A Sound of Thunderby Ray Bradbury

Page 581

2007 COS – 2a; 4CCRS –

AHSGE – R.II.3; R.III.2: R.III.3; R.IV.2; R.Iv.3ARI – Vocabulary development; Reading comprehensionLiterary Skills – Understand elements of style, including figurative language and mood.Reading Skills – Understand cause-and-effect relationships

A Sound of ThunderLiterary Focus: Style

The use of vivid images and figurative language often plays a part in a writer’s style.

• Images—words and phrases that appeal to the senses.

• Figurative language—imaginative comparisons between seemingly unlike things.

Ray Bradbury tells this science-fiction story in a lush style.

A Sound of ThunderLiterary Focus: Style

• The setting and the figurative language shape a tense and suspenseful mood, or atmosphere.

• He uses vivid images and imaginative figurative language to create an exotic setting.

As you read “A Sound of Thunder,” notice the elements of Bradbury’s style.

A Sound of ThunderLiterary Focus: Style

• Images: Which of your senses do they appeal to? What feelings do they evoke for you?

• Diction and sentence patterns: How do they create a distinctive writing style?

• Figurative language: How does it help create the setting? the mood?

Previewing the Vocabulary

annihilate v.: destroy; wipe out.

expendable adj.: worth sacrificing to gain an objective.

depression n.: major economic downturn. (Depression also means “sadness.”)

paradox n.: something that has or seems to have contradictory qualities.

A Sound of ThunderVocabulary Page 580

Previewing the Vocabulary

delirium n.: extreme mental disturbance, often accompanied by hallucinations (seeing things that are not there).

resilient adj.: able to return to its original shape quickly after being stretched or compressed; elastic.

remit v.: return payment.

revoke v.: cancel; withdraw.

primeval adj.: primitive; of the earliest times.

subliminal adj.: below the level of awareness.

A Sound of ThunderVocabulary Page 580

1. During a ___________ many people cannot find work.

2. Good rubber tires are strong and ___________.

3. Most modern builders are careful not to ___________ the

remains of ancient civilizations.

4. The car will be yours if you ___________ the payments.

5. Dinosaurs lived during ___________ times.

Vocabulary Activity

Fill in the blanks with the correct Word Bank words.

primeval resilient depression annihilate remit

depression

resilient

annihilate

remit

primeval

A Sound of ThunderVocabulary

A Sound of ThunderQuickwrite

Make the Connection

“A Sound of Thunder” is a story about time travel. Jot down some thoughts about where you’d go if you could travel through time. Would you choose the past or the future as your destination? Would you stay in the region where you live, or would you go someplace else? How would traveling through time affect your life?

While Reading

1. What does Eckels seem to be worried about when he is planning his time travel trip?

2. Who is the new president at the beginning of the story?

3. What warning does the tour guide give to the hunters?

4. How do the hunters know which dinosaurs are okay to shoot?

5. How does Eckels react when he sees the T-Rex?

While Reading

6. What must Eckels do to be allowed to return home?

7. Describe the changes that have occurred when the hunters return home.

8. What is the final outcome of the trip for Eckels?9. How are the changes that occur significant to the

time period when the story was written?

Activity

•P. 596 Writing – Excursions in Time Imagine you are entering an essay contest in

which the grand prize is a time-travel journey. Write a brief paragraph telling the following:

•Where you’d go (place and time)•Describe what you imagine you will see•What do you want to accomplish

•Page 596 Questions 1-10