Programa de Lenguas - PROSAP Advanced
Activities from “Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed” by Ray Bradbury a) Reader´s Quiz Some of these statements are true, some are false. Can you tell which are true, and why the others are not? 1. Mr. Bittering´s first reaction when he landed on Mars was good; he knew he would like this new life. 2. After the Bitterings had arrived on Mars, atomic bombs blew up all the space ships on Earth. 3. One of the first signs of change that Harry Bittering noticed was the difference in the flowers on the peach tree. 4. Harry actually sank down into the canal and stayed underwater like a fish. 5. The Earth people left their town and went up into the hills, but they never forgot their origins and who they were. b) Comprehension Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Why did Harry Bittering want to go back to Earth? Why did his wife want to stay? What were some of the changes he noticed in the people and things from Earth? How did he react, how did he feel about these changes? How did others feel about the changes?
c) About the story Ray Bradbury writes poetically: the rockets had spun a silver web across space (like spiders spinning their delicate webs) What are some of the other poetic expressions (similes and metaphors) that make his story vivid and haunting? (a) Give three other examples of similes used in the story. (b) Give three other examples of metaphors used in the story. A simile is a figure of speech in which something from one field of experience is said to be similar to something in another field. It is used to help us imagine more clearly something being described by comparing it with something else. A simile begins with “like” or “as”. For example: as marrow comes from a white bone like children’s delicate bones A metaphor is a figure of speech in which an expression from one field of experience is used to say something in another field. A metaphor goes one step further than a simile and makes the comparison a direct one, omitting the words “like” or “as”. It helps us to imagine something being described by saying it is something else. For example: