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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. What historical event is alluded to with the date given in the beginning of the story?
(a) The first testing of a nuclear bomb.
(b) The bombing of Hiroshima.
(c) The beginning of the Cold War.
(d) The beginning of World War II.

2. What is unusual about the images of the African animals?
(a) Their shapes.
(b) Their faces.
(c) Their colors.
(d) Their sizes.

3. When the fire travels outside and up the sides of the house, it is described as what?
(a) Clever.
(b) Mischievous.
(c) Treacherous.
(d) Overwhelming.

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

5. What happens at ten-fifteen?
(a) The nursery walls come to life.
(b) A window breaks.
(c) The sprinklers begin watering the lawn.
(d) The house shuts itself down.

Short Answer Questions

1. When the windows break and the wind makes the fire grow and spread, which thematic motif is reinforced?

2. What does Bradbury compare the chemical fire-fighting foam to?

3. Why does the dog want to get into the kitchen so badly?

4. To what does Bradbury compare folding tables?

5. Which is the best descriptor of the mood of the scene in the study, where the poem is read and music plays as a cigar slowly burns down to ash?

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. Explain the inclusion of the Sara Teasdale poem in this story.

3. What is the purpose of ending the story with the house fire? Why not just end it with the reading of the Teasdale poem?

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. What is the difference between the focus of Teasdale's poem and the focus of Bradbury's short story?

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

7. The garbage disposal in the kitchen is referred to as a "metal throat." What techniques are at use here, and what is their purpose?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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