Figurative Language
“...the tissues of his body draw tight as if he were standing at the center of a vacuum.” (p2)
What is a simile?
Why does Harry Bittering and his family move to Mars in the beginning of the story?
Harry and his family move to Mars to escape the dangers of nuclear warfare back on Earth.
What is a martian? "The other passengers whispered away across the Martian meadow, leaving the man alone among his family."
someone from Mars or relating to Mars
What is it called when you say one thing and mean another? (opposite of literal)
Figurative Language
“This was the moment Mars had waited for. Now it would eat them.” (p.41)
What is personification?
What bad news does Laura, the daughter, tell her father Mr. Bittering?
Rockets aren't going from Mars to Earth because an atomic bomb hit New York
What does it mean to be stranded? "We're stranded on Mars, for ever and ever!' For a long time there was only the sound of the wind in the late afternoon."
to be left in a difficult or helpless position with no way to leave
What is it called when you use context and your knowledge to make an educated guess?
inference
“I feel like a salt crystal… in a mountain stream, being washed away.” (p15
What is a simile?
What is Mr. Bittering's solution when there are no more rockets to take them back to Earth?
He decides to build one but loses motivation over time.
What does submerged mean? "He felt submerged in a chemical that could dissolve his intellect and burn away his past."
to be covered or lost from sight
What is setting?
When/Where a story takes place
“The children, small seeds, might at any instant be sown to all the Martin climes.” (p2)
What is a metaphor?
What is Mr. Bittering's first clue that his world is changing?
His garden grows green roses and purple grass.
What does flimsy mean? "They found a flimsy rocket frame rusting in an empty shop."
weak, thin, or poorly made, so it breaks, tears, or falls apart easily
What is the acronym used to answer SCR questions?
ACE
“...the fear was never gone. It lay with Mr. Bittering and Mrs. Bittering” (p14)
What is personification?
At the end of the story, when a small military dispatch arrives on Earth 5 years later, what do they think happened to all the Earth settlers?
They think a plague killed everyone
What does forlorn mean? "Dark she was, and golden-eyed, burnt almost black by the sun, sleeping, and the children metallic in their beds, and the wind roaring forlorn and changing through the old peach trees, the violet grass, shaking out green rose petals."
sad and lonely because of isolation or desertion
What is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature?
What is theme?