Question

Historic Context: John Rollin Ridge was a member of the Cherokee Nation and wrote in the mid-nineteenth century. Ridge was a lawyer and went West during the gold rush but didn't like mining, so he started spending more time writing novels, poetry, and essays. Yuba City boomed during the gold rush only to collapse after the miners moved on. During the Mexican-American War, Ridge spoke out against the way Mexicans were treated, and he carried that momentum into fighting for Native American rights after the war ended. He was regarded as the first Native American novelist.

Using your knowledge of historical context, which lines illustrate the desolation of Yuba City?

Though melancholy her decline, / By mem'ries sweet 't is haunted,
And luring tones and forms divine / Still make her scenes enchanted.
There, peace domestic reigns supreme, / In quiet, holy beauty,
And like the smiles of angels, seem / Parental, filial duty.

Answer 1

The lines that illustrate the desolation of Yuba City describe the barren and rocky landscape surrounding the city.

Step-by-step explanation:

The lines that illustrate the desolation of Yuba City are: 'All about him was ridgy roll of wind-smoothed, rain-washed rock. Not a tuft of grass or a bunch of sage colored the dull rust-yellow. He saw where, to the right, this uneven flow of stone ended in a blunt wall. Leftward, from the hollow that lay at his feet, mounted a gradual slow-swelling slope to a great height topped by leaning, cracked, and ruined crags.'