There Will Come Soft Rains

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Contemporary Retelling”

Students will write their own flash fiction story in which they adapt "There Will Come Soft Rains” into a contemporary setting focusing on climate change or another threat to humanity.  

Bradbury’s story explores atomic fear during the 1950s and the idea of humanity bringing about its own end. While nuclear weapons remain, other threats against humanity exist as well.

• Brainstorm a list of existential threats to humanity. Consider the environment, technology, and society.
• Brainstorm a possible scenario for a future in which each threat goes unchecked. Consider how the world would be without humans in this scenario.
• Share your ideas with a classmate and respond to their ideas.
• Choose one idea to draft into a flash fiction story, which is 1,000 words or less. Consider incorporating the themes of The Limits of Scientific Progress, Order and Chaos, or Death and the Passage of Time.  

Teaching Suggestion: This activity may help students connect with “There Will Come Soft Rains” by bringing the story’s concepts into a contemporary setting. Encourage students to be specific and concise in their stories.