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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 has happened to the city around the house?
(a) It has been leveled by an earthquake.
(b) It has been flooded by a burst dam.
(c) It has been flooded by massive rains.
(d) It has been leveled by a bomb.

2. Bradbury mentions that martinis "manifested" on tables. What did the martinis do?
(a) Spilled.
(b) Evaporated.
(c) Appeared.
(d) Sparkled.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the house provide after dinner?

2. "The house tried to save itself" is an example of which technique?

3. "Mr. Featherstone" is an example of what literary technique?

4. What is the probable purpose of emphasizing the roundness of the smoke plume and the great quantity of smoke?

5. From two thirty-five to four o'clock, what can readers infer that the family would ordinarily be doing?

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Explain the significance of the nursery decor.

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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