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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does the garage do when no one drives the car away?

3. The line "And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn," contains an example of which technique?

4. What is the name of the poem that the house reads after dinner?

5. What is the job of the robot mice?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the meaning of the silhouettes on the side of the house?

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

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

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

5. Explain the significance of the nursery decor.

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose a piece of science fiction--a short story, novel, comic book, video game (that has a developed plot and characters), television show, etc. Think carefully about what messages this work is trying to send--not only about the future, but about the present. In two paragraphs, explain one message about the future and one message about the past, supporting your claims with textual details.

Essay Topic 2

Bradbury uses details in his story that create a portrait of a comfortable, middle-class family of the mid-twentieth century. Bridge, cigars, egg-salad, martinis, and surprisingly large breakfasts all help create this picture. Of course, these details are less relevant to today's audience. If you were rewriting "There Will Come Soft Rains" for today's audiences and wanted to include details that would immediately tell the reader "This is a middle-class family that likes its creature comforts," what details would you include, and why?

Essay Topic 3

Why, at the end of the story, does one voice calmly read poetry while around it the rest of the house is descending into chaos? What historic events might this allude to, and what effect does this detail have on a reader's understanding of the story?

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