The Martian Chronicles

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English language learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Each story title includes a year, and most include the month as well.

• How do these dates group the action of the stories in more than a chronological sense? (topic sentence)
• Support your interpretation of the collection’s structure with an example from each of the sections you have identified.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect this structure with one or more of the book’s thematic concerns: The Trap of Nostalgia, The Nature of Colonialism, and The Destructiveness of Human Nature.

2. Bradbury’s text reproduces some old stereotypes about Indigenous peoples.

• How does Bradbury’s portrayal of the Martians play into stereotypes about Indigenous Americans? (topic sentence)
• Give examples of three separate ways that Bradbury reproduces these stereotypes.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on the irony of these stereotypes, given the text’s concern with The Nature of Colonialism.

3. In “April 2005: Usher II,” there is a character called Stendhal.

• What does the allusive quality of this name suggest about the text’s position on art? (topic sentence)
• Give evidence from research that supports your interpretation of the allusion.
• Give evidence from at least three stories that supports your interpretation of the text’s position on art.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, suggest how this allusion’s meaning supports the text’s larger meaning.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. What ideas about “home” do characters in this collection have? Do the settlers and the Martians believe different things? What about the people who stay on Earth? What are characters willing to do in pursuit of a home? How is the notion of home related to identity? Write an essay in which you analyze patterns of belief about the idea of “home” in The Martian Chronicles. Show how these patterns support one or more of the text’s thematic concerns: The Trap of Nostalgia, The Nature of Colonialism, and The Destructiveness of Human Nature. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted evidence.

2. How does The Martian Chronicles function as an allegory for the colonization of the Americas? In Bradbury’s time, there were no serious efforts being made to colonize other planets, and the age of European conquest was long over—so why might Bradbury have found this topic important to discuss? Write an essay in which you use historical and biographical evidence to defend a claim about Bradbury’s possible purpose in writing about The Nature of Colonialism. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite evidence drawn from outside sources as well as any quoted material.

3. Where does the text allude to other texts? What is the purpose of these allusions? How do they impact the tone and add layers of meaning? Are their sources diverse, or are they drawn from similar sources? Write an essay in which you explore the relationship of these allusions to the text’s thematic concerns with The Trap of Nostalgia and The Nature of Colonialism. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text. Be sure to cite any quoted material.