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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. What time of day is significant to the women in "Embroidery?"

2. The boy remembers his friend _____ who had died the previous summer.

3. What type of store does the couple open?

4. What is the surname of the protagonist's next door neighbor?

5. Where do the astronauts land in "The Long Rain?"

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the main issue with Mr. Harris, the protagonist in "Skeleton?"

2. The birth of a child is usually a joyous thing. What goes wrong with the Leiber baby in "The Small Assassin?"

3. In "The Last Night of the World" several people have the same dream. What is the dream and what is the combined reaction of the people?

4. Who presents a solution to Harris? What is the solution? Does Harris take the advice?

5. Describe the plot of the story "The Fog Horn."

6. What do the main characters in "The Next In Line" discover when they go to Mexico? What is their reaction?

7. In "There Will Come Soft Rains" a metropolitan area has been destroyed. What happened to the area? What is left behind?

8. Describe the main plot of "The Coffin."

9. "Hail and Farewell" tells the story of William, a twelve-year old boy who does not age. Discuss William's unique situation and his solution to the problem of where to live.

10. What is the problem with the new resident in "The Man Upstairs?" How is the problem resolved?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Bradbury tends to use the emotion of fear in many of his stories. Why? How does fear challenge a person? How does fear change the way a person acts and thinks? Do the aliens in the stories always play on a person's fear? Do people tend to make situations worse when they act through fear? Explain. Give specific examples from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Describe in detail the personification of aliens in the stories. Why does Bradbury feel it is important to give human (or non-human) qualities to the aliens? How are the aliens characterized and/or personified differently than the humans in the stories? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Children are routinely portrayed as innocents. Unfortunately, that also means that children in many of the stories are discounted or disbelieved, particularly if the stories they tell are fantastic. Some examples include "Homecoming," "The Screaming Woman," and "Black Ferris." Discuss Bradbury's use of children in his stories, why they are important, and how the characters add a new dimension to the other characters as well as the plots.

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