View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To what does the phrase "the children's hour" allude?
(a) A nursery rhyme.
(b) A poem by Teasdale.
(c) A fairy tale.
(d) A poem by Longfellow.

2. When the narrator tells readers that it seems like the voice-clock is worried that no one will get up, this is an example of what technique?
(a) Imagery.
(b) Metaphor.
(c) Foreshadowing.
(d) Flashback.

3. What does Bradbury compare the chemical fire-fighting foam to?
(a) Snakes.
(b) Elephants.
(c) Clouds.
(d) Seafoam.

4. Who does the story imply is still alive in the city?
(a) Some animals.
(b) A few scientists.
(c) No one.
(d) The wealthy.

5. 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) There is an implied comparison to a woman's skirts.
(c) It points out how little chance the house really had.
(d) It reminds the reader of a nuclear explosion.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which room recreates the sights, sounds, and smells of the African savanna?

2. In the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains," the plum trees are in "tremulous" white. Readers can infer that this refers to what?

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

4. What happens at ten-fifteen?

5. At one point, Bradbury says that the house has a "preoccupation" with self-protection. What must be true about the house?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Describe the image that ends the story and explain its significance.

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

6. 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.

7. Explain the purpose of the story's allusion to Longfellow's poem "The Children's Hour."

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,168 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample