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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. What is the probable purpose of emphasizing the roundness of the smoke plume and the great quantity of smoke?
(a) It reinforces the "technology versus nature" motif.
(b) It points out how little chance the house really had.
(c) It reminds the reader of a nuclear explosion.
(d) There is an implied comparison to a woman's skirts.

2. Which is the best summary of how the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains" compares to the short story of the same name?
(a) The poem is a darker version of the same ideas contained in the short story.
(b) The poem focuses more on the survival of a world without humans.
(c) The poem focuses more on the role of technology in humankind's demise.
(d) The poem is more hopeful about humankind's future.

3. Where are the "aluminium roaches and iron crickets"?
(a) In the garage.
(b) In the walls.
(c) In the yard.
(d) In the nursery.

4. What is the house compared to as it burns to the ground?
(a) A skeleton.
(b) A bomb.
(c) A cigar.
(d) A bonfire.

5. "Mr. Featherstone" is an example of what literary technique?
(a) Paradox.
(b) Epithet.
(c) Oxymoron.
(d) Kenning.

Short Answer Questions

1. What can be seen on the house's west wall?

2. In which city does the story take place?

3. What does the house do with the uneaten breakfast?

4. What is the name of the family that owned the house?

5. What effect is the constant repetition and rhyming of the voice-clock probably meant to have?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 317 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample