Ray Bradbury
Short Story Study
There Will Come Soft Rains
by Ray Bradbury
LITERARY FOCUS: SETTING AS CHARACTER
Usually setting is in the background of a story, while characters—
people and animals—take care of the action. But what if the setting
demands a bigger role? Or even a starring part? In some stories the
setting moves out of the background and becomes a character. For
example, in a story about a woman lost in the desert, the main conflict
could be between the person and the setting. The desert may seem to
act against the woman like a character—by pounding her with hot sun,
threatening her with rattlesnakes, and hiding water from her.
Read on to find out where and when “There Will Come Soft Rains” is
set. It’s a setting you probably won’t forget soon.
READING SKILLS: TEXT STRUCTURES (CHRONOLOGY)
in the order in which they occur. In other words, you learn what happens first, then you learn what happens next, and so on.
In “There Will Come Soft Rains,” the story that follows, the events are
told in chronological order. In fact, we learn what happens from one
hour to the next.
Literary Skills
Understand the
role of setting.
Reading Skills
Understand
chronological
order.
Vocabulary
Skills
Use context
clues.
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Most stories are told in chronological order—the events are presented
PREVIEW SELECTION VOCABULARY
Become familiar with these words before you read “There Will Come
Soft Rains.”
paranoia (par≈¥·n¿√¥) n.: mental disorder
tremulous (trem√yº·l¥s) adj.: trembling.
that causes people to feel unreasonable
The tremulous branches swayed in the night
breezes.
distrust and suspicion.
The house was so concerned with self-protection
that it almost seemed to suffer from paranoia.
oblivious (¥·bliv√≤·¥s) adj.: unaware.
The mechanical house was oblivious of events in
the world outside.
cavorting (k¥·vôrt√i«) v. used as adj.: leaping
about; frolicking.
sublime (s¥·bl¢m√) adj.: majestic; grand.
Images of panthers could be seen cavorting on
the walls of the nursery.
The sublime poetry was recited until the very end.
CLARIFYING WORD MEANINGS: WORDS IN CONTEXT
Context refers to the sentence or paragraph in which a word appears.
Context clues can help you figure out a word’s meaning. There are
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different kinds of context clues, including definitions, restatements,
examples, and contrasts. Here are some examples:
DEFINITION: Something that is automatic works by itself.
RESTATEMENT: His reflexes were automatic. He didn’t think before
acting.
EXAMPLE: Automatic machines have changed the way we live. Think,
for example, of the impact that furnaces, heart-lung machines, and
even answering machines have had on our lives.
CONTRAST: Unlike regular vacuum cleaners, automatic vacuum cleaners do not need to be pushed or pulled.
When you come across unfamiliar words in “There Will Come Soft
Rains,” look for context clues to help you figure out what those
words mean.
There Will Come Soft Rains
97
7:00
Pause at line 6. Why do you
think the house is empty?
In the living room the voice-clock sang,
Ticktock, seven o’clock, time to get up, time to get
up, seven o’clock! as if it were afraid that nobody would. The
morning house lay empty. The clock ticked on, repeating
and repeating its sounds into the emptiness. Seven-nine,
breakfast time, seven-nine!
In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh
and ejected from its warm interior eight pieces of perfectly
browned toast, eight eggs sunny side up, sixteen slices of
Circle the details in lines 1–16
that identify the setting—the
time and place of the story.
10
bacon, and two coffees.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury. Copyright 1950 by the Crowell-Collier Publishing Co.;
copyright renewed © 1977 by Ray Bradbury. Reproduced by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
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Tom Leonard.
Ray Bradbury
“Today is August 4, 2026,” said a second voice from
the kitchen ceiling, “in the city of Allendale, California.” It
repeated the date three times for memory’s sake. “Today is
Mr. Featherstone’s birthday. Today is the anniversary of
Tilita’s marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas,
and light bills.”
What happens—or doesn’t
happen—between 8:01 A.M.
and 9:15 A.M. that suggests
that all is not well with the
humans who own this house
(lines 19–32)?
Somewhere in the walls, relays clicked, memory tapes
glided under electric eyes.
8:01
Eight-one, tick-tock, eight-one o’clock, off to school,
off to work, run, run, eight-one! But no doors
20
slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber heels.
It was raining outside. The weather box on the front door
sang quietly: “Rain, rain, go away; rubbers, raincoats for
today . . .” And the rain tapped on the empty house, echoing.
Outside, the garage chimed and lifted its door to reveal
the waiting car. After a long wait the door swung down again.
At eight-thirty the eggs were shriveled and the toast
was like stone. An aluminum wedge scraped them into the
sink, where hot water whirled them down a metal throat
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30
which digested and flushed them away to the distant sea.
The dirty dishes were dropped into a hot washer and
emerged twinkling dry.
Nine-fifteen, sang the clock, time to clean.
Underline the details in lines
41–45 that tell you how this
house is different from the
other houses in the neighborhood. What seems to
have happened to the city?
Out of warrens1 in the wall, tiny robot mice darted.
The rooms were acrawl with the small cleaning animals, all
rubber and metal. They thudded against chairs, whirling
their moustached runners, kneading the rug nap, sucking
gently at hidden dust. Then, like mysterious invaders, they
popped into their burrows. Their pink electric eyes faded.
40
The house was clean.
10:00
Ten o’clock. The sun came out from behind the
rain. The house stood alone in a city of rubble
1. warrens n.: small, crowded spaces. The little holes in the ground in
which rabbits live are called warrens.
There Will Come Soft Rains
99
and ashes. This was the one house left standing. At night
the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be
seen for miles.
Write a number, from 1 to 5,
over the details describing
each of the five silhouettes
on the wall of the house.
What has caused the five silhouettes to be “burned on
wood” (lines 46–60)?
Ten-fifteen. The garden sprinklers whirled up in golden
founts, filling the soft morning air with scatterings of
brightness. The water pelted windowpanes, running down
the charred west side where the house had been burned
50
evenly free of its white paint. The entire west face of the
house was black, save for five places. Here the silhouette in
paint of a man mowing a lawn. Here, as in a photograph, a
woman bent to pick flowers. Still farther over, their images
burned on wood in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands
flung into the air; higher up, the image of a thrown ball,
and opposite him a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which
never came down.
Personification is a figure of
speech in which an object or
animal is spoken of as if it
has human qualities. Circle
the words and phrases in
lines 63–71 that portray the
house’s human qualities.
The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—remained. The rest was a thin charcoaled
60
layer.
The gentle sprinkler rain filled the garden with falling
Until this day, how well the house had kept its peace.
How carefully it had inquired, “Who goes there? What’s the
paranoia (par≈¥·n¿√¥) n.:
mental disorder that causes
people to feel unreasonable
distrust and suspicion.
password?” and, getting no answer from lonely foxes and
whining cats, it had shut up its windows and drawn shades
in an old-maidenly preoccupation with self-protection
which bordered on a mechanical paranoia.
Who are the gods who have
gone away (lines 73–75)?
It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow
70
brushed a window, the shade snapped up. The bird, startled, flew off! No, not even a bird must touch the house!
The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants,
big, small, servicing, attending, in choirs. But the gods had
gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly.
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light.
12:00
Twelve noon.
A dog whined, shivering, on the front porch.
The front door recognized the dog voice and opened.
The dog, once huge and fleshy, but now gone to bone and
80
covered with sores, moved in and through the house, tracking mud. Behind it whirred angry mice, angry at having to
Re-read lines 77–99. This
section is filled with images,
details that appeal to your
senses. Circle three images
that appeal to three different senses.
pick up mud, angry at inconvenience.
For not a leaf fragment blew under the door but what
the wall panels flipped open and the copper scrap rats
flashed swiftly out. The offending dust, hair, or paper,
seized in miniature steel jaws, was raced back to the bur-
Pause at line 107. Will the
house continue to go on
doing its work forever?
Tell what you think might
happen next.
rows. There, down tubes which fed into the cellar, it was
dropped into the sighing vent of an incinerator which sat
like evil Baal2 in a dark corner.
90
The dog ran upstairs, hysterically yelping to each door,
at last realizing, as the house realized, that only silence was
here.
It sniffed the air and scratched the kitchen door.
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Behind the door, the stove was making pancakes which
filled the house with a rich baked odor and the scent of
maple syrup.
The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffing,
its eyes turned to fire. It ran wildly in circles, biting at its tail,
spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for an hour.
100
2:00
Two o’clock, sang a voice.
Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments
of mice hummed out as softly as blown gray leaves in an
electrical wind.
Two-fifteen.
The dog was gone.
In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a
whirl of sparks leaped up the chimney.
2. Baal (b†√¥l): in the Bible, the god of Canaan, whom the Israelites came
to regard as a false god.
There Will Come Soft Rains
101
Two thirty-five.
Bridge tables sprouted from patio walls. Playing cards
The children’s nursery is
vividly described. Underline
the details in lines 118–132
that bring that setting to life.
110
fluttered onto pads in a shower of pips.3 Martinis manifested on an oaken bench with egg-salad sandwiches.
Music played.
But the tables were silent and the cards untouched.
At four o’clock the tables folded like great butterflies
cavorting (k¥·vôrt√i«) v.
used as adj.: leaping about;
frolicking.
back through the paneled walls.
Four-thirty.
The nursery walls glowed.
Animals took shape: yellow giraffes, blue lions, pink
Flip back through the story,
noting the times of day that
are called out. Why does
Bradbury include the exact
times of specific events? How
does knowing the exact time
increase the suspense?
antelopes, lilac panthers cavorting in crystal substance. The
120
walls were glass. They looked out upon color and fantasy.
Hidden films clocked through well-oiled sprockets,4 and the
walls lived. The nursery floor was woven to resemble a crisp
cereal5 meadow. Over this ran aluminum roaches and iron
crickets, and in the hot, still air butterflies of delicate red
tissue wavered among the sharp aromas of animal spoors!6
There was the sound like a great matted yellow hive of bees
And there was the patter of okapi7 feet and the murmur of a
fresh jungle rain, like other hoofs, falling upon the summer-
130
starched grass. Now the walls dissolved into distances of
parched weed, mile on mile, and warm endless sky. The
animals drew away into thorn brakes8 and water holes.
It was the children’s hour.
5:00
Five o’clock. The bath filled with clear hot water.
3. pips n.: figures on cards.
4. sprockets n.: wheels with points designed to fit into the holes along
the edges of a filmstrip.
5. cereal n. used as adj.: of grasses that produce grain.
6. spoors n.: animal tracks or droppings.
7. okapi (£·kä√p≤) n.: African animal related to the giraffe but with
a much shorter neck.
8. thorn brakes: clumps of thorns; thickets.
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within a dark bellows, the lazy bumble of a purring lion.
Six, seven, eight o’clock. The dinner dishes manipulated
like magic tricks, and in the study a click. In the metal stand
opposite the hearth where a fire now blazed up warmly, a
cigar popped out, half an inch of soft gray ash on it, smok-
Retell in two or three sentences what is happening in
the poem (lines 149–160).
ing, waiting.
140
Nine o’clock. The beds warmed their hidden circuits,
for nights were cool here.
Nine-five. A voice spoke from the study ceiling:
“Mrs. McClellan, which poem would you like this
evening?”
The house was silent.
The voice said at last, “Since you express no preference,
I shall select a poem at random.” Quiet music rose to back
the voice. “Sara Teasdale. As I recall, your favorite. . . .
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
150
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
How is nature in the poem
like nature in this story?
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn
160
Would scarcely know that we were gone.”
tremulous (trem√yº·l¥s) adj.:
trembling. Tremulous also
means “fearful” or “timid.”
There Will Come Soft Rains
103
Tom Leonard.
Pause at line 165, and tell
how you think the house
might “die.”
The fire burned on the stone hearth, and the cigar fell
away into a mound of quiet ash on its tray. The empty
chairs faced each other between the silent walls, and the
music played.
10:00
The wind blew. A falling tree bough crashed
through the kitchen window. Cleaning solvent,9 bottled,
shattered over the stove. The room was ablaze in an instant!
“Fire!” screamed a voice. The house lights flashed,
170
water pumps shot water from the ceilings. But the solvent
spread on the linoleum, licking, eating, under the kitchen
door, while the voices took it up in chorus: “Fire, fire, fire!”
The house tried to save itself. Doors sprang tightly
shut, but the windows were broken by the heat and the
wind blew and sucked upon the fire.
The house gave ground as the fire in ten billion angry
sparks moved with flaming ease from room to room and
then up the stairs. While scurrying water rats squeaked
9. solvent n.: something that can dissolve something else (here, something that dissolves dirt). Solvent, dissolve, and solution have the same
Latin root, solvere, which means “to loosen.”
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A conflict has arisen in the
story. On one side of the
conflict is the house and all
the scientific progress and
advanced machinery it stands
for. Whom or what is the
house battling?
At ten o’clock the house began to die.
from the walls, pistoled their water, and ran for more. And
180
the wall sprays let down showers of mechanical rain.
Notes
But too late. Somewhere, sighing, a pump shrugged to
a stop. The quenching rain ceased. The reserve water supply
which had filled baths and washed dishes for many quiet
days was gone.
The fire crackled up the stairs. It fed upon Picassos and
Matisses10 in the upper halls, like delicacies, baking off the
oily flesh, tenderly crisping the canvases into black shavings.
Now the fire lay in beds, stood in windows, changed
the colors of drapes!
190
And then, reinforcements.
From attic trapdoors, blind robot faces peered down
with faucet mouths gushing green chemical.
The fire backed off, as even an elephant must at the
sight of a dead snake. Now there were twenty snakes whipping over the floor, killing the fire with a clear cold venom
of green froth.
But the fire was clever. It had sent flame outside the
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
house, up through the attic to the pumps there. An explosion! The attic brain which directed the pumps was shattered
200
into bronze shrapnel on the beams.
The fire rushed back into every closet and felt of the
clothes hung there.
The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared
skeleton cringing from the heat, its wire, its nerves revealed
Underline at least three
details in lines 185–202 that
personify the fire—that
make the fire seem human.
as if a surgeon had torn the skin off to let the red veins and
capillaries quiver in the scalded air. Help, help! Fire! Run,
run! Heat snapped mirrors like the first brittle winter ice.
And the voices wailed, Fire, fire, run, run, like a tragic nursery rhyme, a dozen voices, high, low, like children dying in
10. Picassos and Matisses: paintings by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), a
famous Spanish painter and sculptor who worked in France, and by
Henri Matisse (䉷„≤√ mß·t≤s√) (1869–1954), a famous French painter.
Read the boxed passage
aloud at least twice. Read for
basic meaning the first time
you read. Before you read the
passage aloud a second time,
mark the lines to show which
ones you will read loudly,
softly, quickly, or slowly.
There Will Come Soft Rains
105
210
a forest, alone, alone. And the voices fading as the wires
popped their sheathings11 like hot chestnuts. One, two,
oblivious (¥·bliv√≤·¥s) adj.:
unaware.
three, four, five voices died.
sublime (s¥·bl¢m√) adj.:
majestic; grand.
purple giraffes bounded off. The panthers ran in circles,
In the nursery the jungle burned. Blue lions roared,
changing color, and ten million animals, running before the
fire, vanished off toward a distant steaming river. . . .
Ten more voices died. In the last instant under the fire
Re-read lines 217–228. Why
are so many things happening at once in the house?
avalanche, other choruses, oblivious, could be heard
announcing the time, playing music, cutting the lawn by
220
remote-control mower, or setting an umbrella frantically out
and in, the slamming and opening front door, a thousand
things happening, like a clock shop when each clock strikes
the hour insanely before or after the other, a scene of maniac
confusion, yet unity; singing, screaming, a few last cleaning
mice darting bravely out to carry the horrid ashes away! And
one voice, with sublime disregard for the situation, read
poetry aloud in the fiery study, until all the film spools
burned, until all the wires withered and the circuits cracked.
230
ing out skirts of spark and smoke.
In the kitchen, an instant before the rain of fire and
timber, the stove could be seen making breakfasts at a
psychopathic12 rate, ten dozen eggs, six loaves of toast,
twenty dozen bacon strips, which, eaten by fire, started the
stove working again, hysterically hissing!
The crash. The attic smashing into kitchen and parlor.
The parlor into cellar, cellar into subcellar. Deep freeze,
armchair, film tapes, circuits, beds, and all like skeletons
thrown in a cluttered mound deep under.
Circle the details in lines
229–240 that describe the
final battle between the fire
and the house.
Smoke and silence. A great quantity of smoke.
240
11. sheathings n.: protective coverings.
12. psychopathic (s¢≈k£·pa‚√ik) adj.: insane.
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The fire burst the house and let it slam flat down, puff-
Dawn showed faintly in the east. Among the ruins, one
wall stood alone. Within the wall, a last voice said, over and
over again and again, even as the sun rose to shine upon
the heaped rubble and steam:
“Today is August 5, 2026, today is August 5, 2026,
Tom Leonard.
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
today is . . .”
What idea about scientific
advances is Bradbury warning us about? Tell whether or
not you agree with his message. Give reasons for your
opinion.
There Will Come Soft Rains
107
There Will Come Soft Rains
“What’s Really Going On?” Chart
In this story, Ray Bradbury describes
some hideous events. But as the reader, you have to keep asking yourself
the question “What’s really going on here?” It is not always clear what is
actually happening. For help following the story, use this time chart. Each
tinted row contains a time and a main story event that the writer tells us
happened at that time. Fill in each untinted box with what you think is
really happening at that time. The first one is done for you.
Reading Skills
Analyze
chronological
order.
Summary of Main Events
What’s Really Going On?
7:00 A clock announces the time. A stove fixes breakfast automatically.
It seems as if the house has been abandoned by people, but it’s still operating as if
it’s alive.
8:01 Garage door opens, but no one comes out. House is cleaned by robot mice.
House is the only one in the city. Rest of city is in ashes and glows as if from
12:00 A starving dog walks into the house and searches for people. Dog dies in house.
2:00 Bridge tables pop out from the walls. Nursery walls seem to come alive.
Bath fills with water, and dinner dishes are washed. The house prepares
5:00 for bedtime.
10:00 House catches fire. Robots try to put out fire. The house burns down.
108
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10:00 radiation. Images of people are on the wall of the house.
Skills Review
There Will Come Soft Rains
VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION
A. Clarifying Meanings: Words in Context Fill in the blanks with
Word Bank
the correct Word Bank words. Then, underline the context clues.
paranoia
1. The
music filled our hearts with its greatness.
2. People suffering from
tend to look at people
cavorting
tremulous
oblivious
with suspicion and distrust.
sublime
3. We could see the children jumping around the playground,
with their friends.
4.
, the scared little dog hid behind a chair.
5. The smiling, calm mother seemed
to the
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chaos around her.
B. Reading Comprehension Answer each question below.
1. When and where does this story take place?
2. What details tell you the city has been destroyed?
3. What happens to the dog?
4. At the end of the story, what happens to the house?
Vocabulary
Skills
Use context
clues.
There Will Come Soft Rains
109
Name:
Period:
Analysis of There Will Come Soft Rains
By Ray Bradbury
Theme: An idea that the author is trying to express to the reader about life
or human nature. It is the underlying MEANING or MESSAGE behind a whole
story.
1. What is the theme of Teasdale’s poem?
2. Which lines from the poem convey her main idea?
3. What is Bradbury’s overall opinion of technology? How is it portrayed in the story?
4. How does the poem connect to Bradbury’s overall message?
5. What is the theme of Bradbury’s story? Find a quote that supports your opinion.
TEACHER GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM DISCUSSIONS
•
DISCUSS TECHNOLOGY
o Smart Devices: their purpose is to make our lives easier and better
§ Smart phones, smart security systems, smart lighting, smart appliances,
smart TVs, smart speakers, smart cameras, smart thermostats, smart
cookware, smart vacuums, smart home and business automation, and smart
cars
o Alexa/Siri/Google Home: our current means of communicating orally with
technology
§ If you are unfamiliar with these technologies, there are numerous videos
on YouTube that demonstrate Alexa, Siri, and Google home, as well as fully
automated homes and apartments.
o Student use of:
§ Education
§ Social Media
§ Games
§ Other?
•
DISCUSS “BIG IDEA” QUESTIONS:
o A world without people - could it happen? Will it happen?
o If it does, will humans be the cause or will the demise of humanity come from
something else like a giant meteor crashing to Earth (hey, it happened to the
dinosaurs . . .)?
o Will technology help us or make things worse?
o What will happen to the world if there are no people to run it and control it?
o What does the future hold?
o What can humans do to ensure their survival?
•
LESSON WRAP UP DISCUSSION: Making Real Life Connections
o To recent/current events
§ The Fukushima Disaster (2011) – a nuclear disaster caused by Nature: an
Earthquake and Tsunami
§ The War on Terror – the world-wide fight to end terrorism
§ American/Russian Relations – could a new Cold War be starting?
§ Current Countries of concern with Nuclear Capabilities: North Korea, India,
China, Iran/Iraq – with more countries gaining access to nuclear weapons,
should we be afraid of a nuclear war?
o To the future – is there hope for humanity?
§ Assign this question as an essay for Homework, and have students share and
discuss their answers on the following day.
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BACKGROUND REFERENCE SHEET FOR THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS
•
•
Summary of WWI
o Who was at war?
§ Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire vs. Great Britain,
France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States
o What weapons were used?
§ Rifles, grenades, machine guns, aircraft, tanks, flamethrowers, chlorine and
mustard gas, artillery, and explosive aerial bombs
• WWI was the first war where aircraft, machine guns, tanks,
flamethrowers, and gas were used as weapons of war
o Where did the war take place?
§ Primarily Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, and a few colonies in Africa
o When was the war?
§ 1914-1918
o How did the war start/end?
§ WWI started when heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire Archduke Franz
Ferdinand and his wife were shot to death in Sarajevo, Bosnia on June 28,
1914 by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian Nationalist.
§ On November 4, 1918, Austria-Hungary, reached armistice because of an
increase in nationalist movements within its population. On November 11,
1918, a discouraged German reached armistice, which was the official end
of the war.
o Why did the war scare people?
§ How lethal the new weapons were
§ The number of people who died
Summary of WWII
o Who was at war?
§ Primarily The Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) vs. The Allied Powers (The
United States, The United Kingdom, The Soviet Union, China)
o What weapons were used?
§ Much more technologically advanced versions of the weapons used in WWI
plus the V-2 Rocket, anti-aircraft guns, and nuclear weapons (two atomic
bombs were dropped in Japan)
o Where did the war take place?
§ Europe, East Asia, the islands of the Pacific Ocean, and Alaska
o When was the war?
§ 1939-1945
o How did the war start/end?
§ The war started when Nazi Germany, under the leadership of Adolph Hitler,
invaded Poland and, when he refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France
declared war on Germany. Other countries then began to choose sides.
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The war ended after Hitler was defeated and died and after the United States
dropped two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. At this
point, the Axis powers surrendered to the Allies.
o Why did the war scare people?
§ The Nazis were responsible for the mass-murder holocaust of the Jews
(approximately 6 million were killed) and other peoples Adolph Hitler
believed were inferior.
§ The advanced technology of the weapons made it easier to kill more people.
§ The nuclear bombs brought complete and utter devastation.
The Invention of Nuclear Weapons
o What are nuclear weapons?
§ Extremely powerful bombs that can destroy entire cities and millions of
people in an instant.
o Why were they invented?
§ To destroy as many people as possible as quickly as possible
§ Fear – that the enemy had a similar weapon that they would be the first to
use
o Why are they so dangerous?
§ They can kill mass amounts of people and structures instantly
§ The radiation will make any survivors very sick, to the point where they will
die a slow death.
§ Radioactive material remains in the ground for many years making it unsafe
to live even near where the bomb exploded.
o Show students images of aftermath of Hiroshima bombing:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/hiroshima-aftermath-pictures#6
The Advent of Nuclear Power for Energy
o Pros – it is a clean form of energy that only produces steam
o Cons – it uses the same power as in nuclear bombs and any accident at a nuclear
power plant could be extremely dangerous and destructive (see: Chernobyl, 1986)
Summary of the Cold War
o Who was at war?
§ Primarily Russia and the United States
o What weapons were used?
§ Words – each side threatening to obliterate the other with nuclear weapons
o Where did the war take place?
§ Globally
o When was the war?
§ 1947-1991 with the peak of the war taking place from 1948-1953
o How did the war start/end?
§ The communism of Russia became a concern for Britain and The United
States, and their former alliance during WWI and WWII dissolved.
o Why did the war scare people?
§ Because people feared the next war would be a nuclear one involving many
nuclear weapons causing mass destruction across the world, and the
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potential end of mankind. People fully expected someone to set off the first
nuclear bomb, which led to many people building bomb shelters and many
schools practicing “duck and cover” drills.
The Chernobyl Disaster (1986)
o What happened?
§ During a safety test at the nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet
Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, there was a malfunction which led to a fire
and explosion, and the subsequent release of nuclear radiation.
o Why did it happen?
§ The reactor had design flaws.
o What made it a “disaster”?
§ Many people became sick and died from the radiation, mostly from cancer
and thyroid conditions
§ The surrounding area (plants and water) became contaminated by the
radiation, and many animals became poisoned - either causing them to get
sick and die, or resulting in mutations.
§ Many thousands of people had to be evacuated to avoid danger, but not
immediately because there was a delay in notifying people of what happened
§ Radioactive material from the accident traveled into much of Europe and
Russian, and as far north as Scotland and Finland
STORY VOCABULARY:
o Warrens
o Radioactive
o Silhouette
o Titanic
o Preoccupation
o Paranoia
o Regiments
o Spoors
o Bellows
o Okapi
o Tremulous
o Whims
o Shrapnel
o Sheathings
o Oblivious
o Sublime Disregard
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THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS
Story Analysis
LITERARY ELEMENTS
Identify the Following
CHARACTERS
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Protagonist
•
Antagonist
SETTING
PLOT
CONFLICT
POINT OF VIEW
THEME
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THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS
Story Analysis
LITERARY DEVICES
Provide at Least One Example from the Story
PERSONIFICATION
METAPHOR
SIMILE
IMAGERY
ALLUSION
SYMBOLISM
EPIGRAPH
ALLITERATION
HYPERBOLE
ONOMATOPOEIA
OXYMORON
REPETITION
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THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS
Story Analysis
COMPARE/CONTRAST
QUESTION
BRADBURY’S STORY
TEASDALE’S POEM
Which war
influenced the
author?
Is Nature depicted as
positive or negative?
What happened to
the humans?
What is the author’s
vision of the future?
What is the overall
mood/tone?
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THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS
Story Analysis
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think Bradbury used Teasdale’s poem in the story and for his title?
2. The story describes a few survivors of the war as “lonely foxes and whining cats” as well as birds. But,
the family dog, alive at first, dies. Why do you think the dog is not able to survive like the wild animals?
3. Rain is referred to often throughout the story (as well as in the titles). What is the significance of rain,
and why do you think so?
4. Note that the children’s nursery is an unrealistic depiction of Nature provided by technology. What
does this suggest about the children’s interactions with the Natural World outside?
5. Why is the house unable to defeat the fire?
6. Why do you think Teasdale thought the natural world would continue without humans?
7. How does Bradbury’s 1950 vision of future technology compare to the technology we have today?
8. Do you think technology will eventually help humans live forever or cause them to be destroyed? Why
do you think so?
9. Do you think technology is helpful or hurtful to the Natural World? Why do you think so?
10. In both the story and the poems, it seems that not only humans are destroyed, but also everything
humans created. Yet nature, it seems, lives on. What do you think will happen to the Earth if humans
become extinct? Why?
HOMEWORK ESSAY
Is there hope for humanity in the future? Using details from history, the story and poem, and other resources,
explain why you think yes or no.
Be prepared to share your answers in a class discussion tomorrow.
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