There Will Come Soft Rains
Pre-reading questions:
How old will you be in August 2026? __________________________________
What are some electronics you have at your house that help you get ready for school every day?
What does chronological order mean? _______________________________________________
Literary elements for this story- define each in your own words
Personification:
Simile:
Setting:
Irony:
Quotes from the story: Predict what you think the story will be about and explain why the quote
made you think a certain way:
“The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes. The one house standing. At night the ruined
city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.”
“Out of the warrens in the walls tiny robot mice darted. The rooms were acrawl with the small
cleaning animals, all rubber and metal.”
“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.”
Background: What do you know about the immediate and long-term effects of a nuclear
explosion?
“Time keeps on slippin’ slippin’ slippin’ into the future-I want to fly like an eagle to the sea, fly
like an eagle that lets my spirit carry me…” -Steve Miller Band
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time
Event and how the house reacts or is effected
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1. What details in the story let us know that the setting is in the future?
2. Re-read the poem from the story. Summarize what the poem means in a few sentences.
Also, what is ironic about it being read?
3. The house is very human-like: But what qualities is the house missing?
4. What is so unusual about the nursery?
5. Where did the family go? How does the house fall apart?