All Summer in a Day - Wikispaces · 6 All Summer in a Day ... In some stories, the setting causes characters to act in certain ways. ... in a Day,” make a chart like the one below

6 All Summer in a Day

Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

Preparing to Read

All Summer in a DayBy Ray Bradbury

LITERARY SKILLS FOCUS: SETTINGThe plot is the series of events that make up a story. Setting is where and

when the story takes place. In some stories, the setting causes characters to

act in certain ways. For example, in this story, the weather on Venus causes

the characters to act in strange ways. As you read, think about how setting

affects the plot of the story.

READING SKILLS FOCUS: SEQUENCINGThe order of events in a story is called sequence. Understanding when

events take place is important to understanding the plot of a story.

To keep track of the main events, or things that happen, in “All Summer

in a Day,” make a chart like the one below. Number each event. Then tell

what happens in your own words.

VOCABULARYfrail (FRAYL) adj.: not very strong; easily broken.

vital (VY TUHL) adj.: necessary for life; very important.

consequence (KON SUH KWEHNS) n.: importance.

surged (SURJD) v.: moved forward, as if in a wave.

savored (SAY VUHRD) v.: delighted in.

INTO THE STORYThis story takes place on the planet Venus, where humans have come to

set up a colony. Although the description of the planet is made up by the

author, Venus is a real planet. It is the second plant from the sun and is very

hot and dry. But on Venus—at least in the setting that Bradbury describes—

the sun appears for only two hours every seven years.

Order Event

1 The children are waiting for the rain to stop.

2

3

HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_006.indd 6HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_006.indd 6 10/2/08 8:50:47 AM10/2/08 8:50:47 AMProcess CyanProcess CyanProcess MagentaProcess MagentaProcess YellowProcess YellowProcess BlackProcess Black PDF

All Summer in a Day 7

Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

“Ready.”“Ready.”“Now?”“Soon.”“Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it?”“Look, look; see for yourself!”The children pressed to each other like so many roses,

so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a look at the hidden sun.

It rained.It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon

thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion1 of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands. A thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again. And this was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives. A B C

IN OTHER WORDS Young children eagerly look outside,

searching for the sun. They are the children of astronauts

who settled on Venus, where it has rained every day for the

last seven years. The children, however, seem to think that

something special will happen today.

“It’s stopping, it’s stopping!”

All Summer ina Day

by Ray Bradbury

10

20

© Digital Art/Corbis

ComprehensionSo how are things starting off?

READ AND DISCUSSA

Literary FocusSo far I can see that the setting of this story is on Venus, where it rains every day. Today though, the children are looking for the sun. I think that part of the plot will be about the rain finally stopping.

HERE’S HOWB

Reading FocusA lot is happening, so I will pause and review the sequence, or order of events, so far: 1. The children were looking

outside for the sun. 2. The author explained that

they live on Venus, where it had been raining for the last seven years.

HERE’S HOWC

1. concussion (KUHN KUH SHUHN): violent shaking or shock.

“All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury. Copyright © 1954 and renewed © 1982 by Ray Bradbury. Reproduced by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc.

HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_007-014.indd 7HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_007-014.indd 7 2/27/08 12:40:40 PM2/27/08 12:40:40 PMProcess CyanProcess CyanProcess MagentaProcess MagentaProcess YellowProcess YellowProcess BlackProcess Black PDF


Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

“Yes, yes!” A

Margot stood apart from them, from these children who could never remember a time when there wasn’t rain and rain and rain. They were all nine years old, and if there had been a day, seven years ago, when the sun came out for an hour and showed its face to the stunned world, they could not recall. Sometimes, at night, she heard them stir, in remembrance, and she knew they were dreaming and remembering gold or a yellow crayon or a coin large enough to buy the world with. She knew they thought they remembered a warmness, like a blushing in the face, in the body, in the arms and legs and trembling hands. But then they always awoke to the tatting drum, the endless shaking down of clear bead necklaces upon the roof, the walk, the gardens, the forests, and their dreams were gone.

All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how hot. And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it. B

I think the sun is a flowerThat blooms for just one hour.That was Margot’s poem, read in a quiet voice in the still

classroom while the rain was falling outside.“Aw, you didn’t write that!” protested one of the boys.“I did,” said Margot. “I did.”“William!” said the teacher.But that was yesterday. Now the rain was slackening2, and

the children were crushed in the great thick windows.

IN OTHER WORDS The children notice the rain dying

down. They are all nine years old—too young to remember

when it last stopped raining on Venus seven years ago. A girl

named Margot seems to remember the sun, but she stands

alone because the children are often mean to her.

“Where’s teacher?”“She’ll be back.”

30

40

2. slackening (SLA KUH NIHNG): lessening; slowing.

Language CoachThe author uses strong words and powerful dialogue to help bring the story to life. I can tell from the exclamation marks that the children are really excited.

HERE’S HOWA

ComprehensionWhat are we learning from this part?

READ AND DISCUSSB

HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_007-014.indd 8HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_007-014.indd 8 10/2/08 8:51:11 AM10/2/08 8:51:11 AMProcess CyanProcess CyanProcess MagentaProcess MagentaProcess YellowProcess YellowProcess BlackProcess Black PDF


Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

“She’d better hurry; we’ll miss it!”They turned on themselves like a feverish wheel, all

tumbling spokes. Margot stood alone. She was a very frail girl who looked as

if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke at all her voice would be a ghost. Now she stood, separate, staring at the rain and the loud wet world beyond the huge glass. C

“What’re you looking at?” said William.Margot said nothing.“Speak when you’re spoken to.” He gave her a shove. But she

did not move; rather she let herself be moved only by him and nothing else. D

They edged away from her; they would not look at her. She felt them go away. And this was because she would play no games with them in the echoing tunnels of the underground city. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow. When the class sang songs about happiness and life and games, her lips barely moved. Only when they sang about the sun and the summer did her lips move as she watched the drenched windows. E

IN OTHER WORDS While waiting for the teacher to

return, a boy named William pushes Margot. She does not

respond. The children dislike Margot because she refuses to

play games with them or sing songs in class.

And then, of course, the biggest crime of all was that she had come here only five years ago from Earth, and she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and the sky was when she was four in Ohio. And they, they had been on Venus all their lives, and they had been only two years old when last the sun came out and had long since forgotten the color and heat of it and the way it really was. But Margot remembered.

50

60

70

VocabularyBased on the description of Margot in this paragraph, I think that frail means “weak.” I checked the dictionary and I was right!

HERE’S HOWC

Literary FocusThe plot changes here as William picks on Margot. How do you feel about William now?

YOUR TURND

VocabularyFrom context clues, I think that drenched means “very wet” or “soaked.” I checked my dictionary and I was right.

HERE’S HOWE



Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

“It’s like a penny,” she said once, eyes closed.“No, it’s not!” the children cried.“It’s like a fire,” she said, “in the stove.”“You’re lying; you don’t remember!” cried the children.But she remembered and stood quietly apart from all of them

and watched the patterning windows. And once, a month ago, she had refused to shower in the school shower rooms, had clutched her hands to her ears and over her head, screaming the water mustn’t touch her head. So after that, dimly, dimly, she sensed it, she was different, and they knew her difference and kept away. A

There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family. B And so, the children hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future. C

“Get away!” The boy gave her another push. “What’re you waiting for?”

Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes.

“Well, don’t wait around here!” cried the boy savagely. “You won’t see nothing!” D

IN OTHER WORDS Margot feels like an outsider with the

other children because she moved to Venus from Earth just

five years ago. She still remembers Earth and argues with her

classmates about what the sun is like. Today, William seems

determined to torment her.

Her lips moved.“Nothing!” he cried. “It was all a joke, wasn’t it?” He turned

to the other children. “Nothing’s happening today. Is it?”They all blinked at him and then, understanding, laughed

and shook their heads. “Nothing, nothing!”“Oh, but,” Margot whispered, her eyes helpless. “But this is

the day, the scientists predict, they say, they know, the sun . . .”

80

90

100

VocabularyI am not sure what dimly means. It is used twice in the same sentence, so I think it is important. The dictionary says it means “in a manner not understood clearly.”

HERE’S HOWA

VocabularyLook at the word vital. In Latin, words with the roots vit- and viv- relate to life. Knowing this, what might vital mean?

YOUR TURNB

ComprehensionWhat is going on with Margot?

READ AND DISCUSSC

VocabularyI do not know what savagely means. The story says the boy “cried,” or yelled savagely. By its context here, I think savagely means “wildly.” I checked my dictionary, and I was right.

HERE’S HOWD


© Anthony Redpath/Corbis


Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

“All a joke!” said the boy, and seized her roughly. “Hey everyone, let’s put her in a closet before teacher comes!”

“No,” said Margot, falling back.They surged about her, caught her up and bore her,

protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. E F They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it. They heard her muffled cries. Then, smiling, they turned and went out and back down the tunnel, just as the teacher arrived. G

“Ready, children?” She glanced at her watch.“Yes!” said everyone.“Are we all here?”“Yes!” H

The rain slackened still more.They crowded to the huge door.The rain stopped.

IN OTHER WORDS While bullying Margot, William tells

her that it will not stop raining today. The rest of the class

plays along with this joke. Margot is hurt and the children

Reading FocusReview and record the story’s sequence in lines 100–115.

YOUR TURNE

VocabularyBased on the action in this sentence, what might the word surged mean?

YOUR TURNF

ComprehensionWhat picture is the author creating for us?

READ AND DISCUSSG

110

120 ComprehensionHow do the children seem to feel about what they have done to Margot?

READ AND DISCUSSH



Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

lock her in a closet. They return to the classroom to meet their

teacher, and suddenly, the rain stops.

It was as if, in the midst of a film concerning an avalanche, a tornado, a hurricane, a volcanic eruption, something had, first, gone wrong with the sound apparatus, thus muffling and finally cutting off all noise, all of the blasts and repercussions and thunders, and then, second, ripped the film from the projector and inserted in its place a peaceful tropical slide which did not move or tremor. The world ground to a standstill. The silence was so immense and unbelievable that you felt your ears had been stuffed or you had lost your hearing altogether. The children put their hands to their ears. They stood apart. The door slid back and the smell of the silent, waiting world came in to them.

The sun came out. A

It was the color of flaming bronze and it was very large. And the sky around it was a blazing blue tile color. And the jungle burned with sunlight as the children, released from their spell, rushed out, yelling, into the springtime.

“Now, don’t go too far,” called the teacher after them. “You’ve only two hours, you know. You wouldn’t want to get caught out!”

But they were running and turning their faces up to the sky and feeling the sun on their cheeks like a warm iron; they were taking off their jackets and letting the sun burn their arms.

“Oh, it’s better than the sun lamps, isn’t it?”“Much, much better!” B

They stopped running and stood in the great jungle that covered Venus, that grew and never stopped growing, tumultuously,3 even as you watched it. It was a nest of octopuses, clustering up great arms of fleshlike weed, wavering, flowering in this brief spring. It was the color of rubber and ash, this jungle, from the many years without sun. It was the color of stones and white cheeses and ink, and it was the color of the moon. C

Literary FocusWhat major event just happened in the story’s plot? How do you think this will affect the characters?

YOUR TURNA

Language CoachHow does this use of dialogue add to the story?

YOUR TURNB

3. tumultuously (TOO MUHL CHOO UHS LEE): wildly; violently.

ComprehensionWhat has occurred here?

READ AND DISCUSSC

130

140

150

HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_007-014.indd 12HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_007-014.indd 12 10/2/08 8:51:49 AM10/2/08 8:51:49 AMProcess CyanProcess CyanProcess MagentaProcess MagentaProcess YellowProcess YellowProcess BlackProcess Black PDF


Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

IN OTHER WORDS As the rain stops, the silence seems

strange to the children. They race outside. Amazed by the

sunlight, they run wildly and explore the Venus jungle.

The children lay out, laughing, on the jungle mattress and heard it sigh and squeak under them, resilient4 and alive. They ran among the trees, they slipped and fell, they pushed each other, they played hide-and-seek and tag, but most of all they squinted at the sun until tears ran down their faces; they put their hands up to that yellowness and that amazing blueness and they breathed of the fresh, fresh air and listened and listened to the silence which suspended them in a blessed sea of no sound and no motion. They looked at everything and savored everything. D Then, wildly, like animals escaped from their caves, they ran and ran in shouting circles. They ran for an hour and did not stop running.

And then—In the midst of their running, one of the girls wailed.Everyone stopped.The girl, standing in the open, held out her hand.“Oh, look, look,” she said, trembling.They came slowly to look at her opened palm.In the center of it, cupped and huge, was a single raindrop. She began to cry, looking at it. They glanced quietly at the sky.“Oh. Oh.”A few cold drops fell on their noses and their cheeks and

their mouths. The sun faded behind a stir of mist. A wind blew cool around them. They turned and started to walk back toward the underground house, their hands at their sides, their smiles vanishing away. E F

IN OTHER WORDS The children play cheerfully in the

glow of the sun. After a while, raindrops begin falling and the

children walk sadly back to their underground school.

4. resilient (RIH ZIHL YUHNT): springy, quick to recover.

VocabularyThink about how you would feel about seeing the sun for the first time in seven years. Considering this, what might the word savored mean?

YOUR TURND

Reading FocusReview and record the story’s sequence in lines 158–184.

YOUR TURNE

160

170

180

ComprehensionWhat has happened here?

READ AND DISCUSSF



Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

A boom of thunder startled them, and like leaves before a new hurricane, they tumbled upon each other and ran. Lightning struck ten miles away, five miles away, a mile, a half-mile. The sky darkened into midnight in a flash.

They stood in the doorway of the underground for a moment until it was raining hard. Then they closed the door and heard the gigantic sound of the rain falling in tons and avalanches, everywhere and forever.

“Will it be seven more years?”“Yes. Seven.”Then one of them gave a little cry.“Margot!” “What?”“She’s still in the closet where we locked her.” “Margot.” A

They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor. They looked at each other and then looked away. They glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They could not meet each other’s glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their faces down.

“Margot.”One of the girls said, “Well . . . ?”No one moved.“Go on,” whispered the girl.They walked slowly down the hall in the sound of cold rain.

They turned through the doorway to the room in the sound of the storm and thunder, lightning on their faces, blue and terrible. They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood by it.

Behind the closet door was only silence.They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot

out. B

IN OTHER WORDS As the children come inside, they

remember that Margot is locked in the closet. They all feel

horrible for not letting her enjoy the sun. Eventually they go

to the closet and slowly let Margot out.

Literary FocusWhat important event just happened in the story’s plot?

YOUR TURNA

ComprehensionWhat does this say about the students?

READ AND DISCUSSB

190

200

210


Applying Your Skills


Copyr

ight

© b

y H

olt, R

inehar

t an

d W

inst

on.

All

righ

ts r

ese

rved.

All Summer in a DayCOMPREHENSION WRAP-UP

1. What point could the author be trying to make?

2. Why do you think the other children were so cruel, or mean, to Margot?

LITERARY SKILLS FOCUS: SETTING1. Why is the setting of this story the most important part of the plot?

2. In some ways the children act like children on Earth. How might the plot be

different if the children were nicer to Margot?

READING SKILLS FOCUS: SEQUENCING

DIRECTIONS: Fill in the sequence chart below by telling the events in the story from

Margot’s point of view and in the correct order that they occurred.

Order Events

1

2

3

4

VOCABULARY REVIEW

DIRECTIONS: Complete the sentences below by writing the correct vocabulary

words in the blanks. Not all of the words will be used.

1. When the children locked Margot in the closet, they were not thinking

about the of their actions.

2. The children toward the door, excited to see

sunlight for the first time in seven years.

3. As a small girl, Margot was and often teased

by her classmates.

frail

vital

consequence

surged

savored

HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_015.indd 15HIRELD_G06_C1_2P_015.indd 15 10/2/08 8:52:33 AM10/2/08 8:52:33 AMProcess CyanProcess CyanProcess MagentaProcess MagentaProcess YellowProcess YellowProcess BlackProcess Black PDF

Documents

All Summer in a Day - Wikispaces · 6 All Summer in a Day ... In some stories, the setting causes characters to act in certain ways. ... in a Day,” make a chart like the one below