Search Results:
[GET] A Sound Of Thunder Short Story Questions And Answers | latest
What does he do? At the end of the story, when they return home, something is different and wrong. What has happened? When they get back home, Eckels looks at his feet and makes a horrifying discovery. What does Eckels find dead on the bottom of his...[DOWNLOAD] A Sound Of Thunder Short Story Questions And Answers | latest!
Aug 05, Cecily rated it liked it Recommended to Cecily by: Apatt Shelves: time-travel , scifi-future-speculative-fict , short-stories-and-novellas A short story about using a time machine to hunt dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong? I was less...
- Each thigh was a ton of meat, ivory, and steel mesh. And from the great breathing cage of the upper body those two delicate arms dangled out front, arms with hands which might pick up and examine men like toys, while the snake neck coiled. And the head itself, a ton of sculptured stone, lifted easily upon the sky. Its mouth gaped, exposing a fence of teeth like daggers. Its eyes rolled, ostrich eggs, empty of all expression save hunger. It closed its mouth in a death grin. It ran, its pelvic bones crushing aside trees and bushes, its taloned feet clawing damp earth, leaving prints six inches deep wherever it settled its weight. It ran with a gliding ballet step, far too poised and balanced for its ten tons. It moved into a sunlit arena warily, its beautifully reptilian hands feeling the air.
- The coins, crusted with slime, steamed. In the slime, tiny insects wriggled, so that the entire body seemed to twitch and undulate.
Questions From The Short Story "A Sound Of Thunder" By Ray Bradbury?
Summary Analysis In the year , Mr. Eckels enters the office of Time Safari, Inc. Eckels feels phlegm gather in his throat as he asks the company agent behind the reception desk whether the company guarantees he will come back alive. Although he is excited about the safari, even upon entering the office Mr. Eckels worries about the possibility of dying on the trip. As company policies lay out, however, there is no certain outcome to these trips. Active Themes Related Quotes with Explanations Eckels makes small talk with the company agent while waiting, discussing the recent presidential election in the United States. Eckels expresses relief that Keith was elected rather than Deutscher. This portion of the story introduces the theme of authoritarianism. The presidential election represents a classic conflict between American democracy and totalitarian regimes. The German name Deutscher hints at connections with Nazi Germany but many of the values described could also refer to American views on Soviet Russia during the Cold War.A Sound Of Thunder - Short Stories (Fiction) - Questions For Tests And Worksheets
Eckels hesitates, his fingers twitching, but the agent continues the transaction. Further, Eckels hesitates and never clearly affirms his intent to go on the safari, but the process seems to move forward in the absence of a decision. This echoes the way his actions in the past will start a chain of events over which he ultimately has no control. Download The company agent hands Eckels over to the safari guide Mr. Travis, although it is unclear whether Eckels has actually stated that he would like to continue on the safari. The Time Machine begins to flash backwards through the years as the hunters and guides test out their oxygen and intercoms. Eckels sits stiff and pale alongside Mr. Travis, fellow guide Lesperance, and two other hunters. Eckels appears filled with more than usual foreboding in this moment. He seems almost to have no agency, as if this adventure is happening to him rather than by his own choice.- Active Themes Eckels nervously contemplates the rifles they all hold, tightly gripping his own gun. He counsels Eckels to shoot for the eyes and into the brain. Eckels continues to display his nervousness about the deadly potential of the prehistoric environment. He seeks control over the situation. Active Themes Eventually, the flashing of day and night outside comes to a halt, the sun standing still in the sky. The fog gathered around the machine clears to reveal a prehistoric wilderness. Through the height of human technology, the hunters find themselves in the midst of a vast and wild natural environment. The stillness of this moment is anticipatory, building interest in the action yet to come. Active Themes Travis begins a speech emphasizing that the travelers are now far, far in the past, listing the historical figures who have not yet been born.
- He exhorts the hunters to stay on the metal Path that hovers over the ground in order to prevent stepping on any important plant or animal and disturbing the natural environment. He reminds the hunters that there is a huge fine for anyone who fails to obey the rules. His reminders to the hunters are a part of Time Safari, Inc. Active Themes Eckels expresses his confusion at the rules, prompting Travis to launch into a long explanation. The guide details a long list of potential blunders and their effects, such as stepping on one mouse and disrupting an entire future food chain. Crushing even the smallest life form, he explains, could disrupt ecological balance and change the future, not just of nature, but of human society. Eckels takes a somewhat adversarial role during this exchange, constantly questioning the connections that Travis draws between cause and effect.
- Travis demonstrates a firm grasp of the idea that small changes may snowball into huge unintended consequences. Eckels, meanwhile, remains fixated on what he perceives as the disproportionate relationship between tiny organisms and the broad arc of human history. Active Themes Related Quotes with Explanations Seemingly grasping the rules at last, Eckels asks which animals are okay to shoot. Lesperance explains that the party can safely shoot the specific animal he has previously marked for them, because he has already traveled back in time to find a creature that would have died of some accident within minutes after the hunt regardless.
- Hearing this, Eckels reasons that Lesperance must know about the success or failure of the expedition. The guide explains that there is no way to know because one cannot meet oneself while traveling through time. Time Safari Inc. After all, they may be picking a creature destined to die, but who is to say that shooting the dinosaur will not cause it to fall slightly differently, and land on an insect or a flower that would otherwise have played a crucial role in history? Active Themes Eckels messes about with his gun a bit while waiting and Travis scolds him not to aim at anything but the dinosaur. Lesperance signals that the T. Eckels begins to muse on the incongruity of a moment when neither the new president nor any of the people celebrating exist yet. Soon the forest goes quiet, and the T. Eckels is transfixed when he comes face to face with the creature. Observing its massive, machine-like body, he proclaims it impossible to kill and wishes to retreat. In the lead up to the encounter with the dinosaur, Eckels acts excited, almost playful.
- He marvels at the strange circumstances. Travis, on the other hand, braces for a serious encounter. The T. Active Themes Related Quotes with Explanations Travis tries to silence Eckels, then directs him to wait in the Time Machine and promises to refund half his fee. Instead, dazed and unable to follow directions, Eckels wanders off the path while the guides and the other two hunters shoot at the dinosaur bearing down on them. Despite the fearsome sight it presents, the T. Eckels, as a big game hunter, seems to have fancied himself as brave, even fearless. He realizes in looking at the fearsome T. The dinosaur seems almost beyond life, its body both machine-like and reminiscent of decomposition.
- In trying to avoid death, Eckels makes the fatal mistake of interfering with the prehistoric wilderness. His error will change the course of history. Travis returns to find Eckels shivering on the floor of the Time Machine. They decline, and all return to the Time Machine to find Eckels still huddled on the floor. This scene poses an implicit critique of trophy hunting, both in terms of the horrors it brings and for the ways that it hardens people.
Teaching "A Sound Of Thunder" By Ray Bradbury: Lesson Plan & Discussion Topics
The men who paid to go on this trip leave with not even a souvenir, nothing but the bloody memory of an incomprehensibly large creature destroyed. He is incensed that Eckels would violate the rules and put the business at risk of fines or even being shut down by the government. He eventually orders Eckels to retrieve the bullets from the dinosaur carcass. Lesperance scolds Travis for this, telling him that it was unnecessary, but Travis is unconvinced. He rants about the uncertainty of what parts of the future Eckels might have changed. Even Travis, who seems to understand the dangers of time travel and the unpredictability of cause and effect better than anyone, is primarily concerned about the bottom line. Although not spelled out, it seems that leaving Eckels in the past perhaps claiming that he was eaten by a dinosaur might be a way around government reprimands for the company.Ray Bradbury: Short Stories Summary And Analysis Of "A Sound Of Thunder"
Only as an afterthought does he mention the potential environmental and historical damage. Travis threatens Eckels, who protests his innocence, sure that his brief lapse could not have changed anything. Neither Lesperance nor Eckels want to believe that a small error like stepping off the path could lead to any major changes. Active Themes When they arrive, Travis observes the office with suspicion. Assured by the company agent that everything is alright, he orders Eckels to leave and never come back. Eckels, however, lingers for a moment, noticing that the atmosphere and small things about the office have changed.- The air smells different; the colors are ever so slightly off; and, most tellingly, the sign over the desk is written with a different spelling system. Travis is eager to get rid of Eckels, but Eckels finds himself jarred out of hopeful optimism by the realization that this is not quite the same future that he left behind. His senses all tell him there are small, almost intangible differences in the atmosphere, while the sign confirms that human culture has changed as well. Apparently, his venture off the path has changed something after all. Active Themes Eckels slumps down into a chair and, examining his boots, finds that he has crushed a small butterfly. Its green and gold wings glisten as his mind races with thoughts of dominoes, wondering how something so small could change the future.
- Panicking, he asks the company agent about the election results and learns that Deutscher has now won. The butterfly represents chaos. It is the tiny, delicate element that nonetheless changes everything. Its green and gold coloration recalls the T. Even this tiny casualty of negligence can have a huge effect—in this case, it has brought about the very authoritarianism that Eckels joked about escaping. This passage contains many interlocking ideas, including the perils of carelessness with nature, the ever-present threat of fascism, the unpredictability of consequences, and the unseen value of every life.
- Active Themes Related Quotes with Explanations After a few moments of pleading to go back and fix things, Eckels waits in silence, eyes closed. He hears Travis take a breath, raise his rifle, and release the safety on his gun. The story ends with a sound of thunder. All that is left is retribution. The sound of thunder in this passage, echoing the sound of the T. Active Themes.
- What company does Eckels visit? What are the penalties for disobeying instructions? About what is Eckels thankful? What did some people want to do if Deutscher had won the election and why? What does the man behind the desk tell Eckels happened last year that makes Eckels think about going on the safari? Who is the Safari Leader? How many people besides Eckels are on the trip? Name them. What does Travis tell Eckels is the best way to kill a dinosaur? When the hunters arrive at their destination, what does Travis tell them hasnt happened yet in history?
- How many years did the men travel? What is the antigravity metal path and why must the men stay on it? What happened to the machine and the mens clothes before they made their journey? Why do the men wear oxygen helmets? What is unique about the dinosaurs that the men can shoot? What is a paradox? What does Eckels jokingly pretend to do? How does the reader know Eckels is afraid? What does Eckels say when he sees the size of the dinosaur? How do the men know which dinosaurs they can shoot? Where was Eckels on his way to when he stepped off the path? What do Billings and Kramer do after the dinosaur is dead? What does Lesperance offer Billings and Kramer that they turn down? What does Travis tell Eckels they are going to do to him? What does Travis make Eckels do in order to go back with them?
- What does Eckels notice about the sign on their return? What does Eckels find on the bottom of his boots? What does Eckels learn about the election? What is the reader to infer that Travis does to Eckels?
- The path through the jungle in "A Sound of Thunder" is mainly intended to answer choices protect the hunters from the dinosaurs. In "A Sound of Thunder" which of the following beliefs leads Eckels to decide against trying to kill the dinosaur? There is nothing to be gained from killing the dinosaur. It would be wrong to shoot such a magnificent creature. The chances that the dinosaur's death will change history are too great.
- All of the following are reasons that Travis becomes angry with Eckels for stepping off the path except that answer choices Eckels has disobeyed Travis's orders. Travis fears that Eckels may have changed history. Travis fears that Time Safari will have to go out of business. Travis fears that they won't be allowed to return to their own world. At the end of the story, Eckels gets the first clue that things may be changed when he answer choices gets out of the machine sees the sign on the wall sees the butterfly on his shoe talks to the man behind the desk Tags:.
- The company guarantees nothing - neither your safety nor your return, and there are strict instructions and expectations for how the hunters should behave once they travel back in time. Eckels and the two other hunters, Billings and Kramer, are to obey their guide, Travis , at all times. Before they leave, Eckels reviews this information with the man behind the desk and they both engage in small talk. Everyone is happy because President Keith has just been elected, and many considered time travel as a way to escape the present day had Deutscher, the other candidate and potential dictator, won. When they travel sixty million two thousand and fifty-five years back in time, Eckels is incredibly excited about the idea of conquering the beast Tyrannosaurus.
- He remarks, "Good God, every hunter that ever lived would envy us today. This makes Africa seem like Illinois" 3. Before they exit the time machine, Travis points out the path laid by Time Safari. It floats six inches about the earth and is the only path that the hunters should travel upon. They are not to touch anything during their stay in the past, and they are only to shoot when the guide and his assistant instruct them to shoot. When Eckels inquires about this particular rule, he is astounded by the gravity of Travis' response. Travis insists that interrupting any of the natural processes in the past could have irreparable repercussions for the future. He draws out the example of killing one mouse and articulates the potential aftershocks of it: "Step on a mouse and you leave your print, like a Grand Canyon, across Eternity.
- Queen Elizabeth might never be born, Washington might not cross the Delaware, there might never be a United States at all" 4. Stepping on a mouse has a much broader reach than Eckels initially thought. Together, the five of them depart on the path to find their prey. The Tyrannosaurus Rex has been carefully been scouted by Travis on a previous trip to the past, where he waited to see when one of the dinosaurs would die naturally and then timed the next hunting trip accordingly. In the case of this particular "monster," a tree limb was going to fall and kill it. Travis and Time Safari are very careful with leaving the past just as it was supposed to unfold. When they reach the clearing where the Tyrannosaurus is scheduled to appear, Eckels begins to have second thoughts, and he becomes increasingly more scared as the dinosaur comes into view.
- Eckels describes the encounter as, "a sound of thunder. Because Eckels was supposed to shoot first, he has now endangered the lives of the rest of the group, and Travis is furious with him. Dazed and confused, Eckels stumbles off of the Time Safari path and into the jungle, the grass giving way to his feet. Meanwhile, the rifles cracked furiously as the others tried to take down the giant beast. Caked in blood, the others return to the time machine, where they find Eckels shivering on the floor. He managed to find his way back to the time machine. They all hear a cracking sound - the tree branch has now fallen on top of the dinosaur as had been observed.
- Upon seeing Eckels, Travis decrees that he cannot return to the future - he sees the mud on his boots and knows that he walked off the path. They have no idea how much damage Eckels has caused for future generations and species. Travis relents a bit though, and allows Eckels to return to the future as long as he removes the bullets from the monster's skull. Eckels returns drenched in blood and passes out immediately after returning the bullets to Travis. Travis is still outraged and threatens to kill Eckels, but ultimately they clean up and begin to travel back to present day. When they exit the time machine, Travis anxiously checks in with the man behind the desk to see if everything is ok, and the man tells him it is.
- The man, however, is acting a bit differently than when they left for the safari, and Eckels notices a strange smell in the air. It's faint, but something is different. He looks around him trying to figure out what has changed. The immediate thing that he noticed had changed was the sign upon the wall. The words were spelled differently, and Eckels begins to panic, seeing firsthand the repercussions of his stroll off of the path. He sits down and inspects himself, particularly the bottoms of his shoes. You know damn well. Deutscher, of course! Who else? The death of the butterfly has resulted in the future being changed - a different man won the presidency of the United States, and people believe he will be a dictator. Eckels cries out in disbelief, begging to return to the past and somehow undo what he has done. He sits down with his eyes closed and senses Travis enter the room; Travis breathes loudly and takes the safety off of his rifle.
No comments:
Post a Comment