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1. In what way is the house's "speech" like nursery rhymes, and what is the purpose of this choice?

The house's speech is like nursery rhymes in that it uses simple words, repetition, and rhyme. This has a number of effects on the reader: it is ironically humorous, it underscores the limits of technology, and it reminds the reader that the function of the house is to pamper the family, like children.

2. Explain how the pun in the line "The morning house lay empty" explains why the house is empty and foreshadows the story's later revelation of the family's fate.

The sentence "The morning house lay empty" has a double meaning. Its literal meaning is that it is morning and the house is empty. But there is a pun contained in the word "morning," because it can be read as "mourning," meaning to grieve. This is a clue that the house is empty because, as we will later find out, the family is dead.

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