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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 does Bradbury say that the house is angry about when the dog shows up?
2. Why does the house let the dog in?
3. What does the dog do once it gets inside the house?
4. What does the house provide after dinner?
5. What can be seen on the house's west wall?
Short Essay Questions
1. Explain the significance of the nursery decor.
2. Explain what is ironic about the rain in the nursery scenery.
3. How do the cleaning mice allude to Cinderella, and what is the purpose of this allusion?
4. What is the difference between the focus of Teasdale's poem and the focus of Bradbury's short story?
5. What is the intended effect of juxtaposing the images of the silhouettes with the description of the house's continued paranoia about intruders?
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. How does Bradbury use the dates on which the story takes place as a form of foreshadowing?
8. Explain the inclusion of the Sara Teasdale poem in this story.
9. What are the poses of the people in their silhouettes on the side of the house, and why are they important to notice?
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
Despite the comforts of the McClellan house, some of the details included evoke not comfort but something more sinister. Why are there mechanical rats and roaches in the house? Why is the fire extinguishing foam referred to as "snakes"? What does this imagery have to do with the simulated natural beauty of the nursery and the incinerator lurking in the basement shadows like "Baal"?
Essay Topic 2
The setting of the short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" is meant to be a middle-class home in a city near San Francisco, California. Most critics agree that Bradbury intended this to appeal to his audience as a sort of "universal" setting that would bring home to his audience that the devastating effects of nuclear war can happen very suddenly to anyone--not just soldiers, not just people in "other" countries. What is your opinion of this choice? Do you think that it accomplishes its intended purpose? Do you think that this purpose is worthwhile? Be sure to explain your reasoning.
Essay Topic 3
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?
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This section contains 1,208 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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