suggests that Kahlo had finally mastered painting self-portraits.
11

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”Nevertheless, it was strange. There was a washing-place but no water—perhaps the gods washed in air. There was a cooking-place but no wood, and though there was a machine to cook food, there was no place to put fire in it. Nor were there candles or lamps—there were things that looked like lamps but they had neither oil nor wick. All these things were magic, but I touched them and lived—the magic had gone out of them. Let me tell one thing to show. In the washing-place, a thing said "Hot" but it was not hot to the touch—another thing said "Cold" but it was not cold. This must have been a strong magic but the magic was gone. I do not understand—they had ways—I wish that I knew.

A
character vs. character, because his father’s words cause him to question his actions
B
character vs. nature, because he must battle the elements of weather
C
character vs. self, because he is struggling to understand how the gods lived
D
character vs. society, because he must battle against the teachings of the gods
12

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
“no smell of man left, on stone or metal”
B
“god-roads, green-eyed, unafraid of man”
C
“but them I did not meet till later”
D
“magical numbers or words”
13

Which text evidence from the passage supports the theme that even nonliving things contain a life force? Select two options.

A
“It was close and dry and dusty in the house of the gods.”
B
“I have said the magic was gone but that is not true—it had gone from the magic things but it had not gone from the place.”
C
“I felt the spirits about me, weighing upon me.”
D
“Nor had I ever slept in a Dead Place before—and yet, tonight, I must sleep there.”
E
“When I thought of it, my tongue felt dry in my throat, in spite of my wish for knowledge.”
F
“Almost I would have gone down again and faced the dogs, but I did not.”
15

Poetry that does not follow a specific form and does not have a set rhyme pattern is known as

A
a haiku.
B
a villanelle.
C
free verse.
D
an Elizabethan sonnet.

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