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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 bombing of Hiroshima.
(b) The first testing of a nuclear bomb.
(c) The beginning of World War II.
(d) The beginning of the Cold War.

2. Why does the house let the dog in?
(a) It is an accident.
(b) It wants the dog to find the family.
(c) It recognizes the dog.
(d) It is programmed to let in any dog or cat.

3. Who is Baal?
(a) An Egyptian pharaoh.
(b) A pre-Christian god.
(c) A Mesopotamian warrior.
(d) The dog that guards hell in Greek mythology.

4. What does Bradbury compare to Baal?
(a) The incinerator.
(b) The house.
(c) The dog.
(d) The stove.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What causes the fire to eventually win the battle with the house?

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

3. In which city does the story take place?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

7. 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.

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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