There Will Come Soft Rains

​Key Elements of a Literary Text

• Setting

• Plot

• Characterization

• Conflict

• Point of View

• Theme

• Tone

We must have a solid understanding of these foundational elements of fiction in order to understand how they add layers of meaning or style to the text.

Poll

How often do you use Alexa, Siri, or another technology to assist you?

• Never

• Sometimes

• Often

• Daily

Match

Match the following conflicts with their types.

• Man vs. Self

• Man vs. Nature

• Man vs. Society

• Man vs. Technology

• Man vs. Man

Internal conflict

Conflict with elements of nature

Fight over social issues

Dependence on technology

Conflict between individuals

• Internal conflict

• Conflict with elements of nature

• Fight over social issues

• Dependence on technology

• Conflict between individuals

Match

Match the following perspectives with their descriptions.

• First Person

• Second Person

• Third Person Limited

• Omniscient

Has a narrator "I, me, we"

Gives directions or instructions to you

Tells actions, not thoughts or feelings

All-knowing, tells many people's thought

• Has a narrator "I, me, we"

• Gives directions or instructions to you

• Tells actions, not thoughts or feelings

• All-knowing, tells many people's thought

Match

Match the following plot elements with their descriptions.

• Exposition

• Rising Action

• Climax

• Falling Action

• Resolution

Introduction of characters and setting

Development of the conflict

Turning point of the story

Consequences of the climax

Conclusion of the story

• Introduction of characters and setting

• Development of the conflict

• Turning point of the story

• Consequences of the climax

• Conclusion of the story

​There Will Come Soft Rains

​Please go to Actively Learn to read Ray Bradbury's 1950 short story. We will listen to an audio version of the text while we read. After, we will return to this Quizizz to answer some questions about the text. If there is time, we will watch a Soviet animation of the text.

Multiple Choice

How is the setting of “There Will Come Soft Rains” revealed to the reader?

• The date and location are burned into the side of the house.

• The house states the time, date, and location at the beginning of the story.

• There is never any indication of the setting.

• There is a newspaper on the kitchen table that shows the date and location

  of the story.

Multiple Choice

Where are the human beings in “There Will Come Soft Rains”?

• They are all at work or at school.

• They have all moved to a different city.

• They have all been destroyed by a nuclear war.

• They are all being held prisoner in the basement of the automated house.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following details helps you figure out what has happened to the owners of the house in “There Will Come Soft Rains”?

• Mrs. McClellan likes to listen to poetry in the evenings.

• The stove prepares a breakfast that goes uneaten.

• There are silhouettes of four people burned into the side of the house.

• The house carefully keeps itself clean and protects itself from harm.

Multiple Choice

What happens to the family’s dog in “There Will Come Soft Rains”?

• It dies of radiation sickness and starvation.

• It wandered away before the beginning of the story.

• The house takes care of it, but it becomes ill from loneliness and bad food.

• It is taken in by another family because the McClellans can no longer take care of it.

Multiple Choice

What was the last thing the McClellan children did before the story begins?

• They played a game of catch.

• They listened to poetry before bedtime.

• They watched the animal scenes in the nursery.

• They ate eggs, toast, and bacon prepared by the stove.

Multiple Choice

When does the story take place?

• January, 1950

• July, 2010

• August, 2026

• November, 1941

Multiple Choice

What causes the house to catch fire?

• Lightening

• An electrical shortage

• Food burning in the oven

• A tree branch through the window

Multiple Choice

How does Bradbury's description of the spreading fire suggest the limits of technology?

• Nature cannot go up against the power of technology.

• Technology will always be more powerful that nature.

• Nature will never be powerful enough to overcome the advancements of technology.

• As advanced as the house's protective features are, technology can't overcome the power of nature.

Multiple Choice

What do the poem and the short story have in common?

• The same person wrote both

• The theme that nature will always triumph over technology

• The idea that technology is superior to nature

• They were both written after World War 2