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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. The robot mice are said to live in "warrens." This means that they live in what?
(a) Networks of tunnels.
(b) Small boxes.
(c) Racks.
(d) Plastic sleeves.

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

3. To what story do the robot mice allude?
(a) Snow White.
(b) Beauty and the Beast.
(c) Little Red Riding Hood.
(d) Cinderella.

4. In the image of animals, the panther is said to be "cavorting." What is this panther doing?
(a) Playing.
(b) Hunting.
(c) Sleeping.
(d) Eating.

5. What is strange about how the nursery reacts to the fire?
(a) The nursery is the only room that does not turn on its sprinklers.
(b) The nursery deliberately opens its windows during the fire.
(c) The voice in the nursery walls begins singing an old children's song.
(d) The animal images seem to be aware of the fire.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the breakfast stove make for breakfast?

2. What does the dog do once it gets inside the house?

3. The line "And swallows circling with their shimmering sound" is an example of which technique?

4. To what famous dog is this dog an allusion?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what evidence there is that the house deliberately causes the dog's death.

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

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. How does Bradbury use the dates on which the story takes place as a form of foreshadowing?

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

6. Explain the significance of the nursery decor.

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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