Name and Num ber _________________________
Date ______________________________________
Language Arts: The Illustrated Man
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN by Ray Bradbury
“The Veldt”
Vocabulary
D EFIN E EACH W O RD . LO CATE IT IN TH E STO RY AN D IN D ICATE TH E PAG E N U M BER. W RITE TH E
PO RTIO N OF THE PASSAG E, QU O TE, OR SEN TEN CE W H ERE THE W O RD APPEARS.
Vocabulary
W ord
veldt
autom aticity
odorphonics
jaunt
bem used
em anations
intersperse
Page
N um ber
D efinition
Sentence From Story
SUMMARY FOR “THE VELDT”
W RITE A SU M M ARY OR PARAPH RASE FOR THIS SECTION OF THE N OVEL. YOU R SU M M ARY
SH O ULD IN CLU D E TH E SETTIN G , K EY CH ARACTERS, TH E CLIM AX, AN D RESO LU TIO N .
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GUIDED READING QUESTIONS FOR “THE VELDT”
READ EACH QUESTION / STATEMENT BELOW. CHOOSE TEN QUESTIONS TO ANSWER.
WRITE YOUR ANSWER IN COMPLETE SENTENCES OR NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN.
INCLUDE A QUOTED LINE OR PASSAGE FROM THE STORY TO SUPPORT YOUR POINT
WHERE INDICATED. ANSWER THE TEN QUESTIONS YOU CHOOSE ON A SEPARATE
SHEET OF PAPER AND ATTACH IT TO THIS PACKET.
1.
Who is the protagonist? Who is the antagonist?
2.
What is an allusion? Why does Bradbury use so many in this first short story? What is the first
allusion in “The Veldt? How is it significant to the plot?
3.
When George Hadley entered the nursery, what type of scene did he discover? Give a textual
example.
4.
How did his wife Lydia feel about the nursery? Give a textual example.
5.
When the father confronted the children about the African scene in the nursery, how did the
children respond? Did the parents believe them ?
6.
Describe the Hadley’s Happy-life Home. What are some of its features, what conveniences is it
designed to provide, and what is ironic about its name?
7.
Describe the nursery, both as a marketed ideal and as it is presented in the story. W hat was the feeling
the father and mother were getting from the intense scene depicted in the nursery when they entered?
At what point does it become a menacing place? Give textual exam ples.
8.
Describe the character of the Hadley’s as parents. What type of parents are they? What type of
children are Wendy and Peter?
9.
David McClean, the Hadleys’ psychologist friend warns that the nursery has taken over George and
Lydia’s role as parents. How might this have happened? Do you See parallels with today’s
electronic gadgets and toys?
10.
What does he suggest the father do about the nursery and the children? Give textual exam ples.
11.
If the nursery is a sym bol, what does it sym bolize? Consider the ordinary connotation or suggestion of
the word “nursery” in your response.
12.
What restrictions does the father impose on Wendy and Peter? Why might this cause hostility and
resentment toward the parents? What does this foreshadow.
13.
Explain the quote: “Where before they [the children] had a Santa Claus, now they have a scrooge“ (21).
14.
At one point, George Hadley comments that the nursery may not like being shut off. What are the
implications of this statement?
15.
State how the children reacted when the father “killed the nursery. Give textual support.
16.
Both George and Lydia feel uneasy about the technology in their home. Why, then, do they maintain it?
17.
Explain the quote: “We were, [dead] for a long while. Now we’re going to really start living” (23).
18.
George discovers two bloody items in the nursery. What are they, and how do they foreshadow his and
Lydia’s demise? What other foreshadowing clues does the veldt scene provide? How m ight Bradbury be
suggesting the virtual reality m echanism in the nursery operates?
19.
Explain the quote: “And suddenly they [parents] realized why those scream s had sounded so familiar.
What does Bradbury suggest about the actions of the children?
20.
What is the theme of “The Veldt?” How is this theme dramatized in the story?