Name_______________________
Period_______________

Study Guide for Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder”
I. VOCABULARY: Be able to define the following words and understand them when they
appear in the story or class discussion.
annihilate______________________________________________________________________
expendable____________________________________________________________________
infinitesimally__________________________________________________________________
primeval______________________________________________________________________
resilient______________________________________________________________________
revoke_______________________________________________________________________
sheathed______________________________________________________________________
subliminal____________________________________________________________________
taint_________________________________________________________________________
undulate______________________________________________________________________
II. LITERARY TERMS: Be able to define each term and apply each term to the story.
foreshadowing_____________________________________________________________________
Describe what is foreshadowed in this story: _______________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
simile____________________________________________________________________________
example:___________________________________________________________________
metaphor________________________________________________________________________
example:___________________________________________________________________
protagonist________________________________________________________________________
Who is the protagonist of this story?_____________________________________________

III. QUESTIONS: Answer the following questions.
1. What company does Eckels visit?
2. What are the penalties for disobeying instructions?
3. About what is Eckels thankful?
4. What did some people want to do if Deutscher had won the election and why?
5. What does the man behind the desk tell Eckels happened last year that makes Eckels think about going on
the safari?
6. Who is the Safari Leader?
7. How many people besides Eckels are on the trip? Name them.
8. What does Travis tell Eckels is the best way to kill a dinosaur?
9. When the hunters arrive at their destination, what does Travis tell them hasn’t happened yet in history?
10. How many years did the men travel?
11. What is the antigravity metal path and why must the men stay on it?
12. What happened to the machine and the men’s clothes before they made their journey?
13. Why do the men wear oxygen helmets?
14. What is unique about the dinosaurs that the men can shoot?
15. What is a paradox?
16. What does Eckels jokingly pretend to do?

17. How does the reader know Eckels is afraid?
18. What does Eckels say when he sees the size of the dinosaur?
19. How do the men know which dinosaurs they can shoot?
20. Where was Eckels on his way to when he stepped off the path?
21. What do Billings and Kramer do after the dinosaur is dead?
22. What does Lesperance offer Billings and Kramer that they turn down?
23. What does Travis tell Eckels they are going to do to him?
24. What does Travis make Eckels do in order to go back with them?
25. What does Eckels notice about the sign on their return?
26. What does Eckels find on the bottom of his boots?
27. What does Eckels learn about the election?
28. What is the reader to infer that Travis does to Eckels?