Question

returning to the text

• return to the text as you respond to the following questions. cite text evidence to support your responses.
• write any additional questions you have about the text in your reader/writer notebook.

1. what is the organizational structure of the story? what effect does the structure of the text create on the story itself? provide evidence from the text to support your response.
2. in the lines, “in the living room, the voice - clock sang... as if it were afraid that nobody would,” what literary device is bradbury using? what effect does bradbury achieve by using this device?
3. what is ironic about the author’s description of the house as having a “mechanical paranoia”?
4. what is the significance of the repeated references to rain throughout the story?

Explanation:

1. To answer the first question, one would analyze the story's structure (e.g., chronological, flash - back, non - linear) and how it impacts the plot, character development, and theme. Evidence would be specific parts of the text that show the structure and its effects.
2. For the second question, the "voice - clock sang... as if it were afraid" is personification. Personification gives human qualities to non - human things. Bradbury uses it to create a sense of unease and to make the inanimate objects seem more alive in the empty house.
3. Regarding the third question, "mechanical paranoia" is ironic because paranoia is a human trait, and applying it to a mechanical house is unexpected. It also creates a contrast between the cold, mechanical nature of the house and the very human quality of paranoia.
4. The repeated references to rain in the story likely serve multiple purposes such as setting a mood (e.g., gloomy, melancholic), symbolizing something (e.g., the passage of time, the end of something), or contributing to the overall atmosphere of the story.

Answer:

1. Analyze the story's structure type and its impacts on plot, character, and theme using text evidence.
2. Personification; creates unease and makes inanimate objects seem alive.
3. Paranoia is a human trait applied to a mechanical house, creating an unexpected contrast.
4. Sets mood, may symbolize something, and contributes to the atmosphere.