All Summer in a Day By Ray Bradbury Part 2

Warm Up Work with a partner. Pretend one person is Margot from “All Summer in a Day” and the other person is William or another on of the children who locked Margot in the closet. You’re conversation will take place IMMEDIATELY after the story ends. That means this is the conversation that Margot and William (or another child) have just after they let her out of the closet. Think about how each person would feel in the situation and put it into your conversation. This is informal. You’re not going to display for the rest of the class. Have fun.

Question time You may have noticed that your desks are arranged differently. You’ll be working with the person across/next to you on a reading question. I would like for you to take your time and put together a thoughtful and full response to the question. Let’s try one together.

“I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.”   That was Margot’s poem, read in a quiet voice in the still classroom while the rain was falling outside. "Aw, you didn’t write that!" protested William.  ___________________________________ Now she stood, separate, staring at the rain and the loud wet world beyond the huge glass. "What’re you looking at?" said William. Look at the dialogue in Bold. They are the first things that William says to Margot in the story. Why does William have these reactions? William is jealous of Margot’s experiences on Earth and her history of the sun. He is angry that he isn’t able to specifically express his feelings about the sun like she can because he never experienced the sun. He would rather bully her about her experiences than admit he has no experiences of the sun to remember.

Let’s Review You’re going to be moving around some. There were two people with each question. People in the left row, you’re going to slide over one seat and face a new person. With your new partner, I’d like for you to read your question, and your excerpt. Discuss your answer with your new partner. Partners: Listen carefully to your friend’s response and ask one thoughtful question. After both partners have shared their thoughts, we’ll switch seats again until we have review all of the questions.

Discussion Question # 1 The author provides a vivid description of life on Venus. Describe the setting and how it affects the mood. Why does the author begin the story this way?

Discussion Question # 2 “They turned on themselves, like a feverish wheel, all tumbling spokes. Margot stood alone. She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke at all her voice would be a ghost. Now she stood, separate, staring at the rain and the loud wet world beyond the huge glass.” Reread the passage on the left. Bradbury states, "She was an old photograph". What can the reader infer about Margot’s character from this passage?

Discussion Question # 3 “But she remembered and stood quietly apart from all of them and watched the patterning windows. And once, a month ago, she had refused to shower in the school shower rooms, had clutched her hands to her ears and over her head, screaming the water mustn’t touch her head. So after that, dimly, dimly, she sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family. And so, the children hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future.” Look at the passage on the left. What evidence shows that it is vital for Margot to return to earth even though it may result in the loss of thousands of dollars to her family? vital adjective 1: necessary to life 2: of critical importance

Discussion Question # 4 “But she remembered and stood quietly apart from all of them and watched the patterning windows. And once, a month ago, she had refused to shower in the school shower rooms, had clutched her hands to her ears and over her head, screaming the water mustn’t touch her head. So after that, dimly, dimly, she sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family. And so, the children hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future.” Look at the passage on the left. Consequence in the context means “importance”. The levels of importance vary. Bradbury states, "and the children hated Margot for all the big and little consequences”. Some were not very important reasons while one was especially an important reason to the children. What are these “big and little consequences?”   Little: Big:

Discussion Question # 5 They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it. They heard her muffled cries. Then, smiling, the turned and went out and back down the tunnel, just as the teacher arrived. Reread the passage on the left. What motivates the children to do this? You should give reasons and explain your answer.  

Discussion Question # 6 They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it. They heard her muffled cries. Then, smiling, the turned and went out and back down the tunnel, just as the teacher arrived. _______________________________________________   "Margot." One of the girls said, "Well…?" No one moved. "Go on," whispered the girl. They walked slowly down the hall in the sound of cold rain. They turned through the doorway to the room in the sound of the storm and thunder, lightning on their faces, blue and terrible. They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood by it. Behind the closet door was only silence. They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out. Compare how the children walk away from the door when they push Margot into the closet with how the children walk back to the closet to let her out at the end .

“the children are pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed peering out for a look at the hidden sun” through the window. Can anyone tell me what type of literary device or figurative language this is an example of?

Simile / Metaphor A simile is a comparison between two things using like and as. Instead of saying “He ran quickly”. He ran as fast as a cheetah. A metaphor makes a comparison between seemingly unlike things without “like” or “as”. “This room is an Oven!” Do I mean that this classroom is an oven?

“the children are pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed peering out for a look at the hidden sun” through the window. Bradbury uses similes to create vivid images in this story. Read the simile again and explain the comparison being made. Be detailed and look beyond the literal. The children were tightly bunching together in a group to get a look at the sun so the author compares them as a group, to weeds or flowers that grow closely together. There is gloom on Venus but the children are excited to see the sun. By gathering so close together, the author creates a tone of excitement and high anticipation. The tone creates a similar reaction for readers. It creates a high anticipation. Readers want to know if the students on Venus are going to be able to see the sun.

Metaphor / Simile Activity Posted around the room are four different similes or metaphors from Ray Bradbury’s All Summer in a Day. Walk around and copy them onto your graphic organizer. After your copy them down go back to your desk and explain the comparison, much the way we just did. After you have explained the examples, search for your own simile or metaphor in the text and explain it.