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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. During the fire, what does Bradbury compare the house's dialogue to?
(a) The poem "There Will Come Soft Rains."
(b) The epilogue of a play.
(c) A person's last words.
(d) A nursery rhyme.

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

3. What can be seen on the house's west wall?
(a) Broken glass.
(b) A huge crater.
(c) Water beginning to seep in at the foundation.
(d) The silhouettes of the family.

4. What is thematically important about the cause of the fire in the kitchen?
(a) The fire is started when one of the cleaning mice knocks over a cleaning product.
(b) The fire is started when the natural world intrudes into the house.
(c) The fire is started by the family dog.
(d) The fire is started when the house's elaborate machinery begins to break down.

5. Which room recreates the sights, sounds, and smells of the African savanna?
(a) The living room.
(b) The kitchen.
(c) The nursery.
(d) The bathroom.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do the robot mice come out when they do?

2. 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?

3. What does Bradbury say that the house is angry about when the dog shows up?

4. Who is the author of the poem that the house reads after dinner?

5. In the image of animals, the panther is said to be "cavorting." What is this panther doing?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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.

2. What is ironic about Bradbury's use of rain in this story?

3. How do the cleaning mice allude to Cinderella, and what is the purpose of this allusion?

4. What are the poses of the people in their silhouettes on the side of the house, and why are they important to notice?

5. Explain what is ironic about the rain in the nursery scenery.

6. What is suggested by the fact that the house repeats the date "three times for memory's sake"?

7. Explain the allusion to Odysseus's dog and how it functions in the story.

8. What is the likely purpose of including mechanical creatures such as rats and roaches?

9. What is the intended effect of juxtaposing the images of the silhouettes with the description of the house's continued paranoia about intruders?

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

(see the answer keys)

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