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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. Who is the author of the poem that the house reads after dinner?

2. "Seven-nine, breakfast time" is an example of which rhyming technique?

3. In which city does the story take place?

4. What is the image of the west wall meant to allude to?

5. Why do the robot mice come out when they do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ironic about Bradbury's use of rain in this story?

2. What is the purpose of ending the story with the house fire? Why not just end it with the reading of the Teasdale poem?

3. What is the intended effect of juxtaposing the images of the silhouettes with the description of the house's continued paranoia about intruders?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 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

In Bradbury's time, nuclear war seemed like the most serious threat to humanity's future. What seems like the most serious threat today? Choose a threat to defend as the most serious, and defend your choice with researched evidence.

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