By the Waters of Babylon Text-Dependent Questions (Set 1)
1. Based on the first three paragraphs, what can you infer about the relationship between the father and son?
Cite explicit textual evidence to support your ideas.
2. How does the first person point of view affect your impression of the narrator?
3. Cite explicit textual evidence to support your ideas.
4. Why does the narrator sing the death song? What important elements does it reveal about his character?
Cite explicit textual evidence to support your ideas.
5. In what ways is John a naïve narrator. Cite explicit textual evidence to support your ideas.
6. How do the narrator’s attitude and actions help to develop the theme of the story? Cite textual evidence to
support your analysis.
7. How has the mood of the narrator shifted at this point in the story? Cite textual evidence to support your
analysis.
8. The narrator uses a form of the verb “drawn” four times in seven lines. Discuss the meaning of this word in
context and make inferences as to why the narrator is emphasizing it. Cite explicit textual evidence to support
your inferences.
9. John’s dream is foreshadowed earlier in the story (Paragraph 9). What effect does this foreshadowing have
on the reader?
10. Why does John’s father dissuade his son from sharing the knowledge he has gained with the people? Cite
evidence from the text