English I At-Home Work Packet

Please complete the following readings and assignments during your time at home: 1. Write a 1-paragraph response (8 sentences) to “The Pedestrian” prompt at the beginning of your packet. Be sure to follow the 8-sentence paragraph model. 2. Read the short story “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury. 3. Complete the analysis questions that follow the story. 4. Complete the Objective Summaries Cold-Read Quiz (RL 9.2) that follows the questions. 5. Read “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury. 6. Complete the analysis questions that follow the story. 7. Complete the Analyze Setting activity-be sure to provide textual evidence for your answers. 8. Complete the Butterfly Effect Activity. 9. Write a 1-paragraph response to the Time Travel Activity (does not have to follow the 8-sentence model). **Only do the following if you are in Accelerated English I: 10. Complete Lesson 13 in your vocabulary book.

“The Pedestrian” Writing Prompt

In the world today, does technology provide major benefits to people, or does it cause more harm than good? (Must

choose ONE side)

**Be sure to follow the 8-sentence paragraph model**

1

“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury

Activities: Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation RL 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.5

1 What is it about the first sentence that captures your attention immediately?

2 Look at Bradbury’s use of imagery in lines 9-30. Comment on any three examples,

explaining the effect of each. In other words, what point was the author trying to get across through the use of imagery in each example?

a) “sending patterns of frosty air before him like the smoke of a cigar.”

b) “it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard.”

c) “sudden grey phantoms seemed to manifest upon inner room walls.”

d) “a window in a tomb-like building was still open.”

e) “Made the lungs blaze like a Christmas tree inside; you could feel the cold light going on

and off, all the branches filled with invisible snow.”

3 What kinds of T.V. programmes were popular in the author’s time? How do you know?

Provide textual evidence to back up your answer. 4 Identify AND explain the simile contained in lines 35-36.

5 Why does Meade speak to the houses (lines 40-42)?

6 How does the writer emphasise that Meade is alone (lines 46-47)?

7 Identify AND explain the author’s use of imagery in paragraph 10.

8 The author uses exclamation marks very often when the voice speaks. What does that tell

you about the tone used?

2

9 “He walked like a man suddenly drunk.” (line 125) What does this mean?

10 Comment on the writer’s use of repetition in lines 128-130. Why is this effective and what

does it show?

11 The car is taking Meade to ‘The Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies’

(line 135). What does that mean?

12 Explain the hopelessness of his situation.

English I Skills Practice: Providing Objective Summaries of a Text

(RL.9.2) Double Quiz Grade

• Summarize – to briefly retell the

main ideas of a piece of writing in one’s own words***

• Objective Summary – retells events without providing any emotional bias or personal opinions***

Directions: Read the following story and answer the questions that follow. “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury 1 To enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o'clock of a misty evening in November, to put your feet upon that buckling concrete walk, to step over grassy seams and make your way, hands in pockets, through the silences, that was what Mr. Leonard Mead most dearly loved to do. He would stand upon the corner of an intersection and peer down long moonlit avenues of sidewalk in four directions, deciding which way to go, but it really made no difference; he was alone in this world of A.D. 2053, or as good as alone, and with a final decision made, a path selected, he would stride off, sending patterns of frosty air before him like the smoke of a cigar. 2 Sometimes he would walk for hours and miles and return only at midnight to his house. And on his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows. Sudden gray phantoms seemed to manifest upon inner room walls where a curtain was still undrawn against the night, or there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomblike building was still open. 3 Mr. Leonard Mead would pause, cock his head, listen, look, and march on, his feet making no noise on the lumpy walk. For long ago he had wisely changed to sneakers when strolling at night, because the dogs in intermittent squads would parallel his journey with barkings if he wore hard heels, and lights might click on and faces appear and an entire

street be startled by the passing of a lone figure, himself, in the early November evening. 4 On this particular evening he began his journey in a westerly direction, toward the hidden sea. There was a good crystal frost in the air; it cut the nose and made the lungs blaze like a Christmas tree inside; you could feel the cold light going on and off, all the branches filled with invisible snow. He listened to the faint push of his soft shoes through autumn leaves with satisfaction, and whistled a cold quiet whistle between his teeth, occasionally picking up a leaf as he passed, examining its skeletal pattern in the infrequent lamplights as he went on, smelling its rusty smell. 5 "Hello, in there," he whispered to every house on every side as he moved. "What's up tonight on Channel 4, Channel 7, Channel 9? Where are the cowboys rushing, and do I see the United States Cavalry over the next hill to the rescue?" 6 The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in midcountry. If he closed his eyes and stood very still, frozen, he could imagine himself upon the center of a plain, a wintry, windless Arizona desert with no house in a thousand miles, and only dry river beds, the streets, for company. 7 "What is it now?" he asked the houses, noticing his wrist watch. "Eight-thirty P.M.? Time for a dozen assorted murders? A quiz? A revue? A comedian falling off the stage?" 8 Was that a murmur of laughter from within a moon-white house? He hesitated, but went on when nothing more happened. He stumbled over a particularly uneven section of sidewalk. The cement was vanishing under flowers and grass. In ten years of walking by night or day, for thousands of miles, he had never met another person walking, not once in all that time. 9 He came to a cloverleaf intersection which stood silent where two main highways crossed the town. During the day it was a thunderous surge of cars, the gas stations open, a great insect rustling and a ceaseless jockeying for position as the scarabbeetles, a faint incense puttering from their exhausts, skimmed homeward to the far directions. But now these highways, too, were like streams in a

dry season, all stone and bed and moon radiance. 10 He turned back on a side street, circling around toward his home. He was within a block of his destination when the lone car turned a corner quite suddenly and flashed a fierce white cone of light upon him. He stood entranced, not unlike a night moth, stunned by the illumination, and then drawn toward it. 11 A metallic voice called to him: 12 "Stand still. Stay where you are! Don't move!" 13 He halted. 14 "Put up your hands!" 15 "But-" he said. 16 "Your hands up! Or we'll Shoot!" 17 The police, of course, but what a rare, incredible thing; in a city of three million, there was only one police car left, wasn't that correct? Ever since a year ago, 2052, the election year, the force had been cut down from three cars to one. Crime was ebbing; there was no need now for the police, save for this one lone car wandering and wandering the empty streets. 18 "Your name?" said the police car in a metallic whisper. He couldn't see the men in it for the bright light in his eyes. 19 "Leonard Mead," he said. 20 "Speak up!" 21 "Leonard Mead!" 22 "Business or profession?" 23 "I guess you'd call me a writer." 24 "No profession," said the police car, as if talking to itself. The light held him fixed, like a museum specimen, needle thrust through chest. 25 "You might say that, " said Mr. Mead. He hadn't written in years. Magazines and books didn't sell any more. Everything went on in the tomblike houses at night now, he thought, continuing his fancy. The tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead, the gray or multicolored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them. 26 "No profession," said the phonograph voice, hissing. "What are you doing out?" 27 "Walking," said Leonard Mead. 28 "Walking!" 29 "Just walking," he said simply, but his face felt cold. 30 "Walking, just walking, walking?"

31 "Yes, sir." 32 "Walking where? For what?" 33 "Walking for air. Walking to see." 34 "Your address!" 35 "Eleven South Saint James Street." 36 "And there is air in your house, you have an air conditioner, Mr. Mead?" 37 "Yes." 38 "And you have a viewing screen in your house to see with?" 39 "No." 40 "No?" There was a crackling quiet that in itself was an accusation. 41 "Are you married, Mr. Mead?" 42 "No." 43 "Not married," said the police voice behind the fiery beam, The moon was high and clear among the stars and the houses were gray and silent. 44 "Nobody wanted me," said Leonard Mead with a smile. 45 "Don't speak unless you're spoken to!" 46 Leonard Mead waited in the cold night. 47 "Just walking, Mr. Mead?" 48 "Yes." 49 "But you haven't explained for what purpose." 50 "I explained; for air, and to see, and just to walk." 51 "Have you done this often?" 52 "Every night for years." The police car sat in the center of the street with its radio throat faintly humming. 53 "Well, Mr. Mead," it said. 54 "Is that all?" he asked politely. 55 "Yes," said the voice. "Here." There was a sigh, a pop. The back door of the police car sprang wide. "Get in." 56 "Wait a minute, I haven't done anything!" 57 "Get in." 58 "I protest!" 59 "Mr. Mead." 60 He walked like a man suddenly drunk. As he passed the front window of the car he looked in. As he had expected, there was no one in the front seat, no one in the car at all. 61 "Get in." 62 He put his hand to the door and peered into the back seat, which was a little cell, a little black jail with bars. It smelled of riveted steel. It smelled of harsh antiseptic; it smelled too

clean and hard and metallic. There was nothing soft there. 63 "Now if you had a wife to give you an alibi," said the iron voice. "But-" 64 "Where are you taking me?" 65 The car hesitated, or rather gave a faint whirring click, as if information, somewhere, was dropping card by punch-slotted card under electric eyes. "To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies." 66 He got in. The door shut with a soft thud. The police car rolled through the night avenues, flashing its dim lights ahead. 67 They passed one house on one street a moment later, one house in an entire city of houses that were dark, but this one particular house had all of its electric lights brightly lit, every window a loud yellow illumination, square and warm in the cool darkness. 68 "That's my house," said Leonard Mead. 69 No one answered him. 70 The car moved down the empty river-bed streets and off away, leaving the empty streets with the empty side-walks, and no sound and no motion all the rest of the chill November night.

1. Which of the following is an objective summary of Paragraph 1? a. Leonard Mead enjoys walking first

thing every morning up and down the streets of the city where he lives.

b. Leonard Mead has a personal hobby of walking the empty streets in the evening by himself.

c. Leonard Mead likes walking in different directions with no particular path in mind.

d. Leonard Mead finds enjoyment in standing on street corners and staying in one spot during the evenings.

2. Which of the following details would

NOT be included in an objective summary of Paragraph 1? a. The year is currently 2053 in this

story. b. The city is the worst place to walk. c. It is eight o’clock at night when

Leonard walks.

d. This story is taking place during November.

3. Which of the following details would

NOT be included in an objective summary of Paragraphs 4-6? a. Leonard is an unusual and strange

man who makes everyone uncomfortable.

b. Leonard is the only person outside on the streets tonight.

c. Leonard wonders aloud to himself what people are watching on their televisions.

d. Leonard picks up a leaf and looks closely at its structure and color.

4. Provide an objective summary of

Paragraphs 1-6. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

5. Provide an objective summary of

Paragraphs 18-40. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

6. Which of the following details would NOT be included in an objective summary of Paragraphs 60-70? a. Leonard informs the police that he is

a writer. b. The car drives down the street with

Leonard inside. c. Leonard identifies which house is

his. d. The police inform Leonard where

they are taking him.

7. Which of the following would be an accurate, objective summary of Paragraphs 60-70? a. The police insist that Leonard get in

the car, an officer comes out and arrests him, and Leonard is told that he is being taken to a Psychiatric Center.

b. The police demand Leonard get into the car, he discovers the car is empty and automated, and he is taken away to a Psychiatric Center.

c. Leonard informs the police that he is just walking, the officer asks him what his occupation is, and the officer demands Leonard enter his car.

d. The police are very rude and insensitive to Leonard, who deserves much better than this, and then Leonard is taken away for no reason.

8. Which of the following details would

NOT be included in an objective summary of “The Pedestrian”? a. Leonard is arrested and taken away. b. The police cruiser is empty. c. The street is cold and lonely. d. Leonard is treated unfairly.

A Sound of Thunder – Intermediate Level Story

The sign on the wall seemed to to be moving under a thin film of warm water. Eckels closed hiseyes for a moment, the sign burned in his memory:

TIME SAFARI, INC.SAFARIS TO ANY YEAR IN THE PAST.YOU NAME THE ANIMAL.WE TAKE YOU THERE.YOU SHOOT IT.

Warm liquid gathered in Eckels' throat. He swallowed and pushed it down. The muscles around hismouth formed a smile as he put his hand slowly out upon the air. In that hand he waved a check forten thousand dollars to the man behind the desk.

"Don't I get some kind of document promising that I will come back alive?"

"We promise nothing," said the official, "except the dinosaurs." He turned. "This is Mr Travis, yourSafari Leader in the Past. He'll tell you what and where to shoot. If he says no shooting, noshooting. If you don't do as he says, you will have to pay another ten thousand dollars, plus facepossible government action, on your return."

Eckels looked quickly across the large office. Hundreds of wires snaking together so as to look likea single mass, gave off low continuous sound. Metal boxes gave off ever changing bands of light...now orange, now silver, now blue. There was a sound like a huge fire burning all of Time, all theyears and all the calendars, all the hours piled high and set on fire.

"Unbelievable." Eckels breathed, the lights from the Machine on his thin face. "A real TimeMachine." He shook his head. "Makes you think. If the election had gone badly yesterday, I mightbe here now running away from the results. Thank God Keith won. He'll make a fine President ofthe United States."

"Yes," said the man behind the desk. "We're lucky. If Deutscher had gotten in, we'd have the worstkind of government. There's a man who is for war but against everything else; against religion,against helping people, and against people knowing too much. People called us up, you know,joking but not joking. They said if Deutscher became President, they wanted to go and live in 1492.Of course it's not our business to sell Escapes, but to run Safaris. Anyway, Keith is President now.All you got to worry about is..."

"Shooting my dinosaur!" Eckels finished it for him.

"A Tyrannosaurus Rex. The King of Dinosaurs, the most amazing monster in history. Sign this formsaying that if anything happens to you, we're not responsible. Those dinosaurs are hungry."

Eckels face turned red. "Are you trying to scare me!" he said angrily.

"To be honest, yes. We don't want anyone going who'll get scared and do something silly at the firstsign of danger. Six Safari guides were killed last year, and twelve hunters. We're here to give youthe most exciting experience a real hunter ever asked for. Taking you back sixty million years toshoot the biggest game in all of Time. Your personal check's still there. Tear it up."

Mr Eckels looked at the check. There was a small movement of his fingers.

"Good luck," said the man behind the desk. "Mr Travis, he's all yours."

They moved silently across the room, taking their guns with them, toward the Machine, toward thesilver metal and the roaring light.

First a day and then a night and then a day and then a night, then it was day-night-day-night. Aweek, a month, a year, ten years! A.D. 2055. A.D. 2019. 1999! 1957! Gone! The Machine roared.

They put on their oxygen helmets and tested the radios.

Eckels moved from side to side on the soft seat, his face white, his mouth closed tightly. He felt hisarms shaking and looked down and found his hands tight on the new rifle. There were four othermen in the Machine. Travis, the Safari Leader, his assistant, Lesperance, and two other hunters,Billings and Kramer. They sat looking at each other, as the years flew by around them.

"Can these guns kill a dinosaur with one shot?" Eckels felt his mouth saying.

"If you hit them right," said Travis on the helmet radio. "Some dinosaurs have two brains; one in thehead another far down the backbone. We stay away from those. That's too dangerous. Put your firsttwo shots into the eyes, if you can. They will blind them, and go back into the brain."

The Machine screamed. Time was a film run backward. Suns went quickly by and ten millionmoons went by after them. "Think," said Eckels. "Every hunter that ever lived would love to be ustoday. This makes Africa seem like Illinois."

The Machine slowed; its scream fell to a whisper. The Machine stopped.

The sun stopped in the sky.

The fog that had been around the Machine blew away. They were in an old time, a very old timeindeed, three hunters and two Safari guides with their blue metal guns across their knees.

"The first human isn't born yet," said Travis, "The Pyramids are still in the earth, waiting to be cutout and built. Remember that. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler... none of them exists."

"Outside," Travis pointed, "is the jungle of sixty million two thousand and fifty-five years beforePresident Keith."

He indicated a metal path that went off into the distance, over a streaming swamp among giant treesand plants.

"And that," he said, "is the Path laid by Time Safari for your use. It doesn't touch so much as onepiece of grass, flower, or tree. It's made of a special metal that floats six inches above the earth. Thisis to keep you from touching this world of the past in any way. Stay on the Path. Don't go off it. Irepeat. Don't go off. For any reason! If you fall off, it will cost you a lot of money. And don't shootany animal we don't okay."

"Why?" asked Eckels.

The Machine sat in the ancient jungle. Distant bird cries blew on a wind. There was the smell of wetgrass and an old salt sea. There were huge flowers on the trees the color of blood.

"We don't want to change the Future. We don't have a place here in the Past. The governmentdoesn't like us here. We have to pay a lot of money to certain people to be able to be here. Runninga Time Machine a difficult business. Not knowing it, we might kill an important animal, a smallbird, an insect, a flower even. Doing that could destroy an important link in a growing species."

"I don't understand," said Eckels.

"All right," Travis continued, "say you accidentally step on one mouse here and it dies. That meansall the future families of this one particular mouse are destroyed, right?"

"Right"

"And all the families of the families of the families of that one mouse! With a single step, you killfirst one, then ten, then a thousand, a million, a billion possible mice!"

"So they're dead," said Eckels. "So what?"

"So what?" answered Travis a little angrily. "Well, what about the foxes that'll need those mice tosurvive? For want of ten mice, a fox dies. For want of ten foxes a lion dies. For want of a lion, allmanner of insects, birds, countless billions of life forms are destroyed. Then, fifty-nine millionyears later, a caveman, one of only twelve in the whole world, goes hunting wild animals for food.But you, friend, have stepped on all the animals in that region. By stepping on one single mouse. Sothe caveman does not have enough food and dies. And that caveman, please note, is not just anyman. No! He is a future nation. He would have had ten sons, and they would have had one hundredsons, and so on to create a whole race. Destroy this one man, and you destroy a nation and the partof our history that goes with it.

The step of your foot, on one mouse, could start a series of events, the effects of which could shakeour earth and future down through Time. With the death of that one caveman, a billion others willdie before they are born. Perhaps Rome never rises on its seven hills. Perhaps Europe is forever adark forest, and only Asia rises, healthy and full of people. Step on a mouse and you pull down thePyramids. Step on a mouse and you leave your mark, like a Grand Canyon, across all of Time.Queen Elizabeth might never be born, there might never be a United States. So be careful. Stay onthe Path. Never step off!"

"I see," said Eckels. "Then it wouldn't pay for us even to touch the grass?"

"Correct. Destroying certain plants could have an effect too small to be seen now. But it could addup bit by bit over sixty million years into a major change. Of course, all this may be wrong."

"Maybe Time can't be changed by us. Or maybe it can be changed only in little ways that no onewill notice. A dead mouse here could mean a few too many insects there, but a huge increase ininsect populations millions of years later. Crops destroyed over wide areas, millions dead from nothaving enough food, and finally changes in the social structure of whole countries. Or it could takesomething even smaller... a soft breath, a whisper, a hair, pollen on the air, such a slight, slightchange that unless you looked close you wouldn't see it. Who knows? Who really can say heknows? We don't know. We're guessing. But until we do know for certain whether our messingaround in Time can make a big difference to history, we're being careful. This Machine, this Path,your clothing and bodies, were sterilized, as you know, before the journey. We wear these oxygenhelmets so we can't introduce our bacteria into the ancient air."

"How do we know which animals to shoot?"

"They're marked with red paint," said Travis. "Today, before our journey, we sent Lesperance backwith the Machine. He came to this time and and followed certain animals."

"Studying them?"

"Right," said Lesperance. "I follow them through their whole lives, noting which of them liveslongest. Very few. How many times they have young. Not often. Life's short. When I find one that'sgoing to die by accident, such as when a tree falls on him, I note the exact hour, minute, and second.I shoot a paint bomb. It leaves a red mark on his side. We can't miss it. Then I plan our journey intothe Past so that we meet the Monster not more than two minutes before he would have died anyway.This way, we kill only animals with no future, that are never going to have young again. You seehow careful we are?"

"But if you come back this morning in Time," said Eckels excitedly, you must have met us, ourSafari! How did it turn out? Was it successful? Did all of us get through... alive?"

Travis and Lesperance gave each other a look.

"That would be a paradox," said Lesperance. "Time doesn't permit that sort of thing... a manmeeting himself. When such things look like happening, Time moves out of the way. Like anairplane hitting an air pocket. You felt the Machine jump just before we stopped? That was uspassing ourselves on the way back to the Future. We saw nothing. There's no way of telling if thisSafari was a success, if we got our monster, or whether all of us - meaning you, Mr Eckels - got outalive."

Eckels smiled weakly.

"Enough," said Travis sharply. "Everyone on his feet!"

They were ready to leave the Machine.

The jungle was high and the jungle was broad and the jungle was the whole world forever andforever. Sounds like music and sounds like flying tents filled the sky. Those were pterodactylsflying high above with huge gray wings.

Eckels, standing on the narrow Path, pointed his rifle at one playfully.

"Stop that!" said Travis. "Don't even point your gun at something for fun, you fool! If your gunsshould go off... "

Eckels looked angry. "Where's our Tyrannosaurus?"

Lesperance checked his watch. "In front of us. We'll meet him in sixty seconds. Look for the redpaint! Don't shoot till we give the word. Stay on the Path. Stay on the Path!"

They moved forward in the wind of morning.

"Strange," said Eckels quietly. "In sixty million years, Election Day over. Keith made President.Everyone celebrating. And here we are, a million years lost, and they don't exist. The things weworried about for months, a lifetime, not even born or thought of yet."

"Safety catches off, everyone!" ordered Travis. "You, first shot, Eckels. Second, Billings, Third,Kramer."

"I've hunted tiger, wild pig, buffalo, elephant, but now, this is it," said Eckels. "I'm shaking like akid."

"Ah," said Travis.

Everyone stopped.

Travis raised his hand. "There," he whispered. "In the mist. There he is. There's His Royal Majestynow."

The jungle was wide and full of sounds.

Suddenly it all stopped, as if someone had shut a door.

Silence.

A sound of thunder.

Out of the mist, one hundred yards away, came Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"It," whispered Eckels. "It......

"Sh!"

It came on great oiled, powerful legs. It towered thirty feet above half of the trees, a great evil god,holding its small arms close to its oily chest.

Each lower leg was like a powerful machine, a thousand pounds of white bone, sunk in thick ropesof muscle, covered in rock-like skin. Each upper leg was a ton of meat and bone, as strong as steel.From the great chest, two tiny arms hung out front. Arms with hands which might pick up andexamine men like toys as the snake-like neck made itself ready to eat them. And the head itself, likea ton of shaped stone, lifted easily upon the sky. Its mouth was open, showing a fence of teeth likelarge, sharp knives. Its huge eyes rolled, empty of all expression except hunger. It closed its mouthin a deathly smile. It ran, its body pushing trees and bushes out of the way as if they were not there.As it moved, its feet dug into the wet earth, leaving foot prints six inches deep wherever it put itsweight.

It ran far too smoothly for its ten tons. It moved into an area of sunlight and suddenly stopped, itsbeautifully reptilian hands feeling the air.

"Why, why," said Eckels in wonder, "it could reach up and take hold of the moon."

"Sh!" Travis said angrily. "He hasn't seen us yet."

"It can't be killed," Eckels said quietly, as if there could be no argument. He had weighed theevidence and this was his considered opinion. The rifle in his hands seemed a toy. "We were fools tocome. This is impossible."

"Shut up!" whispered Travis.

"Nightmare."

"Turn around," commanded Travis. "Walk quietly to the Machine. We'll give you back half yourfee."

"I didn't think it would be this big," said Eckels. "I made a mistake, that's all. And now I want out."

"It sees us!"

"There's the red paint on its chest!"

The great dinosaur raised itself. Its thick skin shone like a thousand green coins. The coins werecovered by a thick, sticky liquid in which tiny insects moved. The whole body seemed to move,even though the monster itself stood still. It breathed out. The terrible smell of dead meat blewdown upon them.

"Get me out of here," said Eckels. "It was never like this before. I was always sure I'd come throughalive. I had good guides, good safaris, and safety. This time, I got it wrong. I've met my match. Thisis too much for me to handle."

"Don't run," said Lesperance. "Turn around. Hide in the Machine."

"Yes." Eckels seemed unable to move. He looked at his feet as if trying to make them walk. He gavea cry of helplessness.

"Eckels!"

He looked as if he could not understand what was happening, and took a few small steps.

"Not that way!"

The Monster, at the first motion, ran forward with a terrible scream. It covered one hundred yards insix seconds. The rifles lifted and fired. The Monster roared, teeth shining in the sun, and the smellof old blood that came from its mouth was all around them.

The rifles fired again. Their sound was lost in scream and dinosaur thunder. The reptile moved itsgreat tail from side to side. Trees exploded in clouds of leaf and branch. The Monster moved itssmall hands down toward the men, to break them in half, to push them into its teeth and itsscreaming throat. Its eyes leveled with the men. They saw themselves mirrored. They fired at thewild black circle in the center of each eye.

Like a mountain avalanche, Tyrannosaurus fell.

Thundering, it held on to trees and pulled them with it. It pulled and and tore the metal Path. Themen threw themselves back and away. The body hit, ten tons of cold meat and stone. The gunsfired. The Monster moved its heavy tail again, made a sudden movement of its neck, and lay still. Afountain of blood shot out from its throat. Somewhere inside, a bag of liquids broke open. Sickeningsprays of blood and the terrible smelling liquid covered the hunters. They stood.

The thunder died away.

The jungle was silent. After the avalanche, a green peace. After the nightmare, morning.

Billings and Kramer sat on the pathway and were sick. Travis and Lesperance stood with smokingrifles, cursing. In the Time Machine, on his face, Eckels lay shaking. He had found his way back tothe Path, climbed into the Machine.

Travis came in, looked at Eckels, took some special cloth from a metal box, and returned to theothers, who were still sitting on the Path.

"Clean up."

They wiped the blood from their helmets. They began to curse too. The Monster lay, a mountain ofsolid meat. Within, you could hear sounds as the furthest parts of it died; everything shutting off,closing down forever. It was like standing by the engine of a train that has just crashed. The weightof its body broke the tiny arms, caught underneath. The meat settled, shaking.

Another sound of something breaking. Far above, a giant tree branch broke off and fell. It crashedupon the dead dinosaur with finality.

"There." Lesperance checked his watch. "Right on time. That's the branch that was supposed to falland kill this animal originally." He looked at the two hunters. "You want a picture?"

"What?"

"We can't take a piece of it back to the Future. The body has to stay right here where it would havedied originally, so the insects, birds, and bacteria can get at it, as they were meant to. Everything inbalance. The body stays. But we can take a picture of you standing next to it."

The two men tried to think, but gave up, shaking their heads.

They let themselves be led along the metal Path. They sank into their seats in the Machine. Theylooked back at the dead Monster, where already strange birds and golden insects were busy at thethick skin. A sound on the floor of the Time Machine made them turn. Eckels sat there, shaking.

"I'm sorry," he said at last.

"Get up!" cried Travis.

Eckels got up.

"Go out on that Path alone," said Travis. He had his rifle pointed, "You're not coming back in theMachine. We're leaving you here!"

Lesperance held Travis's arm. "Wait..."

"Stay out of this!" Travis shook his hand away. "This fool nearly killed us. But it isn't that so much,no. It's his shoes! Look at them! He ran off the Path. That could destroy our business! We'll losethousands of dollars. We have a contract with the government that says no one leaves the Path. Heleft it. Oh, the fool! I'll have to report it. They might not let us travel anymore. Who knows whathe's done to Time, to History!"

"Take it easy, all he did was kick up some dirt."

"How do we know?" cried Travis. "We don't know anything! No one knows! Get out of here,Eckels!"

Eckels felt for his shirt. "I'll pay anything. A hundred thousand dollars!"

Travis looked angrily at Eckels' check book and spat. "Go out there. The Monster's next to the Path.Stick your arms up to your elbows in his mouth. Then you can come back with us."

"That's not fair!"

"The Monster's dead, you fool. The bullets! The bullets can't be left behind. They shouldn't be leftin the Past; they might change something. Here's my knife. Dig them out!"

The jungle was alive again, full of the old movements and bird cries. Eckels turned slowly to look atthe hill of nightmares and fear. After a long time, like someone walking in their sleep, he walked offslowly along the Path.

He returned, shaking, five minutes later, his arms were covered in blood to the elbows. He held outhis hands. Each held a number of steel bullets. Then he fell. He lay where he fell, not moving.

"You didn't have to make him do that," said Lesperance.

"Didn't I? It's too early to tell." Travis pushed the still body with his foot. "He'll live. Next time hewon't go hunting game like this. Okay." With a tired movement of his thumb, he gave the signal tostart the Machine. "Switch on," he said. "Let's go home."

1492. 1776. 1812.

They cleaned their hands and faces. They changed their dirty shirts and pants. Eckels was up andmoving around again, not speaking. Travis gave him an angry look for a full ten minutes.

"Don't look at me," cried Eckels. "I haven't done anything."

"Who can tell?"

"Just ran off the Path, that's all, a little mud on my shoes... what do you want me to do... get downand pray?"

"We might need it. I'm warning you, Eckels, I might kill you yet. I've got my gun ready."

"I've done nothing wrong. It'll be O.K.!"

1999. 2000. 2055.

The Machine stopped.

"Get out," said Travis.

The room was there as they had left it. But not the same as they had left it. The same man sat behindthe same desk. But the same man did not quite sit behind the same desk. Travis looked around

quickly. "Everything okay here?" he said sharply.

"Fine. Welcome home!"

Travis did not relax. He seemed to be looking through the one high window.

"Okay, Eckels, get out. Don't ever come back." Eckels could not move.

"You heard me," said Travis. "What're you looking at?"

Eckels stood smelling the air. There was something different about it, a difference so slight that hecould not identify it. The colors, white, gray, blue, orange, in the wall, in the furniture, in the skyoutside, were not quite right. And there was a strange feel. His body and hands did not feel right. Hestood, sensing the oddness in every part of his body.

Somewhere, someone must have been blowing one of those whistles that only a dog can hear. Hisbody screamed silence in return. Outside this room, away from this man seated at this desk whichare both not quite the same desk, lay a whole world of streets and people. What sort of world was itnow? There was no telling. He could feel them moving out there.

But the immediate thing was the sign painted on the office wall, the same sign he had read earliertoday on first entering. Somehow, the sign had changed:

TYME SEFARI INC.SEFARIS TU ANY YEER EN THE PAST.YU NAIM THE ANIMALL.WEE TAEK YU THAIR.YU SHOOT ITT.

Eckels felt himself fall into a chair. He looked at the thick mud on his boots. He broke off a piece ofthe mud and held it up, shaking, "No, it can't be. Not a little thing like that. No!"

Stuck in the mud was a brightly colored butterfly, very beautiful and very dead.

"Not a little thing like that! Not a butterfly!" cried Eckels.

It fell to the floor, more delicate and colorful than anything seen in this world. A small thing thatcould upset balances and cause small changes and then big changes and then huge changes, alldown the years across Time. Eckels mind raced. It couldn't change things. Killing one butterflycouldn't be that important! Could it?

His face was cold. He asked in a frightened voice: "Who... who won the presidential electionyesterday?"

The man behind the desk laughed. "You joking? You know very well. Deutscher, of course! Whoelse? Not that weak fool Keith. We have got an iron man now, a man who isn't afraid of anyone oranything!" The official stopped. "What's wrong?"

Eckels gave out a long, low cry as if in pain. He dropped to his knees. He tried to pick up the greenand gold butterfly with shaking fingers. "Can't we," he pleaded to the world, to himself, to theofficials, to the Machine, "can't we take it back, can't we make it alive again? Can't we start over?Can't we..."

He did not move. Eyes shut, he waited, shivering. He heard Travis breathe loudly. He heard Travislift his rifle, click the safety catch, and raise the weapon.

There was a sound of thunder.

A SOUND OF THUNDER READING GUIDE A SOUND OF THUNDER POST-READING ACTIVITY

RL 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.5

Directions: As you read “A Sound of Thunder” Answer the following and provide explanation AND textual evidence when required.

1. How would you describe Eckels? (Think personality not physical traits) Provide one piece of textual evidence to back up your answer.

2. How would you characterize the business practices of Time Safari, Inc.? Are they responsible? Reckless? Explain.

3. Was Eckels justified in his fear? Why or why not?

4. Would you have run from the Path? Why or why not?

5. How might stepping on the butterfly have led to the difference in the election? (Be creative but reasonable).

6. CAN the time travelers go back to fix the mistake? Using evidence from the text, support your response.

7. What do you think happened at the end of the story? What future consequences might that event have? (Make a prediction).

8. Who or what would you say is the antagonist of the story and why?

9. Bradbury repeats multiple times, “Stay on the path.” What could the path symbolize? Why?

10. What might the title “A Sound of Thunder” symbolize? Why?

11. What do you think is the theme of the story? (Bradbury’s lesson for us) Support your answer with reference to specific events in the text.

12. What happens when you leave the “path” in your life? How can your actions affect others? Can your actions impact or destroy the future in any way? (Connect to real life.)

LITERARY TERMS: Be able to apply each term to the story.

13. Foreshadowing Describe what is foreshadowed in this story: ____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

14. Simile

Quote:__________________________________________________________________________ What impact does this have in the text? ________________________________________________________________________________

15. Metaphor

Quote:__________________________________________________________________________ What impact does this have in the text? ________________________________________________________________________________

16. Plot Chain

The plot of a story consists of a series of related events that come one after another. After you read “A Sound of Thunder,” list the story’s main events in the chain below. The first event has been filled in as an example.

17. Explain which event in the plot chain you think is most important and why.

18. Replace the event you have chosen with one that might have happened, and explain how this change would have affected the ending.

Beginning

End Eckels is in the office

preparing to leave on a Time Safari.

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ANALYZING SETTING IN A STORYTitle of Selection: __________________________________________________________

Author: ____________________________________________________________________

Questions to Ask About Setting Responses from the Story

1. What is the setting? Historical period? Country or locale? Season of the year? Weather? Time of day? What are the sights? Sounds? Tastes? Smells? What other details establish a sense of place?

2. Are the characters in conflict with the setting? What do the characters want? Does the setting keep them from getting what they want?

3. What does the setting tell us about the characters? What feelings or attitudes do the characters reveal toward the setting? Fear? Pleasure? Challenge? Dislike? Respect? Other feelings or attitudes?

4. How would you describe the atmosphere or mood created by the setting? Is it gloomy? Cheerful? Mysterious? Threatening? Other descriptions?

The Butterfly Effect PrintableIn the short story, The Sound of Thunder, we learned that traveling through time can bedangerous. The characters from the story realize how they impact nature when one of thehunters steps on a butterfly. Through the destruction of one small element of the ecosystem,the future was changed. This is known as the “Butterfly Effect.” Man is causing changes in theecosystem today. Choose one of the topics below and write six sentences about how “tomorrow”will be affected by that topic.

Example:

Today: There is an oil spill off the coast of California.

Tomorrow: 1. Fish are poisoned.

2. People must buy expensive fish from the east coast.

3. People can no longer afford fish so they eat more meat.

4. More and more people get high cholesterol.

5. Some people die from heart attacks due to high cholesterol.

6. A president who creates positive change in the world is never born.

Choose one topic.

Topic 1: More oil is pumped to lower the price of gas.

Topic 2: A park is made into a parking lot.

Topic 3: A new landfill opens in your neighborhood.

Write your topic here.

Today:

Complete six sentences.

Tomorrow: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

http://www.scholastic.com

Time Travel Activity

Directions: Your job is to take a few minutes and think about where you would go if you had the opportunity to travel in a time machine, like Eckels did in “A Sound of Thunder.” Come up with answers for the questions below and write them down on your own paper. Make sure to write the questions as a heading and then write your answer below it. Make sure your answers are thorough and completely answer the question. Be Creative!!!!!

• Where would you go? Why?

• Which year or period of time would you travel to?

• Who would you want to meet or what event would you want to witness?

• Where would you find this person or see this event?

• Why would you want to meet this person or witness this event?

• How might you change history by going back to this place and time?