By Ray Bradbury...Thunder”, a 1952 short story by Ray Bradbury about time travel. The “Butterfly...
41
By Ray Bradbury
Transcript of By Ray Bradbury...Thunder”, a 1952 short story by Ray Bradbury about time travel. The “Butterfly...
By Ray Bradbury
*
• Born August 22, 1920 in
Waukegan, Illinois
• One of the most prominent
American Fantasy, Science
Fiction, Horror, and Mystery
Fiction writers of the 20th
and 21st Centuries
*
* Best known for his
dystopian novels
*Explored the human
condition
*Explored the human heart
**Has a distrust of technology
*He never learned to drive
*refused to use a computer
*avoiding flying for over 60 years
*Skeptic of E Books and E readers
*“Science fiction is a wonderful hammer; I intend to use it when and if necessary, to bark a few shins or knock a few heads, in order to make people leave people alone.”
*
Bradbury has published more
than thirty books, close to 600
short stories, and numerous
poems, essays and plays.
Book Preview: Someone turn off the lights please!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7uXHb9oW
Yg
It is the 24th
century. Books are
considered
dangerous and
illegal. Nobody is
allowed to own
them. Most people
are happy being
plugged into their
technology, where
they do not have to
think too hard. All
books that are
found are burned.
Guy Montag is a fireman. It is not his
job to put out fires. It is his job to start
them.
“It was a pleasure to burn”
Before Clarisse, Guy Montag was proud to be a fireman, proud
to uphold the law, proud to burn. A man once sure of his
purpose is now suddenly questioning his mere existence.
He wonders why
books must be
burned.
What power do
they have?
It wouldn’t
hurt just to
take one
and read it,
right?
Unfortunately for Guy,
he lives in a society
where censorship is
king; a society where
you don’t know if you
can trust your friends,
your family, your
spouse; a society in
which criminals are
tracked by relentless
mechanical hounds that
never fail to bring down
their victims….
Guy used to
uphold and
enforce the law.
Bringing home a
book will cause a
chain of events
that not even he
could have
anticipated…
Fahrenheit 451 is a book about the
dangers of censorship. Yet this book
itself has been the object of
censorship. It has been banned and/or
challenged in many places across the
United States.
*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzD0YtbViCs
As you watch the following interview, jot down
notes about Ray Bradbury’s personality and
purpose. What stood out to you? What do you
assume his writing will be like? Be ready to discuss!
*
Ray Bradbury, Who Brought Mars to Earth With a Lyrical
Mastery, Dies at 91
*
*The Frayer Model
annihilate:
to destroy completely
correlate:
to figure out or create a relationship between two items or events
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
expendable:
not worth keeping;
not essential
paradox:
a statement or an event
that sounds impossible but
seems to be true
5.)
6.)
resilient:
strong but flexible; able to
withstand stress without
injury
undulate:
to move in waves or in
a smooth, wavelike
motion
7.)
8.)
infinitesimally:
in amounts so small as to
be barely measurable
malfunctioning:
not working or operating
properly
9.)
10.)
stagnating:
becoming foul or rotten
from lack of movement
subliminal:
below the level of
consciousness
Climaxmost exciting/suspenseful moment
Resolutionproblems are resolved
Rising ActionSuspense is built
ExpositionBackground is given
*
Falling ActionWinding down
Literary Device Focus
Imagery –(sights, sounds, smells, tastes, & feelings)
Simile – A comparison using “like” or “as”
Metaphor – – A comparison of two unalike things not using
“like” or “as.” Ex. “Juliet is the sun”
Onomatopoeia –– When words sound like what they mean.
Ex. Boom! Pow!
Personification – Giving human characteristics to something
not human. Ex. The wind screamed
Foreshadowing- Hints or clues given by the author about
events that will happen later.
Special Note:
In German the name (Deutscher) means “German.” This story was
written right after WWII when Hitler’s Germany was considered the
ultimate example of evil, not only because of the holocaust, but in a
political sense because they were so different from us. They had long
had a dictatorship while we have had a democracy.
Literary Device Practice
Notice the ways Bradbury describes his time machine (top of p.40).
Find 3 similes that help us to better imagine the essence of this
machine.
#1 #2 #3
Critical Thinking
What is the purpose of the antigravity path?
(p.41) How then are they allowed to hunt if they can’t step on the
grass? If they do not want to kill a mouse, then why a TREX? Isn’t
this also problematic?
What does the theme of this story seem to be so far? Make some
predictions as to what might happen.
Elements of Style
Bradbury is extremely proud
of his description of the
Tyrannosaur.
Bradbury states, “I say to the
audience ‘ I’m going to stop
you here okay?...and you
know what I’m going to do?
I’m going to describe a
dinosaur as it has never been
described. Now watch this.’
And then I sit down and write
a prose poem about this
wonderful creature that comes
gliding out the jungle.”
Discuss: The author uses imagery
to describe the T-Rex. What effect
does this have on the reader?
Critical Thinking
(p. ___) How serious of a problem is it that Eckels jumps off the
path? Why does he do it?
(p. ___) – rather grotesque – in what detail does the author describe
the final moments of the beast? Is this good writing? Why or why
not?
(p. ___) – Why is Travis angry at Eckles? Is this thematic?
The Grand Finale
The story concludes with an
eerie, twilight zone type of
ending not only for Eckles,
but for the reader.
How does Bradbury use his
theme to shock his reader in
the end of this story?
Tyme SefarI Inc. Sefaris tu any yeer en the past.
Yu naim the animall.
Wee taektuthair.
Yu shoot it.
*
Examples
Somebody Wants But So
Harry Potter
wants to
learn about
his parents,
be happy,
and make
friends
but he must
protect
himself from
the dangers
he faces at
Hogwarts
so he learns how to use
his powers for good and
to protect himself and
his friends
Follow the model below to construct your own SWBS statement about
“A Sound of Thunder.”
*
somebody = who - the individual/character
wants = what
but =complications/problems/conflict
so = solution/outcome
Examples
Somebody Wants But So
Rainsford wants to find food
and shelter
he encounters
General Zaroff and
his deadly game
he must play in order to stay alive
A Sound of Thunder
(Eckles)
The Butterfly Effect
Did you know that each of these
shows and /or movies has been
influenced by the story we are about
to read? Can you guess how?
The Butterfly Effect
• The phrase refers to the idea that
a butterfly's wings might create
tiny changes in the atmosphere
that may ultimately alter the
path of a tornado
• The flapping wing represents a
small change which causes a
domino effect
The Butterfly Effect
To understand the concept first let’s
start with something we already know
like the domino effect.
1) As the world runs out of oil gas prices
will rise.
2) When this happens prices for
specialized items of import and
export (coffee) will eventually rise.
3) Food prices will then rise
4) The price of products that require oil
to make them will also rise. (8 & ½
gallons of oil in each car tire)!
The “Butterfly Effect” is similar, except
that we cannot see what causes what.
We know that small things can effect
entire systems.
A Sound of Thunder
The idea that one butterfly could
eventually have a far-reaching ripple
effect on historic events seems first
to have appeared in “A Sound of
Thunder”, a 1952 short story by Ray
Bradbury about time travel.
The “Butterfly Effect” is now a
common clichéd plot device;
however Bradbury was the first to
use the idea in fiction.
Can you give any examples in stories
when changing the past even if only in
the smallest way alters the course of
the future?
Writing Assignment
Observe with care the specific literary devices you paid
attention to while reading this story. Remember what
made you select these devices and why you thought these
were effective. Now you are going to emulate Bradbury’s
style in a page length piece of fiction of your own.
Writing prompt: Choose a specific place and time to
travel back to on a safari. First, have your narrator
introduce the time and place. After you set the scene,
have your narrator encounter a specific creature, or event
and describe it by using at least 5 literary devices.
