THE PEDESTRIAN
BY
RAY BRADBURY
Name__________________________
Period _______
Journal: What do you think life will be like in 2053? What will people wear, drive, and do for
fun? What new technology will exist? Think about the inventions that have come
about in your lifetime – iPods, email, DV-R, DVD’s and many more. What new
inventions will be around in 2053?
Use the following web to write words, items, images or anything else that you
associate with the word “Pedestrian.” Write a different thought or term in each oval
until each one if full.
Pedestrian
Write a paragraph using the following words. Your paragraph should have at least five
sentences and should make sense as a unit.
Manifest
Intermittent
Ebbing
Antiseptic
Regressive
You can find the definitions on pg. 46
Your paragraph is due on ____________
Setting – “The Pedestrian” p.46
1. What is the setting of the story? (year, type of community, etc)
2. What do you think is causing the “firefly light” – “flickers” – “phantoms … manifested upon
inner room walls”?
3. Who/What used to bother Mr. Mead at night before he switched to wearing sneakers?
4. What does he “whisper to every house”?
5. Through all of his years of walking, what had he never encountered?
6. What is the “lone car … flashed a fierce white cone of light”?
7. What/who is the “metallic voice”?
8. What were the first five questions that Mr. Mead was asked?
9. Why isn’t writing considered a profession in his society?
10. Where was Mr. Mead taken?
In “The Pedestrian,” the setting is very important, and Bradbury uses detailed descriptions to create
the world Mead lives in. You are going to comb through the story and record all the specific details
about the setting you can find. Record the specific, detailed description, what is being described
and the page number.
Page
Descriptor
 What patterns do you notice?
Description
…Simply a way to think about the four main things that all writers have to consider:
Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? Are you Abraham Lincoln? A warrior? A
homeless person? An auto mechanic? The endangered snail darter?
Audience: To whom are you writing? Is your audience the American people? A friend? Your
teacher? Readers of a newspaper? A local bank?
Format: What form will the writing take? Is it a letter? A classified ad? A speech? A poem?
Topic: What's the subject or the point of this piece? Is it to persuade a goddess to spare your life? To
plead for a re-test? To call for stricter regulations on logging?
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Role
Writer
Artist
Adventurer
Juror
Judge
Historian
Reporter/journalist
Therapist
Parent
Teen
Advertisemen
t Agency
President
Police
Officer
Paramedic
Any
character
from the
text
Your own
idea!
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Audience
self
peer group
government
parents
fictional
character(s)
committee
jury
judge
Any Character in
text
Your own idea!
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Format
journal /diary
editorial
brochure/booklet
interview
song lyrics
cartoon
critique
newspaper article
complaint
confession
eulogy/obituary
Advertisement
review
resume
TV script
will &
testament
yearbook
poetry
This RAFT paper is due _____________________________.
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Topic
The book overall
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A character’s choices
and consequences
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A conflict that has
come up in the
text
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Whether or not peers
should read this
text
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The most important
lesson the main
character(s) learns
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Regrets of characters
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A theme of the text
RAFT RUBRIC
Name__________________________
STORY:____________________________________AUTHOR: _____________________________
ROLE:___________ AUDIENCE:_______________ FORMAT:___________
TOPIC:_______________
YOUR OVERALL OPINION OF THE
STORY:_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Raft Rubric
Accuracy
Perspective
Focus
Development
5
3
1
0
Information, details in
RAFT always accurate and
properly reflects
information, ideas and
themes related to the
subject
The information you
provide in RAFT is
accurate but could
use more support
The information
you provide in you
RAFT has some
inaccuracies or
omissions
The information you
provide in your RAFT
is incomplete and/or
inaccurate
RAFT maintains clear,
consistent point of view,
tone and ideas relevant to
role played; ideas and
information always tied to
role and audience
RAFT stays on topic, never
drifts from required form or
type; details and
information are included
that are pertinent only to
developed purpose.
You explain how
your character would
feel about the
event(s)
You show little
insight into how
your character
would feel or act
during the event(s)
You do not accurately
develop your
characters thoughts or
reactions to the
event(s)
You spend most of
the RAFT discussing
issues on topic, but
occasionally stray
from the focus.
You spend some
time discussing
issues off topic
Most of your RAFT is
spent on issues that do
not directly deal with
the RAFT you choose
Writer answers questions
before reader answers;
there is specific evidence
and concrete language
Writer attempts to
develop ideas but
we’re starting to have
some questions… can
you tell us more?
Writer seems to try
to develop, but the
reader still has lots
of questions.
What are you talking
about, buddy?
Content ___/20points
Mechanics
Essay contains few to no
fragments, run-on
sentences; rare spelling
errors or mechanical
mistakes; writing is fluent
Grammar: ____/5 points
Essay contains
some fragments,
run-ons or other
errors; occasional
mechanical
mistakes; writing
generally clear
Essay contains
several sentence
errors, mechanical
mistakes that may
interfere with ideas,
clarity of ideas in
writing
Essay is marred
by numerous
errors,
mechanical
mistakes