Welcome to your ultimate study companion for Ray Bradbury’s There Will Come Soft Rains, featured in the ISC Class 11 & 12 English Literature syllabus. This blog provides detailed There Will Come Soft Rains workbook answers : ISC Prism (Evergreen) solutions, helping you decode Bradbury’s visionary tale of a post-human world.
Table of Contents
About The Story :
The living room on August 4, 2006
The story opens at seven o’clock in the morning with the tick-tock of the clock in an automated house in the seemingly destroyed neighbourhood in Allendale, California. The year is 2026. The house equipped with small robots and automatic devices and appliances goes about the routine of preparing food for its inhabitants, the McClellan family. Birthday and anniversary reminders are flashed and sounded. But there seems hardly anyone present to listen and take food. All the same, automatic devices installed in the house, oblivious of the presence of inmates, keep on working as usual. The breakfast stove cooks the typical breakfast : eggs, bacon, toast, coffee and milk. The weather box continues to give the weather and clothing suggestions.
The house cleaned
As there is no one to take food, it has to be disposed of. It is scraped into the disposal, and dishes are promptly cleaned. Tiny mechanical mice emerge from the walls to clean the house. There are sprinklers that are automatically turned on to water the remnants of the garden, which too has been affected like other things. the entire west face of the house is black where the paint has all been burnt of except for a few silhouettes. There is the image of a man and a woman doing work in a lawn, and of a boy and a girl throwing a ball. The rest of the neighbourhood is charred and flattened and a radioactive glow hangs over the city.
A dog enters
This kind of continued vigilance and routine activity has been going on to save the house from destruction, of late. It has never failed to interrogate anyone trying to enter. It has asked for password if anything approaches the house, such as foxes or cats, and it has shut the windows and drawn the shades if a bird flies near the house. It has done so as if the house were paranoid. Despite all this vigil, a dog enters the house. It is because the house is used to its voice. Once huge and fleshy, the dog is now a mere skeleton and covered with sores. The condition of the dog clearly indicates that something catastraphic has happened to the occupants of the house. The dog goes frantically from door to door of this house looking for its family, but it fails to find anyone. The dog begins to froth at the mouth and collapses and dies eventually. Delicately sensing decay, the house’s cleaning mice go into the room to remove the dog. He is deposited into the incinerator in the cellar.
Humming activity resumes
This unusual event has no effect no the automatic devices in the house. Soon the scheduled routine activity starts again. The house prepares lunch, sets up tables and chairs for bridge, and music begins to play. Since there is none to eat or play, the things are bundled back. Later as per the routine, nursery walls begin to glow at 4.30. Animals of different kinds and huses take shape on the glass walls. All sort of entertainment activity is a buzz.
Time for nursery poems
At 9 o’clock, the beds are warmed and readied for children’s hour. As the house prepares itself for night and sleep, ti asks Mrs McClelan, “Which poem would you like this evening?” Naturally, there is no response. So the computer chooses a poem at random and begins to recite Sara Teasdale’s famous poem There will come soft rain and the smell of the ground’.
Herein, Teasdale’s speaker appears to mention a bygone event and asserts that the course and rhythm of nature will go on as usual, unmindful of what happens to the world.
A fire engulfs the house
Later in the night, a furious wind blows and knocks a tree in the kitchen window.It tips over a cleaning solution, which spills over the stove. It starts a fire which enguls the house. The house tries to save itself with the fire extinguishers, but water runs out. Modern technology is pressed into service. Work and confusion go together. There is confusion and pandemonium. Animals in the nursery are in panic. Over all this, the computer is reciting the poem.
The house in ruins
The huge fire burns the house and its gadgets. The house collapses.
Smoke pours from the rubble. Only one wall stands alone. One remaining voice in it is left inside the wall. It repeats in a frightening and weird tone the phrase : Today is August 5, 2026. Today is …. The voice still seems to survive to tell the sad story.
Workbook MCQs :
(I) The author of the story ‘There will Come Soft Rains’ is’
(a) H.G. Wells
(b) Ray Bradbury
(c) Stephen Leacock
(d) Raja Rao
Answer :- (b) Ray Bradbury
(II) The poem with the same title, “There will Come Soft Rains” is by
(a) Walt Whitman
(b) John Keats
(c) Sara Teasdale
(d) William Shakespeare
Answer :- (c) Sara Teasdale
(III) The story begins with churning of the clock announcing which time ?
(a) 6 o’clock
(b) 5 o’clock
(c) 7 o’clock
(d) 8 o’clock
Answer :- (c) 7 o’clock
(IV)What date was announced by the Second Voice?
(a) August 5, 2026
(b) July 5, 2026
(c) August 4, 2026
(d) July 4, 2026
Answer :- (d) July 4, 2026
(V) What did voice repeat about Tilita ?
(a) birthday
(b) marriage anniverssary
(c) appointment with the doctor
(d) none of the above
Answer :- (d) None of the above
(VI) The weather box on the front door say quietly about
(a) strong winds
(b) the possibility of rain
(c) the sunny day
(d) the tempest
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(VII)At what time of the day was the house cleaned ?
(a) 9 o’clock
(b) 9.30 am
(c) 10 o’clock
(d) 10.30 am
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(VIII) What could be seen in the photograph of a woman ?
(a) painting a wall
(b) picking flowers
(c) washing dishes
(d) washing clothes
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(IX) What was wrong with the dog that entered ?
(a) suffering from rabies
(b) covered with sores
(c) badly beaten
(d) bleeding profusely
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(X)Where was the incinerator lying ?
(a) on the porch
(b) in the kitchen
(c) in the cellar
(d) in the backyard
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Logic Based Questions :
(I) The dog is allowed to enter the house because the front door recognized the dog’s voice.
(II) There was no one in the house because it has been destroyed and the inmates killed.
(III) The beds were warmed at night because the nights were too cold.
(IV) The dirty dishes were dropped into a hot washer because they would be cleared by the dish-washing machine there.
(V) Tiny robot mice came out because they were to clean the house.
(VI) The house fails to save itself from the fire because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(VII) No one could enter the house because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(VIII) The mice were angry because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(IX) The voice tells Mrs McClellan that it will read out the poem on its own because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(X) The fire continued to rage because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
Short Answer Questions :
1. What kind of story is “There will Come Soft Rains” ?
Answer :- It is a science fiction story set in the future. The story talks about people’s fears of being transformed into robots or getting replaced by machines. It highlights the way machines are feared to take over all human activities. From cooking, cleaning and gardening to remembering important dates and times, all the activities are taken up by robots and other technical gadgets. There are hardly any human characters or realistic situations in the story. Its achievement lies in the way the story succeeds in conveying the intended massage. It gives an imagined picture of a dreary, deserted and mechanical life resulting as an aftermath of nuclear attack on some city. The story brings out the dangers that technological developments pose to human existence on this earth.
2. Which activities are performed by the devices in the house at seven o’ clock?
Answer :- At seven o’clock the voice sings Tick-tock, seven o’ clock, time to get up. ‘The clock continues to repeat the same thing. Then it says’ seven-nine, breakfast time.’ At this time, another gadget, the breakfast stove gives a hissing sound and ejects eight pieces of perfectly cooked eight eggs, sixteen slices of bacon, two coffees and two cool glasses of milk. Thus, the gadgets at this time perform the function of waking the people up and preparing breakfast for them.
3. Who were the occupants of the house? Where are they now ?
Answer :- The occupants of the house were Mr. Featherstone and Tilita. Apart from these people Mrs. Mcclellan and some school going children used to live there. A dog is also mentioned as one of the occupants of the house. All of them are dead now.
4. What does the weather box warn against? What are the warnings given by it ?
Answer :- The weather box issues warning about rain and suggests to procure raincoats and umbrellas. The warnings issued are, ‘Rain, rain go away, umbrellas raincoats for today.’
5. Explain the cleaning devices in the house.
Answer :- There is an aluminium wedge that throws the eggs into the sink with a metal throat which flushed them out. The hot washer cleans them. There are small cleaning animals made of rubber and metal. These gadgets functioned as cleaning devices.
6. Where was the lonely house standing ? Why was it alone ?
Answer :- The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes. It was the only house left standing there. The house was alone because of the destruction of the whole city as a result of nuclear explosion. The fires had engulfed the whole city and decimated it.
7. Whose photographs were affected in the catastrophe? Which fire spots are mentioned that still remained ?
Answer :- The photographs affected in the catastrophe were of man moving a lawn, a woman bent to pick flowers, and a small boy with hand flung into the air to catch a ball. The five spots of paint mentioned here are the man, the woman, the children and the ball.
8. What does the description of the house tell you about the family and their relationship to nature ?
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9. Why is the dog very thin covered in sores ? What happens to it ?
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10. Which entertainment activities for the members of the family were arranged by the house’s devices ?
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11. What was to be done at 6, 7, 8 pm ?
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12. How did the house catch fire? How did it try to save itself ?
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Long Answer Questions :
1. What is the significance of the title of the story ?
Answer :- ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ appears to be an unusual and a bit lengthy title for a short story. The details concerning the technological gadgets and their replacing human beings forms the main thrust of the story. Here again there appears no direct link between the story and its title. But the significance of the title is realized when the deep and hidden meaning of the story comes forth at the ending of the story. It shows that the soft rains here refers to finer human feelings and experiences. According to the story, the title reveals that these aspects of life will take the centre stage once human beings are freed from their controlled dependence on technological devices. Life will move closer to nature, signified through rains, only when man realizes the destruction, sterility and isolation that technology brings. The rains of realization and wisdom will come to awaken us to the loss we have suffered in the name of leading a comfortable life with the help of science and technology. These aspects of the story bring out the relevance and importance of the title, ‘There Will Come Soft Rains.’
2. Comment on the ending of the story.
Answer :- The ending of the story ‘There Will Come Soft Rains,’ like its title, carries deeper meanings and conveys the message in an indirect way. The whole story is about the dehumanizing impact and negative consequences of the overpowering role played by technological devices in our lives. The voice clock, the cleaning devices and the isolation of the house engulfed by incessant fires adumbrate the way life becomes barren and dry as a consequence of isolated machine dependent living. But the ending of the story marks a shift in the emphasis and suggests a change in the circumstances. The possibility and hope for a better and more flourishing life gets hinted at the ending of the story. After the happenings of 4th August 2026 reporting the devastating effects of science and technology there is ‘Dawn showed faintly in the east,’ which gives a hope for a better future. The sun rises to shine upon the heaped rubble and steam. It suggests that the moment these things pass over the future indicated through the words ‘Today is August 5, 2026, the rains of soft and delicate feelings concerning life will follow.’ Thus the ending of the story is highly significant meaningful and suggestive.
3. Why are there no human characters ?Describe some personified characters in the story.
Answer :- There are no human characters in the world created in the story. It is inhabited by different gadgets, burnt things, a dead dog and the voices. The devices here perform human functions and dominate life all around. The writer has created such a world to highlight the way technical devices take over the place of human beings. Therefore, no human characters are necessary in this world. Another reason for the absence of human characters is that the city depicted in the story has been ruined and destroyed already. Instead of presenting human characters, the story writer has personified certain devices to make them behave like human beings. These devices are the voice clock, the weather box, and the house that speak like human beings. The voice clock talks about time and the works to be done at a particular time, the weather box issues warnings about rain, and the house too asks, ‘Who goes there ?’though it gets no answers from lonely foxes and whining cats.
4. Discuss the literary devices used in the story.
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5. What is the relevance of the poem with the same title in this story ? How does it help to deal with the theme more effectively ?
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