2-There+Will+Come+Soft+Rains



3 Questions and Image Finder Entry: Zach Gentry 1. When and where does this story take place? 2. Infer: What do you think happened to the the house in the city from the above question? 3.Do you think that anyone will come back to the house from this story? Why or why not?

Images: 1. http://www.sgiquarterly.org/feature2007Jly-11.html This picture is of a nuclear explosion. The story 'There Will Come Soft Rains' is set in the near future, where due to nuclear warfare (since this story was written by Ray Bradbury during the beginning of the cold war), the city of Allendale, CA has been destroyed by an explosion much like the one above.

2. https://sites.google.com/a/webarts.ca/structuredwiring/ This picture is of 'The Jetsons', a fictional cartoon family of the future. In their TV show, the Jetsons live in an automated home that is able to perform daily tasks for them. Similar to this, the house in 'There Will Come Soft Rains' is also automated to be able to perform tasks for the family who lived there.

3. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/digital-clock/id287522924?mt=8 The above picture represents multiple things in the story. First of all, this story takes place in the time of the future, or in other words, not during our current time period. Also, the house in the story announces the time in the house with different messages for each time throughout the story.

4. http://dog-site.net/2012/dog-rashes-pictures/ In the story 'There Will Come Soft Rains', a dog that belonged to the deceased owners of the future house comes back to look for its owners. It was badly injured from radiation (with rashes and boils like the dog shown above), and sadly ends up dying in the story from its illness.

5. http://activerain.com/blogsview/250827/brian-buffini-s-house-burned-down-update- At the end of this short story by Ray Bradbury, the automated house of the future ends up losing control of some of the actions that occur in the house. It ends up being burned down much like the house in this picture, with just one wall remaining in tact where the automated voice called out actions and times to its late owners.

Extender: Quinn LeGallo-Malone

3 questions from Quinn LeGallo-Malone: 1. What kind of animal comes to the house? 2. What do you think destroyed the area around the house? Why? 3. Do you think that nature would be affected if mankind wiped itself out through war? Why?

1. I though of the video game Fallout 3. This game takes place in the future after a nuclear war has eradicated most of the life on Earth. The player character survives the war by hiding in an underground vault. This reminded me of the short story because both of these works take place in a post apocalypse world. The game actually makes an allusion to this short story when the player walks into an abandoned house, and a robot reads the poem //There Will Come Soft Rains//, the same poem read in the short story.

2. I thought of the Pixar movie WALL-E. In the movie many tasks normally done by humans are accomplished by robots, just as in the short story. In WALL-E the humans delegate simple tasks, such as walking and getting dressed, to robots. This differs from the short story because in the story robots have not completely taken over human life.

3. I thought of the real life event of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. The story reminded me of this event because at Chernobyl the area was completely devastated by radiation and the area many miles from the site has to be evacuated. This is like the story because the area around Chernobyl became a deserted waste land. It is also similar because the area in the story was implied to have been hit by a nuclear bomb.

4. I thought of the song //I Don't Want to Set to Set the World on Fire// by The Ink Spots. This song reminds me of the story because it is about fire, which destroys the house at the end of the story. This song reminds me of the story's setting because it is the theme song for the game Fallout 3, which heavily reminds me of this story. The Song

Vocabulary Builder -- Wade Foster

What did the robotic cleaners imitate? Why did the house’s voice choose that particular poem? What happened to Allendale, California?


 * Robot**: a machine or mechanical device that operates automatically.

The story mentions several times the robotic machines that clean and operate the house’s daily functions. This is used by the author to imply, when the owners of the house were present, that the owners played a very small role in the house’s maintenance, and one may argue that the robotic presence symbolizes a lack of the human element in the household.


 * Mysterious**: of obscure nature, meaning, or origin.

The story is very mysterious indeed; many things are not revealed to the reader, such as the reason for the house’s abandonment. The origin of the supposed apocalypse is another mystery, as is the circumstances surrounding the creation of Allendale, California. The author only reveals that which is required to make the reader think, and it is possible that more information would cause the reader to think about the story less.


 * Mechanical**: acting or performed without spontaneity, spirit, or individuality.

The robotic caretakers of the household, being mechanical by nature, inject another atmosphere into the story: that of a monotonous daily grind for the inhabitants of Allendale. The automated schedule of the house gives the reader a glimpse of the day-to-day life of the house’s family. Again, the robots behind the house’s functions are of far less individuality than is a human were to actually complete the tasks himself.


 * Recall**: to bring back from memory, recollect, or remember.

The disrepair that the house falls into urges the reader to think back on the house’s past, about the golden days of Allendale. The voice of the house asks a resident, presumably the wife of the family, what poem she would like read to her; when the voice is met with silence, it reads the resident’s favorite poem from memory. The voice clearly knows the resident very well, and this shows a past sense of intimacy in the household as well.


 * Attic**: the part of a building, especially of a house, directly under a roof.

The attic, in the current day, is often used to store vast amounts of family memories, such as childhood toys, photo albums, and heirlooms. In this story, the author implies that the attic’s function as a memory cell has been retained, but has also been done away with. The attic is now the location of the “brain” of the house, which operates its robotic janitors. This can be taken as a loss of the sense of importance of family memories, seeing as they have been replaced and removed.


 * Smoke**: the visible vapor and gases given off by a burning or smoldering substance.

Something unsubstantial, or without result.

Smoke is mentioned just once in the story of August 2026, when the house is consumed by fire and destroyed. The use of smoke in that instance can be taken literally, but also as a symbol, for the smoke of the house joins the smoke of, presumably, the other houses turned to rubble. The smoke goes up as the town falls down. The smoke also represents the futility of Allendale, as the city was destroyed so easily, despite its painstaking construction.


 * Explosion:** an act or instance of exploding.

A violent outburst, as of laughter or anger.

The destruction of the house happened very quickly and suddenly, almost like an explosion. It was as if someone took out an enormous rage on the house, as well as the city.


 * Silence** Absence of any sound or noise.

The state of being forgotten.

The house, in its final hours, was silent. With the residents dead, the house continued its monotonous cycle of maintenance, in ultimate futility. This, one can assume, was the fate of the hundreds of thousands of other houses, rendering the city utterly silent. The residents of the city, however, were rendered silent as well. The house’s attempt to preserve the schedules of its owners failed, and the memories were lost.


 * Save** To keep safe, intact, or unhurt.

Much like a person who denies his loss in the midst of grief, the house was in denial. As it tried to preserve the recollection of its late residents, to make them safe, it continued with the


 * Decay** To decline in excellence, prosperity, health.

Many things in this story were in decay, far before the physical destruction of the house. The human element decayed with the omnipresence of robots. The peace and tranquility of the world decayed with the war that destroyed Allendale, California. The sanity of the house decayed as it denied the loss of its owner. And, of course, the now destroyed house slowly decays, along with the entire city of Allendale.

Brett Eubank~Character Tracker

1. What was on the side of the house? 2. Infer what happen to city using textual clues provide at least 2 clues. 3. Compare and contrast this version of the future with that of own version of the future. I choose to do the house because it was the only character that was in the short story.

Repetitive because throughout it would Repeat itself "it repeated the date for memory's sake" bradbury wrote in the 3 paragraph 1st page

Afraid during the short story it Says "it quivered at each sound, the house did." (Bradbury 2nd page, 2 paragraph) this shows the house was sacred That something was going to happen to it.

Efficient because the house would cook at certain times and have a certain way to do it. "Eight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunnyside up, sixteen slices of bacon, two coffees, and two cool glasses of milk" ( bradbury page 1 paragraph 2)

Tidy because the house would clean and such after such things like "Nine-fifteen, sang the clock, time to clean" (bardbury page 1, paragraph 8)

Oblivious because it has no idea that the people are dead and continues to do the same as usually as if the still were still alive. "Ten-Fifteen... The gentle sprinkler rain filled the garden with falling light." (bradbury paragraph 11-13 page 1)