A Sound of Thunder
1. For your fourth essay you will choose one of the Ray Bradbury’s stories we will study in class, namely, “The Last Night of the World,” “A Sound of Thunder,” or “There Will Come Soft Rains” and write an analysis of the story. You can analyze any of the literary elements we have studied (characters, conflicts, settings, themes, etc.). However, you can choose to analyze horror in the three stories, which I strongly recommend. If you decide to go that way, I suggest the following: • One way to start is by identifying horror. Find a suitable definition, and structure your introduction around it. Make sure your thesis refers to Bradbury’s use of horror in the three stories. You can find a good horror definition here: https://literaryterms.net/horror/ • Next, identify elements of horror in each of the three stories and the characters’ reaction to them. For example: the horror in “The Last Night of the World” is caused by the imminent end of the world. Then, there is the way in which the two main characters accept that reality.
2. Make sure you cite at least one serious source that informs your analysis. Your essay should include at least one in-text citation that corresponds to the source you cited. Consult Analysis p. 1180 in your textbook, Sixth Edition. Read the sample papers provided.
Sample Solution
‘A Sound of Thunder’ is one of the best-known time-travel stories in all of science fiction, and the tale shows Ray Bradbury’s gift for economical yet lyrical prose, tight narrative structure, and sharp delineation of character. We sense that Eckels is going to be a liability on the trip from very early on, and much of the key exposition is carried out through dialogue, as Travis firmly – and with growing impatience – underscores the importance of not altering the past, because this could have terrible consequences far in the future. Ray Bradbury’s classic sci-fi story “A Sound of Thunder” is an example of how horror can be used to illustrate the consequences of disrupting the natural order. In this tale, a group of hunters travel back in time and unwittingly cause drastic changes to their present day world by killing a butterfly that their guide warns them not to touch. By using elements such as suspense, surprise, and fear, Bradbury highlights the negative impact that humans can have on the environment if they do not take responsibility for their actions.
