“The Pedestrian”
Please use your own paper – do not write on this handout!
A. Quickwrite:
What questions do you have about what life will be like in the year 2053? Write them down and save your notes.
B. Graphic Organizer: What’s It All About?
Authors use precise words to suggest meanings in their stories. In “The Pedestrian,” Bradbury describes the setting by using the word silent or silence in three different places in the story. Why would Bradbury choose to emphasize the silence? As you read the story, note the different contexts of Bradbury’s use of silence in the three places listed in the chart below. Then describe the atmosphere he is creating at that moment. Finally, describe your emotional response to each paragraph. After you have completed the chart, answer the questions that follows:
Context / Atmosphere Created / Emotional RespnseParagraph 1
Paragraph 6
Paragrph 9
1. In the final paragraph of the story, Bradbury write that the is “no sound and no motion.” Why do you think he doesn’t simply write as he has in the other parts of the story, that there is silence?
2. Bradbury could be suggesting that if people came to rely completely on television, their lives would become silent. Do you agree with him? Explain why or why not.
C. Words to Own: Question and Answer
Answer the following questins about “The Pedestrian,” using context clues to show that you understand the meaning of the italicized/underlined Words to Own.
1. Does the story manifestits eerie subject matteer right away?
2. Which activity does the police car consider regressive, watching television or walking at night?
3. Does Mr. Mead manifest fear right away when the police car arrives?
4. Which could be described as intermittent in the story, the sound of people laughing or the silence?
5. Which is ebbing in the story, television viewing or crime?
6. Which would be a regressive event in the culture descried in the story, repairing the sidewalks or
eliminating the last police car?
7. Does the police car’s distrust of Mr. Mead ebb as he answers its questions?
8. Could the pedestrian traffic at night be described as intermittent?
D. Grammar Link
Prepositions and Prepositional PhrasesA preposition is a word that shows a relationship between a noun or pronoun and anothr word in the sentence. Here are the most common prepositions.
about at down near to
above before during of under
across behind except off until
after below for on up
against beneath from out upon
along beside in over with
among between into past within
around by like through without
A compound preposition is made up of two or more words.
because of, in addition to, in spite of, next to, on account of
The object of the preposition is the noun or pronoun that follows a preposition.
after dark, among good friends, for you, on my own schedule, with skim milk
A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object, and the object’s modifiers.
across the busy street, behind the red car, near the old neighborhood
A preposition phrase that modifies a noun or pronoun is called an adjective phrase.
“… he would see … homes with their dark windows.”
[with their dark windows modifies the noun homes]
A prepositional phrase that modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb is called an adverb phrase.
“Sometimes he would walk for hours and miles…”
[for hours and miles modifies the verb walk]
You can make your writing more interesting by beginning some sentences with prepositional phrases. Use a comma after two or more introductory prepositional phrases. If there is only one prepositional phrase, use a comma only if it is needed to clarify the meaning.
Examples: a. In ten years of wlkling through the silent city; Leonard Mead had never met another person walking. [Two or more introductory prepositional phrases are followed with a comma.]
b. In the evening, silence ruled the streets. [comma needed to clarify meaning]
c. At midnight he would return to his house. [clear without a comma]
Exercise A: Identifying Prepositional Phrases
Underline each prepositional phrase in the following sentences from “The Pedestrian.” The number in parentheses indicates how many you should find. Note: Do not confuse an infinitive (to + a verb: to win, to lose) with a prepositional phrase (to + a noun or pronoun and any modifiers the noun or pronoun has: to the police car). If a prepositional phrase modifies the object of another prepositional phrase, count the second phrase as a separate phrase.
Example: “On this particular eveninghe began his journey in a westerly direction, toward the hidden sea.” (3)
1. “He listened to the faint push of his soft shoes through autumn leaves … and whistled a cold, quiet whistle between his teeth …” (4)
2. “He stumbled over a particularly uneven section of sidewalk.” (2)
3. “He was within a block of his destination when the lone car turned a corner quite suddently and flashed a fierce white cone of light upon him.” (4)
4. “He put his hand to the door and peered into the back seat, which was a little cell, a little black jail with bars.” (3)
5. “They passed one house on one street a moment later, one house in an entire city of houses that were dark …” (3)
Exercise B: Using Prepositional Phrases to Expand Sentences
Expand each of the following sentences by inserting at least two prepositional phrases that add interesting details.
Example: He walked quickly. He walked quickly down the deserted streeton a moonlit night.
1. He listened.
2. The houses were deserted.
3. A car stopped.
4. The robot spoke.
5. The spaceship took off.
E. Imagery in “The Pedestrian”
Directions: quote passages from the story that demonstrates the type of imagery. Indicate whether this is a positive image or a negative image. Then in your own words, and using complete sentences, discuss what effect this image has on the story. You should find five instances of imagery. You may use two for one type.
Four main effects imagery has on a story: (1) produces an appropriate mood for the events in the story; (2) produces an appropriate emotional response from the reader to the events in the story; (3) reveals the personality of the narrator or character in the story; (4) makes the theme or message in the work easier to understand.
Imagery: Language that appeals to our five senses with descriptive language.
Mood: The feeling or atmosphere created in a story.
Type / Imagery (quote the descriptive language) / Effect of Imagery on StoryVisual/Sight
Auditory/hear
Tactile/touch
Gustatory/taste
Olfactory/smell