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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "There Will Come Soft Rains".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The line "And swallows circling with their shimmering sound" is an example of which technique?
(a) Parallelism.
(b) Metaphor.
(c) Personification.
(d) Alliteration.

2. What causes the house to temporarily "give up" as the fire spreads?
(a) The house is ready to "die."
(b) The house is waiting for the flames to reach the attic.
(c) There is no more water.
(d) It has begun to rain outside.

3. Who is the author of the poem that the house reads after dinner?
(a) Bradbury.
(b) Longfellow.
(c) Teasdale.
(d) Thomas.

4. What is the likely purpose of inserting the house's "dialogue" ("Help, help! Fire! Run, run!") into the scene that describes the fire consuming the house?
(a) It reinforces how helpless and pointless the technology is in the face of nature's power.
(b) It reminds the reader of the death of the family.
(c) It clarifies the order in which the house is burning, because the house can still "speak."
(d) It reminds the reader that the house is a living thing.

5. In the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains," the plum trees are in "tremulous" white. Readers can infer that this refers to what?
(a) Ash.
(b) Snow.
(c) Butterflies.
(d) Blossoms.

Short Answer Questions

1. From two thirty-five to four o'clock, what can readers infer that the family would ordinarily be doing?

2. To what does Bradbury compare folding tables?

3. In which city does the story take place?

4. What is the reaction of nature to the end of human existence in the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

5. What is unusual about the images of the African animals?

(see the answer key)

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