Name: Date: Period: Vocabulary Directions: Circle the letter of the word that is an antonym for the given vocabulary word. 1. amiss a) out of place b) right c) fallacious 2. flimsy a) strong b) feeble c) fragile 3. dwindles a) wither b) subside c) expand 4. forlorn a) desolate b) pessimistic c) pleased 5. recedes a) diminish b) advance c) regress
Key Story Elements Directions: Define the following terms. Then name an event from the story that matches each plot element. 6. Plot The sequence of events in a story. 7. Exposition The introduction of characters and setting in the beginning of the story. Event from story Earthlings move to Mars. Harry, Cora, Dan, David, and Laura are among them. 8. Rising Action A series of events that advance the story s action. The character takes steps to resolve the conflict or solve the problem. Event from story The rockets are blown up on Earth. Harry wants to build a rocket to get back to Earth but the townspeople are mocking him. The plants and animals start to change in appearance, smell, and taste. The humans start to change in appearance. Harry speaks Martian. He notices that his family is changing also. Harry goes swimming with his family in the canal and leaves the rocket for another day. Dan wants to change his name form Dan to Linnl. His parents agree. 9. Climax The most exciting moment in the story, the turning point. Event from story The Earthling/ Martians move from their town to the villa. They are leaving many of their belongings behind. 10. Conflict The problem in the story that the character must overcome. Event from story The Earthlings are changing from humans to Martians. Harry is the only one who seems to care about the change and tries to fight it. 11. Falling Action The conflict has ended and the results are decided. Event from story A rocket lands on Mars and the Earthlings talk with the native Martians. 12. Resolution / Denouement Loose ends in the story are tied up. The little things that weren t part of the main conflict are explained. Event from story There are new settlements and naming of landmarks. The cycle begins all over. 13. What happens in a circular plot structure? The ending of the story repeats details and events from the beginning. It s a cycle that happens over, and over, and over again.
Organizers for Elements Directions: Complete the following organizers for the skills and strategies we have practiced this story. Give me a sentence for each of the five senses present in Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed. Then, tell me WHY that sentence helps you visualize that sense. 14. Define visualizing. Visualizing is using the five senses to help you be a part of the story and comprehend what is happening further. 15. Hear Sentence: There was no answer but the racing hiss of the wind through the stiff grass. Explanation: I could hear a hissing sound. Onomatopoeia helps me hear sounds that the characters may be hearing. 16. Touch Sentence: Sweat poured from his face and his hands and his body. Explanation: The author does a good job with word choice when he uses the word pour. I have sweat before and can feel what Harry is feeling at that moment. 17. Taste Sentence: Earth people left to the strangeness of Mars, the cinnamon dusts and wine airs, to be baked like gingerbread shapes in Martian summers, put into harvested storage by Martian winters. Explanation: I have had cinnamon and gingerbread before. They are very dry tastes. When Ray Bradbury used these tastes to describe the Martian summer, these foods came to my mind when mention and I could taste them in my mouth. 18. Smell Sentence: A Martian virus maybe; some seed, or pollen. Explanation: When the author used the words seed and pollen I could smell the outside. The outside always has a different smell than the inside. That s what I visualized. 19. See Sentence: 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. Explanation: Strong word connotations were used when author describes the way the family looked. He used colors, such as golden, black, metallic, violet, and green, to help me see what Harry saw.
Short Answer Questions Directions: Answer the following short answer questions in 5-7 complete sentences. YOU MUST HAVE EXACT QUOTES FROM THE TEXT IN YOUR ANSWERS TO SUPPORT THEM!!! Remember to use correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and complete sentences!!! 20. What was your reaction to the changes that took place in the colonists from Earth? Answers will vary. My reaction to the changes that took place in the colonists from Earth was suspense. The author did a great job of convincing me that it was really happen instead of it being a fictional story. In the story, Harry changes mentally and socially. In the story it says, You re getting thinner, Harry. I m not! And taller. Liar! Harry is refusing to accept that he is changing. His personality traits are changing throughout the story and he is becoming more aggressive and paranoid. Having Harry s character traits change was a great way of convincing the reader that changes were actually taking place. 21. In your opinion, what is the significance of the physical and psychological changes that take place in the Bitterings? I think the significance of the physical and psychological changes that take place in the Bitterings is to show that Earth is becoming less important to them. Their earthly qualities and values diminish. They don t even want their possessions from Earth that they brought with them. They would rather have any empty villa than their possessions from Earth. They also begin to speak Martian as if they always knew the words. In the story, Harry speaks the Martian word for Earth. Iorrt. Iorrt. He repeated. It was a Martian word. He knew no Martian. Harry is changing but ignoring the change. He feels that he can somehow stop this metamorphosis. The other Earthlings don t seem to care, as if they were swallowed up by the Martian wind. 22. What do you think happened to the original inhabitants of Mars? What do you think will happen to the Bitterings? I think the original inhabitants of Mars are still there on Mars, but are no longer visible. They have submerged with the wind and atmosphere. The inhabitants are what is making the atmosphere and wind change the Earthlings. They are like a plague that has taken over. I think that the Bitterings will eventually disappear in appearance but will combine with the atmosphere to change the next set of Earthlings to come visit. David has a god sense of something that is going on on Mars. He says, I don t know. Maybe there is something we don t se. Sometimes nights I think I hear em. I hear the wind. The sand hits my window. I get scared. And I see those towns way up in the mountains where the Martians lived a long time ago. And I think I see things moving around those towns, Papa. And I wonder if those Martians mind us living here. I wonder if they won t do something to us for coming here. David seems to sense something the rest of the colonists don t. He knows that the Martians are still there in spirit changing the colonists with the help of the wind.
23. Does the character of Harry Bittering make the story more or less believable? The character of Harry Bittering makes the story more believable because of the way he deals with his family and his own conflict. He gives in when he realizes that he might lose his family. If he keeps fighting the Martian wind, he will be all alone. Loneliness can make a person go crazy. There s no one to talk to, no one to socialize with, no one to keep you sane. Harry seems to feel that he must allow the change to happen so that he will keep his sanity. Harry is still like a normal person, even up to the falling action of the story. He still realizes that he has work to do, but he also realizes that if he does work on the rocket, he will lose the most important thing to him, his family. In the text it says, No! cried part of him, deep down, put away, locked tight, suffocating. No! No! Harry still has internal struggles as all human does. He still has parts of him that are human even though they are deep down inside him. Him holding on to his humanness is what makes his character believable. 24. What elements make a story science fiction? What are the elements in Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed that make it a science fiction story? Name examples and quotes from the text in your answer. The elements that make a story science fiction are events that could not happen, events that take place in the future, events having to do with time travel, events that deal with space, or events that deal with the use of advanced technology. Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed contains the scientific elements of events that take place in the future, events that deal with space, and events that use advanced technology. The first sentence of the story states, The rocket metal cooled in the meadow winds. Its lid gave a bulging pop. From its clock interior stepped a man, a woman, and three children. The other passengers whispered away across the Martian meadow, leaving the man alone among his family. This first paragraph already supports that this story is science fiction due to being in outer space, using advanced technology through the use of a rocket ship, and that it takes place in the future because any ordinary humans could travel to Mars in the present day. 25. What is symbolism? Define and describe it in your own words. You do not need quotes from the text for this question. Two three sentences is all that is required. Symbolism is the representation of something in symbolic form. You are not only reading the text, but you are also looking closely at what the author is saying and how he/she is saying it.