Question

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.”

How shall I tell what I saw? The towers are not all broken—here and there one still stands, like a great tree in a forest, and the birds nest high. But the towers themselves look blind, for the gods are gone. I saw a fishhawk, catching fish in the river. I saw a little dance of white butterflies over a great heap of broken stones and columns. I went there and looked about me—there was a carved stone with cut—letters, broken in half. I can read letters but I could not understand these. They said UBTREAS. There was also the shattered image of a man or a god. It had been made of white stone and he wore his hair tied back like a woman's. His name was ASHING, as I read on the cracked half of a stone. I thought it wise to pray to ASHING, though I do not know that god.

Which details in the passage describe an atmosphere of desolation?

!!!!Select two options.!!!!!!

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

Answer 1

The two correct options are "but the towers themselves look blind" and "shattered image of a man or a god".

Step-by-step explanation: Desolation is described as a state of emptiness, loneliness, misery, or destruction. Describing that the towers "themselves look blind" suggests that the towers and the surrounding area looks gloomy and barren. The second option describes a shattered image, indicating destruction.

Answer 2

The correct answers are these two options: “but the towers themselves look blind” and “shattered image of a man or a god”. Taken from the short story “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benét (1937), the passage presented above narrates the moment when John, the son of a priest, visits the Place of the Gods. The Place of the Gods or The Dead Place was a great city that was destroyed by a great burning and it was said to be inhabited with spirits and demons since then. Since the passage describes this desolate place, the writer used a suspense tone in the narration. By definition, desolation is the state of a place that is completely empty or where everything has been destroyed. In this case, the two options “but the towers themselves look blind” and “shattered image of a man or a god” are the correct phrases that describe the details of a destroyed, desolate place which is the Place of the Gods.