There Will Come Soft Rains Quiz Answers

1.      The people in the house were killed by an atomic/nuclear bomb or an atomic/nuclear war. Their silhouettes were burned into the wall when they were vaporized by the bombing.

This is a reference (allusion) to the World War II atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Burned silhouettes of people on walls were all over the city.

2.      The man/father was mowing the lawn, the woman/mother was picking flowers, and the two children (a boy and a girl) were throwing a ball back and forth.

3.      Several activities that continued in the house were:

·        The kitchen was still cooking meals.

·        The cleaning mice were still cleaning the house.

·        The house would still set up for Mrs. McClellan’s afternoon bridge game.

·        It still entertained the children with jungle animals in the afternoon.

·        It drew baths for the people in the house.

·        It still narrated the time and schedules of the residents.

·        It still recited poetry and lit a cigar in the evening for the adults.

4.      The author wants readers to know that no matter how good technology is, it cannot save us in the end. It is more harmful than good. Don’t rely too heavily on technology.

No matter how good humans become we can never surpass nature. It always survives somehow in the end.

5.      The house immediately starts trying to put out the fire by closing the windows and doors to prevent more air from feeding the fire and robot water rats run around spraying water. Unfortunately, it spreads too fast and the house’s last resort are the robot hoses that fall from the attic and spray some kind of chemical to put the fire out, but it’s too late and the house explodes.

6.      The house does not respond well to different situations. It isn’t very adaptable or flexible.  Even though there are no humans around to let the dog into the kitchen or to its food source, the house is not able to adapt and feed the dog in its own. It only responds to its original commands verbatim. It is very meticulous in that it makes sure it cleans anything that is considered out of the ordinary and therefore, the dog’s body is incinerated right away.

7.      The message in Sara Teasdale’s poem is about how humans will eventually destroy themselves through war, but nature will prevail even after the extinction of humans. It is ironic because the setting of the story is exactly like it is in the poem.

8.      The house versus the fire (Human vs. nature). When the fire starts, the house does its best to put it out, but in the end, the house succumbs to the fire as it blows up and falls apart.