A Sound Of Thunder

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the story over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. On several occasions, characters are urged to “stay on the path.” What could the path symbolize, and why is it important to remain on it? Begin your response by asserting what the path symbolizes and why it is so important that no one strays from it (topic sentence). In the body of the essay, provide support for your assertion using details and examples from the story. In a brief conclusion, summarize your assertion and explain how the path’s symbolism is relevant to life today.

2. What is the significance of the recent presidential election for framing the story? Why would Bradbury have chosen to bookend the story with this event? Provide a direct answer to the first question as your topic sentence. Use the body of the essay to support your answer using details and examples from the story, as well as your knowledge of the historical context of the story. In your conclusion, answer the second question by focusing on one main reason Bradbury chose to use a presidential election as a backdrop for the story, and what lesson(s) or truth(s) he communicated in doing so.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Bradbury set this story in 2055, about 100 years after he wrote it. How does this story relate to past events of the 1950s? What might Bradbury have been trying to say about them? The main idea of your essay should identify what point Bradbury was making by dealing with events of the 1950s in his story. Choose three ways in which the story relates to the period in which it was written, and use these as your three supporting points in a thesis statement. Write a body paragraph about each supporting point and include details and examples from the text, explaining how elements from the story relate to life in the 1950s.

2. Discuss Bradbury’s descriptions of machines and those of nature and living things. How are they similar or different, and how do these vivid descriptions work to further the plot or themes of this story? Identify three primary similarities or differences between descriptions of machines and descriptions of nature; use these as your supporting points in the thesis statement and write a body paragraph examining each one to show how each contributes to the plot or one of the story’s themes. Provide direct quotes from the text as support, along with an analysis of how each quote illustrates a similarity or difference, and how it contributes to plot or theme.

3. Describe Eckels’s character development throughout the story. How do his outlook (point 1), confidence level (point 2), and attitude (point 3) toward hunting and time travel change? What significant moments contribute to these changes? Write a separate body paragraph for each point, explaining how Eckels changes in each of these areas using examples from the text as support. As the main idea of your essay, make an overall assertion to describe what kind of change Eckels’s character undergoes.